But it’s not all bad news for 2009: By shining a light on these problems, they catapult to the front burner for many companies.

If there was one theme to tackling these problems, it would better cooperation between the players involved.

A recent study showed that only 11% of companies said their supply chain planning and operations were highly integrated with the rest of company functions.

But the same study also points out that 92% of the same companies are planning to implement better planning and execution of supply chain strategies over the next three years.

Three strategies are cited in bringing that about:

• better supply chain visibility
• linking existing supply chain software systems with internal and external customers, and
• improving collaboration with suppliers and customers.

The other area of focus in improving supply chain operations is transportation.

There are three main aspects to transportation that supply chain operators hope that implementing will lead to better integration with all customers — inside and outside of the company.

• Squeezing more pallets, cartons or product onto every truck leaving the docks. This can be achieved with optimization technology or good old elbow grease and common sense.
• Dock door scheduling systems, which puts the function in the hands of the people who have most at stake. Better scheduling of supplier deliveries is a win-win.
• Trying new transportation strategies, like switching from truck freight to intermodal transportation. Another strategy: setting up a consolidation center for shipping when distance is involved, rather than have all shipment originate from home base.

But beware: Shooting for goals at face value can sometimes blow up in your face, especially if the goal is trimming money from the purchasing and procurement budget.

Case in point: You’re charged with reducing the purchasing budget by a specific amount, $XXX — without any loss in quality when it comes to suppliers and your purchasing performance.

Managers higher on the food chain often believe this is easily accomplished: Replace those expensive, old suppliers with cheaper, newer ones.

Uh, not this time.

Sure, you’re looking hard for suppliers that will out-perform your current suppliers — but they could very well end up being your current suppliers.

Your criteria remain consistent:

• on-time deliveries
• low rates of material defects
• high supplier service performance
• internal customer satisfaction, and
• lower prices.

Good news: You may not need to search far and wide.

Given the current economic climate, it could be an ideal time for you to negotiate with existing suppliers.

They might be more willing to make certain concessions, rather than lose all of your business.

One note of caution: Be sure you’re keeping track — metrics — against benchmarked performance, to prove in dollars and cents that you’ve saved money and improved purchasing and procurement performance.

At the top end of the preparedness scale, you’ll find logistics and trucking company Ryder System Inc.

Ryder has an emergency communications systems that tracks employees and keep them up to date. The system collects contact information on individuals.

When it comes to planning your own disaster-reaction plan, experts advise, assume the worst. That way, you’ll be ready to adapt to the worst-case scenario, should it occur.

One of the most universal and likely hardships you can expect is loss of electrical power. Determine now how your company handle this: Wait for power to be restored? Use generators for core operations?

Electricity, natural gas and most fuels are the most basic building blocks. Without power or mobility, most businesses remain shuttered until the lights go back on.

A quick recounting of the impact of Ike on logistics illustrates a few of the other impacts you might want to consider in your planning:

• Most area trucking companies held shipments and closed plants
• Pickups and deliveries were suspended in five Texas cities including Houston, and cargo was held in Dallas
• Expected recovery time from suspended services: Usually two or three days to catch up with deliveries, and
• Railroad shipments were delayed by about two to three days.

Port closings for a few days didn’t have a big impact on deliveries since many customers had a “buffer in the system.”

Still, other customers waiting for specific deliveries saw disruptions.

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