Ah, the benefit of hindsight. Struggling supermarket chain Sainsbury's has admitted that its "complex supply chain solution" unfortunately "simply cannot be delivered to the required scale" and that its IT systems have proven more expensive and less effective than planned. The result being some very empty shelves - embarrassingly not due to the grabbing hands of eager shoppers. So the retailer is now busily doing what beleaguered businesses always do: throwing out staff and refocusing on things that the management hasn't managed to break yet. Of course it's all rather poor news for those who might have crowed in the past about what a great job was being done delivering that complex supply chain solution. Congratulations must surely be due to business magazine Supply Chain Management Review for its particularly helpful and indeed glowing case study into Sainsbury's supply chain miracle. Published in May this year, the article details the "substantial wins on many fronts" delivered by the system. But far be it from Sneak to simply shoot the messenger. No, stars of the article Accenture and Sun Microsystems must surely both deserve a bullet too.