Despite uncertain times, the supply chain will learn from the present in planning for tomorrow

It is crazy, in a way, to see that the calendar is telling us we are in the first week of December, the homestretch of what has truly been a year for the ages, specifically from a logistics and supply chain perspective.

That is not “news,” not by any stretch, but, at the same time, it is worth looking at the year, and seeing where things are and how we got there, and, perhaps, most interestingly, some of the key trends and themes that have developed and emerged amid the madness of these times.

It goes without saying that when the pandemic kicked in back in March 2020, there was a tremendous period of uncertainty and unease, given the impact of the lockdown, which led us all to wonder “what is going to happen next?”

Well, at first, we saw a lot of things simply shut down—think manufacturing operations, automobile production, in-person shopping, and many more.

But that was followed by a heavy increase in online shopping, which subsequently brought about what was called “Shipageddon” as delivery networks became strained ostensibly by the minute, as people were stuck with nowhere to go and got to work on things like home improvement markets, and also simply working out, which led to a surge in exercise equipment and myriad related shipping delays, something many, if not all of us, experienced first-hand.

While many (hopefully, most) of us are now vaccinated and “back out in the world,” in-store shopping has resumed, which is a good thing, but that certainly did not make everything better, in that people were back out of their homes. But it was, and is a sign of some type of return to normalcy, too.

To be clear, we are still dealing with a whole host of supply chain-related issues and challenges. Pick one, if you like, there are several to pick from, including: congested ports and related container shortages; truck and truck driver availability; service issues in different modes; elevated rates, driven, in part, by the need to attract an, um, fickle, prospective labor pool; and the lack of low warehouse and distribution center space, hampered by high demand low vacancy levels.

Again, these are just a few examples, as there are definitely more, no doubt about it. The idea here is just to show what our industries have been, and still are, experiencing.

While we are now in the final push to all get our holiday shopping done (good luck, everyone!), the supply chain has been doing its part to make sure we have a positive outcome, and I, for one, am confident that will be the case.

Unfortunately, and I have noted this before here, far too often we only hear about the supply chain, in a negative context, when things are not going as expected. That could be in the form of a package arriving one or two days late. I get the heightened importance of this time of year, but generally speaking, it should be something that “ruins” things for someone either.

A very notable trade expert told me not long ago that “if we all stopped buying stuff online, the ports would clear out and the backlog would work itself through, and we would be on a good path forward.” Well, that is not likely to happen, but it is worth considering all the same.

Looking ahead, once we get through the pandemic once and for all, whenever that may be, we are very likely to look back at these times and remember how the pandemic led to significant changes in things like supply chain forecasting and resiliency, demand management, inventory management, how shippers and carriers collaborate, and freight flows and trade patterns, among a whole host of others.

Chances are we won’t get there for quite some time, as things remain beyond hectic and challenging. But one thing for sure is that tons of lessons learned from the past will be there to guide us going forward, and that is a good thing, as the whole world is now finally truly aware of what supply chain and logistics bring to the table even if not for the right reasons, but, still, things will improve and change, for the better, with our sectors there every step of the way.