Stretching chain to get them home

By VICKI JAYNE

Getting products to markets was once a fairly simple affair - a basic pick, pack and lug process.

These days, supply and distribution threads stretch across the world through such a complex web of connections that getting goods from A to B has become a specialised area of management.

Markets are not only more widely scattered, they're more demanding.

When they want something, they want it now, and within specific parameters of cost, quality and quantity.

Which is why supply chain management can have a make-or-break impact on companies.

It's not just a question of cost - that particular lemon has already had the juice squeezed out of it, says Owen Keates, who manages "global supply chain optimisation" for Owens Global Logistics.

He also chairs the Australia/New Zealand chapter of the Supply Chain Council.

It's about reliability, flexibility and responsiveness, he says, as well as cost.

Such issues have Major Tony Downey contemplating shaving his head to pre-empt likely hair loss over the next few months as he manages links in a temporary supply chain that stretches from East Timor to Wellington.

Next month the New Zealand Army starts the withdrawal of possibly its largest deployment since Korea, after working in a United Nations peacekeeping force since East Timor's independence.

On the move from six separate locations in East Timor will be more than 800 people, around 120 vehicles, and between 80 and 100 containers of equipment.

"It's a bit like moving an entire large-scale enterprise from Auckland to Wellington," says Downey.

"But over a much greater distance and without any existing infrastructure."

So that infrastructure has to be created. Planning has to be robust and detailed.

Then it's a case of being flexible and responsive to whatever issues arise en route.

"Because there aren't any procedures in place, we more or less develop them as we go, using the experience of the team to continually re-muster, re-focus and then crack on."

"Movement operations" is an Army trade in which nearly one-third of his 54-strong team has been trained.

Downey will be relying on their ability and a bit of good old Kiwi ingenuity to cope with day-to-day problems.

The biggest one is likely to be weather. It will affect equipment cleaning needed to meet New Zealand biosecurity standards, road movement, and "Lots" - "logistics over the shore".

That refers to movements to and from the final mustering point in Timor, a beach on which everything will be assembled before being barged out to a transport ship.

That process itself is likely to involve five 24-hour days - depending on weather, available barges and the condition of the transport ship.

There's the risk of hold-ups should it prove a biosecurity risk to New Zealand and need decontamination.

And everything depends on how much money the United Nations has in its operations kitty.

The Army can research best shipping options and make recommendations, but the UN approves budget. There are many imponderables.

"In this case, the supply chain is like a rubber band," says Downey. "You stretch it as much as you can. I think we are right at the end of its range because of the distance and the size of the job."

What helps give extra stretch is good communication along the full length and excellent co-ordination between all the various parties involved along the way - including a support base in Darwin.

"Whether it's people who'll be offloading in Wellington, the shipping company, the Air Force, the UN - they all have to be on your side to make it happen," says Downey.

The process is a staged one. First there's the shift from separate camps to a main assembly area, then the 4km move from there to the sea.

A Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry-trained cleaning team will deal to all equipment before it starts its trek. Once it arrives at the assembly post, it will be checked by MAF inspectors and, where necessary, re-cleaned.

While none of the equipment has been barcoded, it will be individually checked, then logged and tracked via the Army's systems.

An advance party will be heading over to Timor at the end of this month.

The main team goes in September, and all equipment and personnel should be back in New Zealand come mid-December.

"It's a huge undertaking, but I'm confident the planning that has gone into it is robust.

"The key thing at the moment is to have the operation well structured before you start. Plan well in advance, set goals, maintain them - and select the right team."

The ability to maintain good relations down a chain that stretches not just to your own suppliers but to your suppliers' suppliers is increasingly vital, says Owen Keates.

"Trust is the big word these days. There has to be a high level of openness, collaboration and information-sharing. Ideally, the information from the barcodes being swiped at checkouts should go all the way back down the line to the original suppliers.

"That way, they can be more responsive to changes in market demand."

It's no accident that the United States Department of Defence is one of the most successful members of the worldwide Supply Chain Council, says Keates.

"Why the military is so influential is that this is their business. If they have to shift a whole lot of people and equipment, it has to be done quickly and nothing can afford to fall down," he said.

* vjayne@iconz.co.nz