ONE OF OUR SPOUSES, WE WON’T SAY WHICH ONE,
finds herself being volunteered to watch over a slightly mismatched set of grandchildren once a week. Both boys, they
operate in a range from frenetic to tornadic. The younger is
capable of hitting the E above high C when provoked. They
are mostly a delight.
The lovable lads are occasionally joined by their eight-year-old cousin, whose perpetually high motor is matched by
constant decibel levels not often heard since Ethel Merman
left the Broadway stage. The visitors have gone home by the
time other grown-ups arrive, and the carnage generally has
been swept away. But it is clear how the day has gone when
the message from the distaff side is, “You’re on your own. I’m
having gin for dinner.”
MEANWHILE, BACK AT SUPPLY CHAIN CENTRAL …
A drawback to the gin-for-dinner solution is that it is temporary. Further, it can lead to rye for lunch and absinthe for
breakfast, and those might become more
permanent. But we face a myriad of challenges that can make even the temporary
relief extremely attractive. So, what are some
events and conditions that might make the
supply chain leader contemplate ordering
Plymouth by the case? Let’s consider just a
few of the possibilities:
; We import huge quantities of merchandise through the ports of Los Angeles
and Long Beach, and swift handling is
paramount as peak selling season approaches. But a strike that cripples operations
has started this morning. Dockworkers at
Canada’s Prince Rupert are staging a slowdown in sympathy.
Mexico’s Lázaro Cárdenas is open for business, but truck
capacity for goods moving by rail from there to Kansas City is
simply not available, at any price. It’s gin for dinner.
; Someone “forgot” to order cold-rolled steel for body
parts at the offshore automobile manufacturing and assembly operation. If we can find the right steel, the spot market
price is likely to be north of astronomical, and then we need
to arrange air transport, which will have capacity, availability,
and cost considerations that make one’s socks roll up and
down. Maybe we can touch all the right bases and solve the
BY ART VAN BODEGRAVEN AND
KENNETH B. ACKERMAN basictraining
Gin for dinner
problem for $150,000, and maybe the shipment
can be delivered in time. If not, the price tag for
shutting down operations will be somewhere
between $4 million and $5 million. It’s gin for
dinner, and Limoncello for dessert.
; One of our top five customers has called,
dazed but frothing at the mouth. Apparently
our third-party logistics service provider has
shipped his order to another customer, a competitor, and—turnabout is fair play—shipped
the competitor’s order to him. So, not only gin
for dinner, but dinner starting while the sun is
still high in the sky.
; Peak season is upon us, making or breaking
the year, with breaking not being an acceptable
alternative for those who desire continuing
employment and full use of their legs. The
spiritual leader of the seasonal temp workforce has just informed us
that an almighty deity does
not wish his people to handle certain products and that
the time allotted on the job
for religious observance must
be doubled. The alternative
is that the 1,500 associates
involved will be morally
forced to abandon their jobs
at day’s end. Gin for dinner,
for sure, with a steady intake
of sacramental wine commencing immediately.
; Weather events present frequent threats to
smooth supply chain performance, but what
are the consequences of the Asian monsoon
that has sunk a steamship loaded with containers of our products and leveled to the ground
our assembly facility? The products formerly
destined for delivery to Wal-Mart and Macy’s
are gone forever, and we’re not sure what—or
how long—it will take to get back in the game.
It’ll take more than gin to get through this one,
with rice liqueur and fermented coconut milk
