Logistics managers, can you share an example of a successful risk management strategy you've employed in logistics coordination?

Question

Georgina Fenning · Accepted Answer

Managing the risks and assessing the potential threats to your supply chain when it comes to the coordination of your logistics has to be a proactive approach, sometimes in collaboration with the parties involved. For example, a simple mechanical breakdown with a dedicated truck could cease your operations if you do not have a plan in place for this type of situation. A proactive discussion with your logistics partner would ensure you have a back up plan in case this does occur. A couple of questions to ask in advance if you’re relying on material to arrive on a specific date (must have by date), is “What do I need to do to ensure I receive it on this date?” and “What is my backup plan if there is an unexpected delay?”. A suggestion would be to factor in an acceptable day or two to your scheduled timeline, to cover these potential obstacles.

Debdatta Sinha Roy · Answer

A recent example of mitigating risks using data-driven insights is when COVID-19 significantly changed the last-mile delivery network for B2B retailers. Due to work-from-home, delivery locations were more spread out in the suburbs with 1-2 boxes per stop compared to a larger number of boxes in more centralized office locations. This exposed a general underlying risk in last-mile delivery when (total route time) demand exceeds (temporal) delivery capacity where the challenge is to deliver to all customers on the promised delivery day with the retailer driver (RD) staying within the regular shift hours. Evolving industry practices include outsourcing some deliveries to on-demand drivers (ODDs), such as Uber and Lyft. Big data and complex AI models help determine the route of the RD, the locations that the ODDs will deliver, and the drop-off locations where the RD will hand over packages to the ODDs.

Logistics managers, can you share an example of a successful risk management strategy you've employed in logistics coordination?

1 Answers

Debdatta Sinha Roy

Related Questions

Logistics managers, can you share an example of a successful risk management strategy you've employed in logistics coordination?

1 Answers

Debdatta Sinha Roy