GOODQUESTION
What is the biggest supply chain lesson you learned from the past two years?
FLEXIBILITY IN PLANNING beats perfect execution. The market is in flux; the businesses succeeding are the ones adapting to what is being thrown at them. If I’ve learned anything over the past two years, it’s that perfectly planning for the long term doesn’t necessarily lead to success. —Sean Elliott Chief Technology Officer/ OUR RELIANCE ON A FEW KEY PORTS AND JOBS (dock workers and truck drivers) highlighted our supply chain fragility. It only takes one or two bottlenecks to have ramifications and ripple effects throughout the entire economy. The recent supply chain challenges also demonstrated how critical the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are specifically to the United States— these ports are in earthquake-prone Chief Digital Officer Körber Supply Chain
With a Little Help from My Friends
The pandemic highlighted the need for a much closer relationship between manufacturers and their 3PL partners. We are working more closely with our partners than ever before—developing innovative and collaborative approaches to tackling these new, longer-term challenges. —Jim Saponaro President, Life Sciences & Healthcare, DHL Supply Chain Relationships now are more important than ever. Whether it’s developing partnerships with secondary and tertiary suppliers to meet rising demand, or managing the expectations of vendors and customers during challenging times, the importance of establishing and cultivating strong, lasting relationships cannot be overstated. —Jonathan Parks Senior Vice President, Supply Chain, iGPS Logistics
Amateurs hunt dollars, professionals hunt relationships.
—Whit Smith Director of Operations, TA Services
regions, and a large earthquake impacting one or both of these
ports could make COVID-19 related challenges seemmore like a nuisance than a major disruption. —Megan Linkin Senior Parametric Nat Cat Underwriter Swiss Re Corporate Solutions THE COMPANIES THAT SUCCEED ARE THE ONES THAT COMMUNICATE most effectively. Because there are so many players (vendors, manufacturers, 3PLs, carriers) and software all working together to run a supply chain, the companies that create a common vision, communicate the vision, and hold all parties accountable to the same standard are the ones that have adapted to the pandemic successfully. —Keith Moore Chief Product Officer, AutoScheduler.AI INVENTORY IS NOT NECESSARILY THE “EVIL” that supply chain professionals once thought. Having distributed inventory in strategic locations at an inventory carrying cost that does not burden your balance sheet can be the key to supply chain resiliency and winning.
HAVING THE RIGHT SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY MATTERS. The supply chain changed in a hurry, our systems and technology helped us to adapt quickly with it. We were able to quickly identify obstacles and overcome them. By embracing forward thinking, we were able to limit the impact of supply chain issues. —Lonny Holston Export Operations Coordinator, Mickey TWO THINGS WE HAVE LEARNED : We must: 1) understand data to minimize risk and 2) identify weak spots in the supply chain to improve workflows. Organizations that have met the challenge of the past two years have done so by making calculated investments in technology and processes to limit disruptions. —Mark Casiano
equipment availability. Simply adding more ships and more containers will not get us anywhere if there is not more capacity in the system to receive those containers. —Nathan Strang Director, Ocean Trade Lane Management Flexport VISIBILITY IS VITAL. The shortages of rawmaterials and extended supplier lead times have drastically increased stock-outs. You need complete visibility of 1) inventory indicators to ensure you can meet demand and 2) knowing how well your suppliers perform. —Ara Alec Ohanian Group CEO, NETSTOCK WE NEED TO FULLY DIGITIZE OUR SUPPLY CHAINS if we want them to be resilient in the face of unexpected disruptions. By unifying our digital systems, applications, and processes, we will be able to efficiently manage supply chain operations. —Antony Francis Supply Chain and Logistics Consultant Endava
SVP, Sales, Marketing & Customer Experience Odyssey
THE PAST TWO YEARS EXPOSED INFRASTRUCTURE CRACKS in our industry—specifically when looking at effective capacity at ports and
—Tom Nightingale CEO, AFS Logistics
16 Inbound Logistics • January 2022
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