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October 27, 2022 by Logistics

If I were making decisions regarding my Company’s Logistics functions and my Supply Chain, what would I do now?

The current logistics environment and the status of the Supply Chain are very confusing right now….for everyone. One minute capacity to move shipments is scarce and expensive, the next moment its loose (available) and less expensive. Container rates are thru the roof, then they’re not. Warehousing space is unobtainable, a lot more expensive, and the options are fewer and far between.

Let’s first look at some of the key drivers affecting the Supply Chain and the Logistics community.

  1. Cost of Capital

When money gets more expensive and harder to get investment goes down. This means carriers begin to extend their equipment life cycles, cut back on new equipment investment, and generally hold off on growth plans. The net-net of this is that your access to capacity, warehousing and such becomes harder and more expensive.

  1. Labor Resources

Logistics as an industry is a touch and feel type of environment. Most of Logistics Labor  consists of drivers and warehouse workers and both must be physically on the job to perform their work. In addition, even pre-pandemic, both were in short supply. Now that demand for these roles has increased back to pre-pandemic levels, they are still a scarce resource. This translates in two ways. First it causes upward pressure on labor rates to keep workers from leaving. Second, it puts downward pressure on Logistics Providers ability to grow their operations to meet demand.

  1. Inventory Levels

Due to the pandemic, increases in demand and the length of the supply cycle inventory levels were increased dramatically. All the inventory had to go somewhere so it sucked up available warehouse space, containers, and trailers. Turns out the demand for goods tapered faster than anticipated and now inventories are too high and sitting too long. This means that space is at a premium, containers and trailers used to store product are not achieving good utilization rates and combined, these factors raise costs and lower service levels throughout the supply chain.

To encapsulate the main two sides of the equation, Supply is too few and Demand is too high. The Supply Chain functions most effectively when these two factors are closely balanced. Conversely. If they get out of balance,  life in the Supply Chain is “difficult”. Like the last 2 years.

What I would do if I were you…run and hide. No, seriously I’d wait it out. I’d use the information I have at hand to build a plan on what you want to achieve with your supply chain and how you think that can be accomplished. The market is in transition right now. Rates are moderating, truck capacity is loosening, international volumes are dropping as are international container rates. However, a potential railroad strike is looming which could at the very least result in rail delays, which in turn become truck and container delays.

Now let’s talk about relationships. As a 3PL we (Riverside Logistics) get to see and interact with a lot of different supply chains handling a lot of different products and running on different criteria for execution. This means we have a pretty good thumb on the pulse of the supply chain. The overall Supply Chain can swing one way or the other, dramatically, and quickly. You must be nimble and have options available to you to handle these machinations. One very capable way to prepare for Supply Chain shock is to partner with a 3PL and to build a relationship of trust with that 3PL. When you do that, you get the benefit of their expertise as well as insight into the logistics markets. This can be a powerful tool for you to use when competing in the marketplace. 3PL’s usually have access to a substantial portfolio of carriers and modes. They know how and when to use them to execute competitively. That’s their business. They also in many cases have knowledge and capability in the warehousing space. They can tell you what market occupancy rates are like in the markets they play in and can help you find and manage space that meets your needs in the markets they serve.

So, lets recap. Right now, there are a substantial number of headwinds and tailwinds impacting the Supply Chain. To sort them all out will take some time. It behooves a company to sit back and let the leaves fall out of the trees a little more so you can see what’s coming next. It is also a good idea to try and build a strong working relationship with a 3PL to let them assist you by applying their expertise in the logistics markets.

It’s a little scary in the supply chain right now. If you try and “Time The Market” you’ll probably fail. Just like with the stock market, timing is not a good idea. Taking a long view is a better strategy and one that should pay dividends in the long run. Hope this advice helps set you on a path that provides your company with a good competitive posture in todays supply chain.

 

Filed Under: Supply Chain, Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Tagged With: 3pl, Cost of Capital, Freight Cost, Inventory Levels, Labor, Logistic Decisions, Near Richmond Marine Terminal, Near the Virginia Ports, Richmond, Riverside Logistics, Third Party Logistics, Transportation Solutions, VA, Virginia, Warehouse Space

September 23, 2022 by Logistics

BUILDING A RESILIENT SUPPLY CHAIN

Best advice I can give is to Start from the bottom.

In today’s Logistics environment, building a resilient supply chain is more critical than ever. No sure way exists to overcome all the risks that comes your way. Things like the Ukrainian war and the lingering effects of the pandemic have had severe impact on just about everyone’s supply chains. Product lead times are double or triple what they used to be, and that’s if you can get the products at all. The cost of freight, raw materials, labor and finished goods have skyrocketed. Both the International and domestic US transportation systems are a mess. There are containers sitting that can’t unload, there are warehouse shipments loads that can’t be picked up, shipments are taking twice as long to deliver than before, there is a lack of warehouse capacity to store goods, and overall prices for freight, fuel, labor, and just about everything else have gone up dramatically.

