The late Bruce Seaton, former CEO of American President Lines, talked about the container industry being nothing more than a series of cargo “hand-offs” among supply chain stakeholders. Success and sustained profitability, Bruce noted, would be achieved by how efficient and cost-effective these “hand-offs” were.
Efficient “hand-offs” have been topical at the Port of New York and New Jersey (PONYNJ) as all of us continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. The global supply chain has remained extraordinarily resilient despite initial concerns of sustained volume downturns. The Port is experiencing record cargo volumes following a record 2019, which is a notable trend that is not unique to New York and New Jersey.
At a time when “physical distancing” has become a national and global imperative, the need for “social connectivity” in the industry is increasing. “Separately but together” could be the dichotomy of the century. In the context of supply chain integration and managing seamless “hand-offs,” it has never been truer.
There is no roadmap for managing a pandemic. We are all learning on the job. When we collectively overcome COVID-19, one set of critical actions will be cataloging best practices. Key supply chain stakeholders, ports included, need to be more interconnected to share real-time information about what is happening throughout the supply chain, particularly visibility where cargo “hand-offs” occur.
At the PONYNJ, stakeholder engagements have been a mainstay since March. These include more frequent Council on Port Performance meetings and a new operations--focused forum consisting of the Port Authority, terminal operators, labor, equipment providers and depots, trucking partners, and railroads. An additional subgroup was formed to address waterfront PPE requirements and the development of our own supply lines for face masks, gloves, sanitizer, and more.
What has been clear during the pandemic is that Bruce Seaton had it right. This really is about efficient “hand-offs.” The interconnectivity of these hand-offs across the supply chain has been further reinforced.
Our collective resiliency, despite broader supply chain challenges, has been achieved together as an industry by not conflating physical distancing with social distancing and instead recognizing the greater need to be socially connected.