I recognize that stories about birds and bees attract more clicks than stories that tell about collective sighs, buyers. However, there are lessons that can be learned about the innate behaviour of buyers and honeybees that will help us rethink how to manage supply chain strategies in this era of unprecedented volatility and systemic risk.
As a former supply chain management executive, I am the first responsibility that is often listed in the buyer's job description. Low cost of land! The second bullet is usually a variant of “see first bullet”. This quest to reduce costs pursued over decades has created offshoring manufacturing in multiple industries.
My father, a clothing manufacturing executive, spoke enthusiastically about his efforts to help shift apparel production from the continent of the US to factories in Mexico (Makiradoras) and the Caribbean. These outsourcing decisions were reasonable. The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed how fragile our just-in-time, far-off supply chains have become.
During the pandemic, I was the CEO of a food processing company. One spring morning, I walked through Berry Farm in Vancouver, Washington. What I saw was the platonic ideals of the farm. Except, something seemed to be missing. The flowers were not visible.
Looking from the native bee lenses (all OK multiple lenses), what I saw was a desert. There is no pollen or nectar to forage bees until the blueberries begin to bloom. From a bee perspective, the farm looked like an all-you-can-eat restaurant that had been open for business for just two months of the year. No thank you very much.
That morning walk crystallized something I had felt about the global supply chain for years: an overwhelming sense of vulnerability. If our bee supplier suffers the loss of his hive due to colony collapse disorder, we do not have a sufficient supply of bees to pollinate the crop. There is no pollination. There are no fruits.
So I decided to add floral diversity to the farm and make it attractive to native pollinators. With technical support from the Xerces Society, we have created habitats that provide a continuous supply of flowering plants from early spring to autumn to honeybees and other beneficial insects. In a short order, the bees arrived and restocked the bees to pollinate our berry crop.
When you think about supply chains, consider designing a supply chain that unlocks the rooted actions of buyers and creates buzz bees.
I have killed one person and caused millions of dollars of claims, a heat dome that destroyed crops, multiple transport disasters, and a massive workplace covid 19 departure. I have a bald putty to prove it. But what we are experiencing now is different. This is not a temporary phenomenon. We are taking part in long, unpredictable transports. So, what should you do:
- beginning, Exhale. You will get through this (but keep a bottle of peptobismole within reach of your arm). Next, take your emergency planning seriously.
- Let's start with The calm, worst Senario plan Exercise with the leadership team. Analyse each element of your supply chain and consider the steps you need to keep your business at sensible. With this plan in hand, it will make it easier for you and your team to adapt to changes in the business environment.
- after that Talk to your legal team. Does your contract have compulsory clauses caused by trade wars? If not, then you should.
- Next, Call the customer. These cost shocks should not be absorbed by suppliers. Buyers who think that all the burden can be offloaded to their suppliers are missing out on points. It's a short-term play in a long-term game. Start a conversation about how to share risks and maintain supply continuity.
- Finally, Revisiting the supply chain And design it as if you are trying to maintain a healthy population of native pollinators and beneficial insects. Add diversity. Build redundancy. Think about it in the long term. This is done not only for finished products, but also for major components and raw materials.
Doing these things well will help customers have their products in stock and minimize hits to the total margin. Who knows, you may have time to read stories about birds and bees…