Considering this decidedly negative environment, and the uncertainty of how long current conditions will last, what can you do to make your Supply Chain more resilient. Here are some suggestions.

  1. Increase your base of supply. Go from a plus 1 supplier base to a plus 3 base. Extend the geographic base as well. Keep one area from controlling and hurting your supply chain.
  2. Make and get commitments from your transportation providers to provide enough equipment to meet your extended needs. Contract for this capacity and take a “now is better than later” attitude.
  3. Expand your inventory levels and buffer safety stock levels to compensate for longer lead times. Make sure your Min/Max system is reset for larger inventories and longer pipelines.
  4. Lower both your and your customer’s expectations for OTC cycles. Product will take longer in the pipeline. Get used to it and make sure your customer acclimates to the new “normal” as well.

There are three key drivers to establishing better resiliency. “RFC” , “R”edundancies, “F”lexibility and “C”ulture change.

Increase redundancies. Hold extra inventory, increase your supplier base, and lower capacity utilization levels. By being redundant, you are giving up efficiencies. Inventory is cash, unused or not-working cash. This is the tradeoff made when carrying more inventory than your normal model requires.

Added Flexibility. Adopt standardized processes. This lets you switch production across your manufacturing network. Make it easy to substitute your production across the various sites in your network. If they handle the work in a standardized fashion then you can bounce your production and distribution around as conditions dictate, without skipping a beat.

Put key functions in sync with supply chain demands through a centralized organizational approach. Plan to postpone. Give yourself the ability to wait and develop more WIP goods that can be finished in a variety of ways. Align your procurement strategy with your suppliers. Make sure that your supplier relationships are deep and long. Don’t get caught short handed when one of them goes out of business or has a catastrophic event that impedes their ability to supply you.

Cultural change. Have processes that provide for continuous communication across the enterprise, inside and outside the building. Distribute the power for making decisions. If the power is concentrated in a few hands your organization won’t be able to handle disruption well. Those closer to the fire know how to handle it best.

Condition your teams for disruptions, how to handle them, and what the protocols are to fix them.

There are five pillars of supply chain resilience

Vulnerability

Management Culture

Procurement

Operations

Demand & visibility

Vulnerability. Assess your organizations weak links. Where are you most at risk? Shore up as best you can these points of weakness. Make yourself as bulletproof as possible. There are tradeoffs in this process. It is not cheap to build in redundancy and mitigate vulnerable spots in your supply chain. It is better to know and mitigate them on the front end than suffer the consequences on the back end. Almost a “you can pay me now or pay me later” situation.

Management Culture. Management must be fully on board to support the changes necessary to make your supply chain more resilient. They will understand the picture if you provide the correct model of the monetary costs to do nothing vs the upside if you take the right steps…NOW.

Procurement. How you buy, who you source your buys from, and where are extremely important factors in supply chain resiliency. Let’s face it, if you single source in today’s environment, you are in big trouble when that source falls down. You must investigate and understand your alternative supply sources  and put in place a blueprint of how you need to use them.

Operations. There must be a clear level of communication between the operations teams and the procurement teams.  Management must make sure that they are exchanging forecast and plans in a way that produces a clear path forward in dealing with shortage, delays, and cost increases. It is not unusual for Ops and Sourcing teams to have different sets of metrics and drivers that they use. It is extremely important that these teams operate in sync with one another. Otherwise, the results will be very disappointing.

Demand & Visibility. Not enough can be said about making the Demand mechanism as clear as possible throughout the organization.  The more visible the demand signal is, and the more time spent on how to meet it, the better the results will be. Demand signals and forecasts are difficult during normal times of stability. In today’s less stable environment the whole supply chain can get whip-sawed around by the market forces in play today. It is therefore of extreme importance for the organization to put the time in to dial in the organization to demand signal.

Making your supply chain more resilient is extremely important to the overall effectiveness and health of your organization. Spend the time necessary to align your organization on what’s needed to make it as bulletproof as possible. If you do, the reward will be substantial.

Riverside Logistics Consulting does this (supply chain analysis) for a living and would be happy to take a hard look at your individual supply chain and make recommendations on how to shore it up. This process can pay high dividends in a short period of time. If you need more information, contact Jim Durfee at 804-474-7700 extension #4. We’re here to help.

Filed Under: Supply Chain, Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Tagged With: BUILDING A RESILIENT SUPPLY CHAIN, Expand your inventories, How to make your Supply Chain Resilent, Near Richmond Marine Terminal, Near the Port of Virginia, Richmond, Riverside Logistics Consulting, Third Party Logistics (3PL), Transportation Strategies, VA, Virginia

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