With holiday festivities right around the corner, the unpredictability of incoming winter weather poses a serious threat to supply chains that facilitate the seasonal uptick in commerce across many industries. Snow, sleet, and freezing rain can shut down plants, delay the transport of materials and goods, leave vendors without products, and dissatisfy customers. Damage to the company’s reputation and lost revenue are just a few of the risks.
That's why organizations need a reliable way to anticipate and manage threats that could impact the supply chain during the holiday season. Preparation is key. In addition to an agile and forward-thinking management team, organizations need the power of critical event management technology to strengthen resilience.
Use Timely, Insightful Intelligence to Prepare
Critical event management technology leverages AI to show you the combined impact of factors such as severe weather, global supply chain issues, and local infrastructure outages on your particular operations. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to accurately determine what’s necessary to keep them running smoothly.
The seasonal surge in shopping can put a strain on carriers and routes that affects all types of organizations, not just those in the retail business. By pre-arranging temporary contracts with substitute suppliers and carriers, you can both reduce and budget for the high fees that are often associated with short-term emergency solutions.
Timely insightful intelligence gives you the decision-making advantage. The ability to communicate in real time improves outcomes and helps mitigate factors that threaten your supply chain and, as well as improving your ability to strategize for how you’ll safeguard your people and operations. When every minute counts, sending alerts to the right people at the right time goes a long way toward mitigating catastrophe. Advanced warnings enable everyone to take action to minimize threats - not only to your organization but to the communities it serves.
Winter Weather Preparedness Kit
Protect your people, places and property from winter weather.
Develop Thorough Contingency Plans
Based on the information we have now regarding unpredictable weather and ongoing bottlenecks at critical ports, it’s crucial to be prepared to shift your productions. This is another area where critical event management technology can facilitate business continuity in today’s unstable atmosphere. Accurate predictions and instant communications mean you can increase capacity at alternate production centers before it reaches a non-recoverable low.
The same applies for rebalancing your carriers. With a well-distributed network and a reliable mass notification system, you can take the burden off overwhelmed carriers and alert those less-impacted that you need a temporary delivery increase. This prevents a single point of failure and keeps your products flowing. Remember, this is the time to be fluid.
Keep Stakeholders Updated and Assured
The more perilous the climate, the more important it is to reassure employees, customers, vendors and investors that you have a plan to stay ahead of the storm. Think through how you’ll handle these issues, and then make sure to relay your strategy clearly in different scenarios:
- Employee Shift Changes: When winter weather causes unsafe driving conditions, how will you adjust your schedule and communicate those changes to your staff?
- Vendor Shipping Modifications: What are your options when your air, ground, freight and shipping carriers are compromised?
- Customer Distribution Delays: How will you notify and mollify your customers when delivery is held up?
- Investor Returns and Company Profit Margins: Where can you make adjustments to stabilize your solvency?
- Regulatory Compliance: How will you document your actions during a critical event to satisfy legal requirements and local regulations?
Want to learn more about mitigating risk and strengthening resilience during the winter season? Download our Winter Weather Preparedness Kit.
Winter Weather Preparedness Kit
Are you prepared this year? Use this resource center for expert guidance and helpful tips to protect your people, places and property and keep operations moving this winter.
