Page 10 - Logistics News April 2021

Opinion

Crisis? What crisis?

By Doug Hunter, doug.hunter@za.syspro.com

A global supply chain lesson for everyone.

PRODUCTS DON’T grow on shelves, but viruses private partnerships (PPP) are essential to raise
do. Ships and trucks are essential and need to fair planning intentions to e ective execution.
be moving while full. Economies, like people,
can go bust. This COVID-19 war has taught us all Private sector learning from lockdown
something. Retailers expected and planned for a rise in online
shopping, but most were not ready for the huge
Government learning from the COVID-19 uptake of e-commerce exposing the raptor (rapid
experience adaptor) from the sloth (slow thinker).
“Don’t panic, a vaccine is on the way. Well, it was, All businesses are being forced into learning
or is, but we changed our minds regarding the more about e ective inventory and storage
product selection. Actually, we’ve ordered it, but management, and seeing that proper application
distribution plans are not finalised – tenders are of business IT shows its value in managed change
out but not adjudicated.” Just as well, perhaps, as and execution to customer preferences. For many
the cold chain di ers with each product. of us, lockdown meant getting to be at home and
It is laudable that government wants to remote meetings. For business, lockdown was like
manage and control national supply and a visit to the gym after a long break – some fit,
distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine to the some not so fit and many realising it too late.
population, but good intentions have highlighted But luckily for our economies, new skills
governments’ collective lack of understanding of are emerging and understanding of inventory
the supply chain. If your procurement department management is growing.
is called ‘supply chain’, that is what you get –
supplier selection and ordering. The government Individual learning
is learning that it is a chain with many links and With the COVID-19 vaccine sagas filling the news,
the most di’cult links to synchronise come after we all understand that what we consume must
procurement. travel first – through a supply chain. Product
Vaccinating a country is a global process – selection has forced us to think about essential
buy a few di erent products from a couple of versus non-essential, and local versus import.
suppliers, import and store in bulk. Then plan We learned about di erentiation between
hundreds of loads to thousands of vaccination promise and deliver (a pet topic for me), plans
points – all in vehicles and equipment that versus execution (we need both but often have
maintain appropriate temperature conditions only one), chaotic execution (because there is no
(cold chain) – so the right quantity arrives at the plan) or chaotic plan to confuse our markets.
right place at the right time. Meanwhile, others Emerging into a post-COVID-19 world, nations
coordinate millions of people to register online are coming out of a new-economy war. There is
and arrive at these points at the correct date/ destruction throughout, the walking wounded
time in an orderly fashion to be vaccinated. And are limping forward, and a are few reaping new
then there are the medical sta to organize. rewards. And that’s just business and government
This is surely a teaching government that public – what about you and me? •

8 April 2021 | Logistics News