World Trade - October 2008 - (Page 20)

SUPPLY CHAIN SURVIVAL GUIDE Shippers and Providers Collaborate To Take On A Challenging Economy Werner Enterprises Inc. Changing demand patterns, rising costs and more complex solutions are giving rise to a new model of partnership. BY ANDREA MACDONALD T he ‘r’ word (as in ‘recession’) is rearing its ugly head as businesses and service providers alike struggle with the challenges being thrown at them by the economy. The ever-deepening credit crunch, low consumer spending, increasing transportation costs, and a ﬂuctuating currency have all led to a less than optimal business environment. Companies are looking at every aspect of their operations for cost savings—including the supply chain. “A common theme within our very diverse customer base is that overall demand is lower, particularly in the retail sector and the building materials and related products sector. The economic slowdown in the U.S., driven largely by the slowdown in construction is impacting the domestic supply chain and the international supply chain of our customers,” says Craig Stoffel, vice president, global logistics, Werner Enterprises Inc. “Many of our customers are asking us to help them come to terms with their cost expectations for 2009,” 2008 says Jim Butts, senior vice president, C.H. Robinson. “They are asking us for price forecasts and want to know how we can help mitigate their costs.” Companies need this information to make presentations to their own Boards, outlining plans for the next year and justifying budgets; to say nothing about reducing logistics spends, squeezing out competitive advantages and maybe even making their lives easier. “At a time when demand is slowing, the cost of delivering product is rapidly increasing,” says Stoffel. So, while shippers are seeing their transportation costs rise, fuel costs are being felt ﬁrst hand by carriers, rail providers, ocean liners and air carriers. Indeed, some nonasset based 3PLs have seen partners shut down. “We are facing some ﬁnancial stability issues with some of our partner carriers,” explains Stoffel. Werner is attempting to lower operating costs within their own ﬂeet and network by reducing fuel consumption through better management, dual driver and rout- 20 WORLD TRADE OCTOBER

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Trade - October 2008

World Trade - October 2008 Contents Tune Up Your Supply Chain Globalization: The Real Competitive Threat Supply Chain Watch Tradewinds Shippers and Providers Collaborate to Take on a Challenging Economy Tweaking the Supply Chain to Optimize Value and Minimize Cost Supply Chain Software Morphs Into Enterprise Management Can Warehousing Really, Truly Be Strategic? Everybody is Global Between the Devil and the Deep The Hidden Costs of ‘Free’ Translation Blowing Smoke

World Trade - October 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.