DC Velocity - January 2013

inbound

No waffling in the face of disaster

According to The Wall Street Journal, when disaster
strikes, the head of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA), Craig Fugate, looks to a couple of key
indicators to get a sense of the severity of the emergency.
One of them is the “Waffle House Indicator.”
If Waffle House is closed in a disaster area, the index is
red and Fugate knows he has a serious challenge on his
hands. If Waffle House is serving a limited menu, his
index is yellow and he knows things are bad. And if Waffle
House is running full bore, Fugate knows that there is
work to be done but he can set the index to green.

Waffle House, a chain of some 1,500 restaurants known for being open all day, every day, is ranked by some as one of the best in the world at disaster response. The company has established crisis management processes that include manuals for the restaurant managers on how to reopen after a disaster. Contingency plans spell out what to do if there is no power or no ice. Managers know how to import generators, food, water, ice, and cooks from outside the disaster area to quickly re-establish service—regardless of the official government response.

When a natural disaster is forecast, Waffle House opens up the war room at corporate headquarters in Norcross, Ga. “We have folks staged, ready to roll: food trucks, generators, construction teams,” says Pat Warner, a vice president.

Waffle House even has a mobile command center that can be dispatched to coordinate logistics when disaster happens. Known as the EM- 50, the same tag Bill Murray’s character and his crew gave their “Urban Assault Vehicle” in the movie “Stripes,” it’s an RV outfitted with satellite communications and a wireless network.

Once the EM- 50 has arrived on the scene, operational control passes from the war room to a senior executive in the affected area. Using the EM- 50 as a command post, the executive directs the response, relaying information back to headquarters on matters like which restaurants are going to open and where to send supplies.

Warner acknowledges that the cost of being disaster-ready is high but adds that it’s more than a matter of dollars and cents. “Short term, it’s not the best business decision,” he says, “but it’s an investment in the future and the right thing to do. It’s in our culture, being there and staying open.” ;

Learn how to “go green”

Need ideas on how to make your logistics operation more environmentally friendly? Under pressure to reduce both your costs and your carbon footprint? A couple of DC VELOCITY’S recent webcasts offer practical advice on how to make that happen. The following two free webcasts are available on demand, so you can listen and watch at your convenience:

▪ In Sustainable logistics: You can turn “green” into gold, Jason Mathers of the Environmental Defense Fund explains why “green” should be part of your long-term logistics strategy and where your efforts can have the biggest impact. You’ll also hear how a major online retailer’s unusual DC retrofit helped it achieve out-of-this-world energy savings. Watch it at www.dcvelocity.com/videocasts.

▪ In Reverse logistics and sustainability, DCV Editorial Director Peter Bradley and Dr. Dale Rogers of Rutgers University discuss how reverse logistics can play an important role in a company’s sustainability efforts. To listen in, go to www.dcvelocity.com/videocasts/. ;

Ready, set, package!

Competition is a natural part of business, and it can be stressful. But it sounds like if you’re a student of packaging design, it could also be a lot of fun.

In February, the Institute of Packaging Professionals’ (IoPP) Southeastern Chapter will hold its fourth annual “ 48 Hour Re-Pack” student packaging design competition. The competition will kick off Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. and will end 48 hours later, on Feb. 24. During that time, entrants will develop and design product packaging, build a model, and film a presentation in which they explain and “sell” their design.

The annual event was created as a forum to expose talented students to the packaging industry, said IoPP Southeastern Chapter president Paul Spitale. Winners will receive cash prizes and recognition at the 2013 Nextpack Summit on the Future of Packaging in Atlanta.