The 2:00 Minute Warning

BY MIKE REGAN, TRANZACT CO-FOUNDER

As China shuts down much of their transportation amid fears of the coronavirus spreading, shippers are seeing once again how much impact unplanned events can have on the supply chain. This is something that nobody had on their radar screen but is now starting to hit home in a big way. 

Last week I was visiting with customers and what I learned is that if the quarantine of major manufacturing hubs continues, it will severely impact supply chains around the world and the global economy.

If you’ve watched the Two Minute Warnings for any length of time, then you know that we are big fans fan of scenario planning and asking the “what if” questions. Unfortunately, we've learned over the years of helping companies manage their logistics operations that very few companies actually engage in scenario planning exercises.

That's why this week we held an interview with award-winning and noted economist Gary Shilling and captured his insights about how to navigate economic uncertainty and uncharted waters.

If you are also looking for answers to some other “what if” questions, you'll want to join us tomorrow as we host our Breaking Down the Silos: Sales & Transportation webinar with our friends from NASSTRAC and CSCMP. We’ve gotten tremendously positive feedback on the Breaking Down the Silos webinar series and the sales/ logistics area is a topic we've gotten a lot of enthusiasm for, so we can't wait to hear what our panel shares.

Last but not least, shippers are often trying to predict whether they should source their freight or wait for another time in the future to do this. Our answer to this question often is "it depends". When was the last time you went to market? Are you going to be out of cycle? Where are you at with respect to your rates right now? If you need someone to guide you through these questions, we're here to help.