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Lisa Anderson, LMA Consulting President and Founder, feels there is still a great deal of confusion global supply chains. Anderson joined “Bloomberg Markets” with Caroline Hyde and Paul Sweeney on Friday morning.

(Source: Bloomberg)

Click here to watch the video.

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Originally posted by JILLIAN SMITH | The National Desk, Wednesday, November 30th 2022

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she’s putting everything on track for an early vote to quickly send the bill to the Senate and have the legislation approved before the Dec. 9 strike deadline.

If the more than 100,000 affected rail workers walk off the job with no deal, the U.S. economy could face another devastating blow.

Supply chain consultant Lisa Anderson says many manufacturers are concerned that the strike could cause further disruptions to their manufacturing operations.

“You know, there are concerns about all the food that moves by rail and in the automotive industry, there are concerns about what moves you know, the cars and the parts,” Anderson said. “So, there are concerns across the board about further supply chain disruptions.”

She says she is advising many companies to be prepared in case a deal isn’t reached by the deadline.

FILE – Surveyors work next to Canadian Pacific Rail trains which are parked on the train tracks in Toronto on Wednesday, May 23, 2012. Approximately 3,000 Canadian Pacific Railway conductors, engineers, train and yard workers represented by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference will be returning to work on Tuesday, March 22, 2022, after an agreement was reached between the railroad operator and union. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

“Definitely advising them to take proactive action with anything critical like let’s say materials that they are counting on to keep manufacturing operations going,” said Anderson. “If it’s critical, if it’s the only source of supply and advising them to, you know, send it by truck or send it by plane.”

The major challenge with the potential strike concerns products, materials and components that keep manufacturers running. It’s not yet known when Americans could be dealing with any supply chain disruptions but Anderson says it’s possible that the impacts could be seen within a week following the strike, if not sooner.

“In some industries, we’re going to start to feel supply chain disruptions immediately because folks are stopping their transport via rail in advance because they know that they’re not going to be, you know, available potentially available at the right time,” Anderson said.

She says if rail shipping stops, it would hit across the board.

“Unfortunately, the products that are transported by rail go into countless products,” Anderson said. “Certainly in the food industry, there’s going to be, you know, grain and some of the other food items that are transported via rail it’s going to show up immediately.”

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Lisa Anderson provides industry expertise to the Bloomberg Chief Future Officer Interview with Deutsche Post DHL Group Interview Melanie Kreis.

Chief Financial Officers now play a critical role in shaping corporate strategy and positioning organizations to meet future challenges. Bloomberg’s monthly program, Chief Future Officer, profiles these leaders and explores the impact they’re making on their companies and industries. In this episode, Deutsche Post DHL Group CFO Melanie Kreis tells Tom Mackenzie how the the logistics giant has built capital and diversified its portfolio while accelerating growth during the Covid pandemic. (Source: Bloomberg)

Click here to watch

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The latest in a long series of supply chain disruptions has impacted the baby formula industry. 40-50% of the shelves across the U.S. are out of stock for this critical item!

Availability started to be limited late last year and in January due to “supply chain disruptions”. Shelves were over 20% out of stock. However, supply chain disruptions is also the latest excuse for every issue, and so as we dug into the issue, there were no widespread outages that would impact the industry. Transportation and packaging came up; however, the item that seems the most likely cause of such a significant number is labor shortages. Every client has an issue meeting customer demand due to labor shortages currently.

Unfortunately, the problem worsened when the FDA shut down the Abbott plant that produces over 40% of the baby formula for the U.S. That facility has been shut down for 3 months. As anyone in manufacturing and supply chain circles know, it is not surprising we now have a 40-50% out of stock situation. Listen to my discussion on Good Morning San Diego.

The Complexities of the Baby Formula Arena

As is the case with highly regulated products, the complexities of managing through regulatory complications will impact what solutions will work and which will not work. Similarly, the costs and requirements might prove cost prohibitive in this lower margin industry. Unfortunately, the resolution will have to involve more than just industry players. It will have to involve the government and FDA. Red tape will need to be navigated to get this issue corrected near-term.

Global Supply Chain to the Rescue

The global supply chain is coming to the rescue. Of course, in addition to U.S. baby formula manufacturers increasing production, Abbott’s Ireland facility is shipping formula to supplement what can be produced in the U.S. Additionally, Nestle’s Gerber is flying formula from Germany with Operation Fly Formula. And, the FDA has ramped up its efforts in working with the Abbott facility to reopen, and so it is expected to start production in the next few weeks.

How Long Will these Out of Stocks Last?

Unfortunately, this crisis started around 5 months ago with the major production shutdown occurring 3 months ago. You don’t make up that kind of production quickly, and so extended lead times and empty shelves will be around for quite some time. Of course, now that it has gained significant media attention, there will undoubtedly be many actions occurring in the days ahead.

What Should We Learn?

The supply chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Even small disruptions (let alone a big one such as the shutdown of the largest producing plant in any industry) lead to supply chain implications and further disruptions. Supply chains are stretched thin with little to no strategic inventory of the “right” items in the “right” place at the “right” time and little to no available capacity especially when considering the labor shortages. Since we are globally connected, it is time to take control of your supply chain and be proactive. It is also time to take control of your supply chain and realign demand and supply with S&OP. Most importantly, do not wait for someone to resolve your issues for you. Take action now!

Please keep us in the loop of your situation and how we can help your organization thrive during these times of volatility and disruption. There will be more winners created than at any other time than since emerging from the Great Depression. To gain additional ideas and insights on how to best navigate these volatile times and thrive, read our eBooks such as Thriving in 2022. Learning from Supply Chain Chaos. 

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