#transportation #supplychain rethink & refocus - no rainbows and unicorns it seems in our world!

Supply chain disruptions are certainly a regular occurrence it seems. Everywhere. In the news - ports, truckers, carriers, economic impact to the consumer and monumental profit for the carriers.

How does this all even make sense? Is this the new norm and what can we do to lessen the commercial impact?

Delays getting items delivered and picked up. No containers available at overseas origins. Vessels full, unavailable or re-routed to add ports on route. Booking and backlog issues not only for air but for ocean. Cyber-attacks? Limited truckers for deliveries. Skyrocketing shipping costs due to lack of equipment availability? Items being lost at packed warehouses, staffing issues across the playing board due to Covid causing delays in communication or all of the above and more?

Where/when will this end? Which companies will survive these never before seen times?

Timelines for transportation increasing. How does one cope in this foggy and dark environment with little or no vision of what's coming at the industry next?

A generally increasing malaise across the world as it relates to moving products from manufacturer to end buyers.

Logistics planning now requiring a crystal ball and a magic wand to frantically wave and take us back to a lost day before the pandemic, before serious and dire geopolitics, trade barriers & trade wars - will it get worse?

A time where things were a little easier. FYI, they never were easy really for anyone in freight forwarding, transportation and logistics.

How to solve, reduce or mitigate a few of these challenges? An increasingly difficult & critical question these days.

A few thoughts and ideas for the wondering mind...

• Sourcing products closer to destination/buyers? Increased labor costs for production sometimes makes this unfeasible from an economic perspective. Where can I buy product for cheaper cost? Cheaper is not always best during times like these. How do we work around this? Near sourcing or JIT logistics at what cost?
• Critical planning & knowledge. That's a given but are you partnered with someone who looks long term and is there to support and communicate when things don't turn out the way that they realistically should? So many points of concern in our transportation world right now. A finger on the pulse and an eye on the impending storm?
• Implemented logistics experience with transportation partners. Extremely critical these days working with a service provider who adds a sense of reality and truth to your equation. Sometimes an enlightening afterthought should be a proactive plan from the start. Once you talk to someone who is in touch with logistics reality you will know - and when I say "reality" I mean no sugar coating, serious frank & current facts only.

As an industry there is no time more critical than right now to support our customers with honesty, integrity and reality.

• Location, location, location. No way to sometimes shorten timelines to international buyers or remote locations if you are shipping time sensitive or delayed items. Reduced services all around make moving anything frustratingly difficult. The new norm, something we might need to get used to - like it or not.
• Staffing. Industry and customer. Are we filling seats, how can we find new people who can think on their feet, pivot and react proactively and communicate solutions effectively? Do customers know what questions to ask their transportation providers? Do the service providers know what questions to ask of their customers? Is there a common language and understanding of needs focused on every detail needed to arrange transportation whether truck, ocean, air or other? There definitely needs to be.
• Problems with customers, problems with normal transportation solutions across borders and even domestically due to in-country transportation problems. Normal transportation is not normal any longer yet we aim to function 100% error free 100% of the time! Is this still achievable? Difficult questions for certain.

Let's get a grasp on this, figure it out & not sweep it under the rug & say oh well it is what it is.

Moving forward?

What's an industry to do? More sharing, more education, more communication; keep pressures up on carriers and governments to support infrastructure upgrades and keep learning to value realistic discussions with supply chain professionals who have been ringing the warning bell and blowing the horn for years to draw attention to these system wide weaknesses that affect us all now and don't seem to be getting any smaller.

#keepingitsimple

ABOUT:?Mike is a 35-year career logistics business executive & business observer focusing on collaborative, transparent & simple solutions for regional and global stakeholders, EPCs and equipment manufacturers.

He is adding personal, creative, fresh, simple strategy and innovative solutions & project management perspectives to a complex market through customer focused discussion and review. He is an outlier in the usage of social media, connecting and creating massive value for customers.

Offering ANOTHER CHOICE for capital project logistics management, transportation/customs brokerage & supply chain services globally.

Our team is here ready!