Whenever we in supply chain talk about “resilience” it’s almost always much more than the quality of “keep calm and carry on” our people tend to espouse, the quality that we speak of in glowing, flowery terms when things get tough. Resilience is about making sure the systems, processes and mechanisms are in place to allow us to continue working even in the most disruptive of situations—and that does not come from whatever energy the people who run the enterprise have left.
In our case, it’s more about making plans that cover any (and, ideally, all) eventualities that can impact the way we serve our customers. It’s about ensuring we have the capability to respond to whatever disruptions come our way. It’s about putting these things in place as early as possible. It’s about reviewing these plans regularly to make sure that they’re still appropriate and that everyone working in the enterprise is up to speed—and up to the challenge.
It’s why, for the most part, many businesses were able to withstand the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sure, it’s a scenario nobody was really prepared for. Who could have imagined we’d have to work from home for months at a time, for one? Also, yes, there are many smaller businesses that were forced to close down due to the pandemic, not because they did not prepare, but because the disruption was so great, and their capacity to withstand and absorb was only so much. But now, two years in, most enterprises have withstood the worst of the pandemic, whether by successfully pivoting to allow more online transactions, or embracing new processes and methods to better serve their changing customers.
It wasn’t easy, not by a long shot. The employees tasked to carry on, for instance, were weighed down by all the uncertainties and anxieties of the situation. It was, and it is, overwhelming. But they were able to do their best provided the circumstances because they did not have to do it by themselves; they were backed by plans that were constantly reviewed and revisited, and by capacity and capabilities that allowed them to adjust and adapt as the world changed around them.
Resilience, from a supply chain perspective, is as much about the systems and processes as it is about the people that run them.
Whenever a natural calamity strikes the country, and we turn to the scratched-up “the Filipino is resilient” narrative to make ourselves feel better, I think of this. Our inner fire can only get us so far. Soon we will run out of steam and, perhaps, feel hopeless. If we’re not backed up by the right support to get back on our feet, nothing will happen. I think of this as we continue to watch the ongoing impact of Typhoon Odette in Visayas and northern Mindanao: prices remain high, goods remain scarce, and efforts to bring back basic utilities take longer than they should. It’s great if you can live through that, but you can only go so far, especially if you’re left to your own devices.
Same with the pandemic. As we predicted a few columns back, we’re now seeing the Omicron variant spread much faster and become the dominant strain in the country. Every day we see daily case records broken. As expected, the government imposed what arguably are knee-jerk reactions to prevent the spread of a disease it had almost two years to prepare for. It has introduced a vaccine mandate in Metro Manila and is toying with making it national. Again, this only makes sense if every Filipino has access to the vaccine. The latest numbers suggest otherwise; the fully vaccinated still skew towards NCR, Region 3 and Region 4A, with far-flung provinces recording less jabs. It makes sense to encourage everyone to get fully vaccinated in exchange for less restriction on movement and activities, but it goes without saying that everyone should be offered the vaccine, regardless of where they are. Can we confidently say we have reached that point?
While experts agree the Omicron variant is milder especially for those who have protection, we’re still seeing hospitals getting full and health workers testing positive. Businesses are still affected because most of those who get sick—and, surely, even many others who think they are positive and decide to isolate themselves—can’t do their work. The government seems to belatedly realize that they haven’t effectively convinced a good number of people to get jabbed, which puts all of us in danger as the virus is given more leeway to spread and mutate. (And then there’s the impending demand for rapid antigen and RT-PCR tests.)
And it’s just January—who’s to tell what will happen next month, or the month after that? How much worse will it be for our economy, whose fragile resilience is coupled with unresolved anxieties? How much worse will it be for us Filipinos, who find it more difficult to see an end in sight? It’s not just about the immediate impact, but the long-term effects, particularly on the rising cost of living.
One of the reasons we first went into lockdown almost two years ago is to buy ourselves time to prepare for a disease we knew little about. Fast forward to today: the pandemic is entering the Terrible Twos, and it seems we’re still fighting the same fires. Cases up, hospitals full, restrictions return, cases down—it’s a never-ending cycle. We’re not yet fully managing COVID-19—and we aren’t even clear if our goal is managing or eradicating the disease. Can you truly call this “resilience”?
SCMAP officers for 2022: Nestlé Philippines’ Dennis Llovido has been named as our president-elect, meaning he will take over as our leader in 2023—returning to a role he first played in 2010 to 2011. This year, however, XVC Logistics’ Pierre Carlo Curay remains president. He will be aided by Robinsons Supermarket’s Christine Pardiñas, secretary; Unilab’s Roselie Tubeo, treasurer; and Procter & Gamble’s Mark Anthony Laguna, auditor. Other directors are Del Monte Philippines’ Amante Aguilar, Zuellig Pharma’s Cesar Lusanta Jr., San Miguel Yamamura’s Jose Marvin Casipe, Johnson & Johnson’s John Wayne Maravilla, and Coca-Cola Philippines’ Ricardo Amante Jr.
Henrik Batallones is the marketing and communications director of SCMAP, and editor-in-chief of its official publication, Supply Chain Philippines. More information about SCMAP is available at scmap.org.
