Yesterday we hosted the fourth in our tariff webcast series with the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).
Our resources did an outstanding job and highlighted key considerations for managing your supply chain in light of the tariff situation. If you couldn’t join us, we encourage you to listen to the recording and share it with people throughout your organization because there are some very important takeaways.
Here are two of the top lessons from my point of view.
First, the tariff situation is not going away anytime soon. While that may seem obvious, it's worth noting since many companies are reluctant to react in any way when there’s so much uncertainty.
On the call we talked about companies being in various buckets when it comes to addressing the impact of tariffs on their companies. In the first bucket, you have companies that are basically operating in "shock mode." They are wishing that none of this would have happened and that somehow, someway, it will all go away.
In the second bucket, you have companies scrambling to adjust to how the tariffs are impacting companies. Do they eat a portion of the increases or pass along the full amount? And what about their negotiations with their suppliers. Basically, the companies in the second bucket are fighting fires and have little expertise in addressing the more complicated issues associated with the tariffs.
The third bucket includes companies that see being proactive instead of passive as a game changer. They realize that since tariffs aren't going away anytime soon, they have a unique opportunity to outperform their competitors who are being passive or reactive in the tariff arena. They see using the management of tariffs as a competitive advantage. That is why instead of just accepting the different developments that unfold as uncontrollable, companies can develop scenario plans that identify vulnerabilities and alternatives ahead of time. On the webinar, our panelists nailed it in terms of talking about actions you can take to get your arms around the tariff situation.
Which tariff bucket is your company in?
Second, reshoring could be a good option for some companies, but it isn’t for everyone. Rosemary Coates, Founder of the Reshoring Institute, talked about the current state of reshoring and nearshoring initiatives. There are some key issues to consider and moving your supply chain probably won’t be easy.
We know it’s a challenging time for managing a supply chain and we’re here to help. TranzAct has solutions that can enable your company to mitigate the tariff situation and make your response a competitive advantage.
If you’d like to learn more, give me a call at 630-833-0890 Ext 190, send me an email or schedule a virtual meeting together.
BY MIKE REGAN, CO-FOUNDER OF TRANZACT
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