The 2:00 Minute Warning with Mike Regan

Practical Advice for Managing Supply Chains

Written by Mike Regan | May 11, 2022


Lately I’ve been giving a presentation to C-Level executives about supply chain issues. During the presentation, I ask the audience to stand and then to stay standing if they agree with the statement, “Companies don’t compete, supply chains compete.” Typically everyone remains standing.


Next, I ask people to think about where they would rate their company's supply chain on a scale of 1-5. Then I ask those that have rated their supply chain a three or higher to stay standing. Guess what? Only 10% to 15% of the audience remains standing.

Take a moment to consider that question yourself. How would you rate your company’s supply chain on this five point scale?

Everyone seems to understand that now, more than ever, having a supply chain can be a competitive asset or a competitive liability. With that thought, may I ask: Is your supply chain helping or hurting your company's competitive position?

While most logistics professionals know how important supply chain capabilities can be, they are struggling to build a great, or at least, an above average supply chain. So for those C-Level executives who ask me, "What can I do to support our supply chain associates?" I like to remind them: C-Level executives need to be aware that they play a key role in either helping or hurting their company’s supply chain capabilities.

After one of my recent presentations, where I once again noted that C-Level executives cannot delegate responsibility for their company building a great supply chain, an audience member who is the CEO of his company came up to me and said, “Mike, I get it! We need to get our supply chains better, we just don’t know how. Where do we begin?”

We don’t have all the answers, but we're experts at helping companies move up the supply chain spectrum. We also have a lot of resources and we’re here to help. A few of the recent resources we’ve shared include our interview with Peter Tirschwell about the impact of the Shanghai lockdown, our quarterly Freight Market Update, our webinar about navigating your supply chain, and there’s much more in our Resource Center.

We know you’re busy but if you want to make your supply chain more efficient, it will only take about two minutes to learn how to begin the journey. We encourage you to get in touch by sending us an email, or giving us a call.

International Roadcheck takes place May 17-19

It is important to note that next week, the International Roadcheck will be conducted, which is a high-volume commercial motor vehicle inspection initiative that takes place in Canada, the U.S and Mexico. The inspections will happen at weigh and inspection stations, through roving patrols, and at temporary inspection sites. During this time it’s not uncommon to see 20-25% of truck capacity sit out. This year the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) announced that they’ll focus on wheel ends.

 

BY MIKE REGAN, CO-FOUNDER OF TRANZACT
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