How to Prep Your Supply Chain During Hurricane Season

Hurricane season 2018 is here and after a harrowing 2017 season, businesses are paying more attention to their supply chains during this time.

Ramping up measures to safeguard shipping practices is essential to avoid costly losses. Hurricanes have the potential to shut down airports, damage goods and roads with floods and halt transportation for unknown lengths of time.

Here is how you can prepare your supply chain to handle any impending dangerous weather.

Get secure

It’s time to create a structured framework that’s ready to spring into action when a storm is kissing the coast. To accommodate a diverse range of potential disasters, this will include practicing how to handle multiple scenarios, cross-functional planning and being able to address the most important decisions that can arise and how they’ll be met. Some of these decisions could include:

• How to address each customer after the fact
• How to make up lost earnings and revenue
• Should you source internationally?

Choose your back-up

The question isn’t if a storm will hit- it’s when. Keeping this in mind, you’ll need to be prepared to relocate loads and equipment before a storm makes landfall. Study routes, ports, warehouses and factories to get an idea of where you can quickly make a transfer to areas where your supply chain won’t be affected and disrupted.

Watch the weather

Never underestimate the weather or think “it won’t happen to me.” If your supply chain incorporates a region that experiences hurricanes, then it’s imperative to make time to follow weather patterns. Watch areas that have a higher risk of flooding or how close major highways come to the coast. Remember that when a storm is approaching, evacuation is possible and can cause traffic jams. Gasoline becomes a hot commodity and long lines at gas stations can lead to stress. Prepare by stocking up and knowing alternative routes to take in case a storm is on the way.