Supply Chain – how it affects us all!

Raw Materials(Supplier)  Manufacturing Warehousing Distribution(Supply) Customer

Supply Chain is more than the inventory sitting in your warehouse waiting to be sold.

What happens when one of the links breaks down?

Example – Transport

Each link of the chain requires transport.

We have over 230000 truck drivers in Alberta. This sounds great!

Issue: Not all drivers are certified to drive all types of vehicles or products.

Issue: Not all vehicles are equipped to transport specific types of products. You would not want to transport gas/oil in anything other than a tanker!

So the link was weakened.

Example – Flour

We have more than enough grain to mill. We even have enough mills to grind the flour.

Issue: There were not enough bags to put the flour into for distribution.

The missing link created a problem in bakeries – shortages of bread in stores.

Its the little things that seem to create the biggest problems.

Engineering New Social Operations

One of the biggest links that has failed in this time of pandemic, is Manufacturing.

Canada was once the leading country in manufacturing but we ignored technology and now it is too costly to produce so we import more and more. Plants and production in Canada have come to a halt.

To reopen we have to look at redesigning the workflow.  We must look at ways to limit social contact, improve productivity, source of materials, etc. Do we need to look at more automation?

Can Canada be self-sufficient?

• production costs would be higher
• internet access would need to be improved
• are raw materials available?

What price are you willing to pay? 

Each link in the Supply Chain must be strong or at least have an emergency replacement. We must look forward and figure out what our Canadian Chain looks like!