Logistics cannot stop

In the crisis in which the world and Brazil find themselves due to the new coronavirus, it is not just health professionals who cannot stop. Other examples are: production line workers, motoboys, drivers, dockworkers, railroad workers, storekeepers and other professionals involved in moving products.

Incidentally, LOGISTICS cannot stop.

This goes from transporting people, after all, without public transport, most of these professionals who need to keep coming and going to their workplaces would not be able to arrive, to transporting goods. It's no use having products available in factories or distribution centers if there's no way to take them to their final destination. PPE, medicines and other hospital and pharmaceutical products need to be available for consumption in hospitals and pharmacies, just as food needs to be in the markets.

Figure 1: Logistics needs to keep working so that Brazilians don't run out of products. Source: Marcin Jozwiak on Unsplash

To ensure that Brazilians do not lack products, each company has adopted a different strategy.

Companies of basic consumer goods, such as food, beverages, hygiene and cleaning, as well as the pharmaceutical industries, are operating “at full speed”. These companies are making the most now and pushing inventories up the supply chain to ensure supply. Talking to some companies in the sector, the main fear is having to reduce the pace of production or delivery due to the lack of employees who have contracted or are suspected of having Covid-19.

Retail, whether food or pharmaceuticals, needs to keep its doors open and be able to meet the increase in online demand. The main challenges according to these companies are: first, to provide all the necessary support to their employees, whether PPE and/or psychological, so that they feel safe and continue to go to work daily and, second, manage to replace the shelves as quickly as possible . With the evolution of the epidemic, many consumers went shopping simultaneously, buying above the normal pattern. To avoid product shortages, stores are being supplied more frequently.

Other measures such as changing shifts or reducing the number of people working at the same time are being used by some industries. And there are always those sectors that decide to completely stop production, as is the case of the automobile sector.

Anyway, each company is adapting to this new reality. What they all have in common is the drive to minimize the impact on employees and society as much as possible. Especially because, without people, there is no company.

Likewise, without logistics, the world stops.

We are monitoring the impacts of the coronavirus on logistics and the supply chain on a daily basis and are gathering this material for you. Follow!