Hurricane Preparedness: Supply Chain

As we prepare for the 2021 hurricane season, over the previous five days we have highlighted SAFETY (always #1), STAFFING COVERAGE, PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, EMERGNECY OPERATIONS PLANS, and BUSINESS CONTINUTY PLANS.  

Something that is often overlooked is the SUPPLY CHAIN. For Investor-owned utilities, compliance with internal procurement policies helps maintain sound financial stewardship, and can satisfy regulatory oversight if audited post-event. 

For utilities that are publicly-owned and cooperatives, since many of their restoration expenses may be eligible for FEMA Reimbursement Grants, compliance with federal, state and the utilities own procurement policies may make the difference between being approved as eligible for reimbursement funds, or being deemed ineligible.      

Prior and during an event, organizations will procure various products as well as the services of third-party contractors. An annual review, preferably pre-hurricane season, of supply chain processes and protocols will ensure the availability of support and equipment when most needed. It is also a good time to contact your mutual-aid partners, and contractors, to ensure that rates are negotiated, insurance requirements are met, and agreements are signed.

For contracts and agreements with contractors, and vendors, they should be updated in advance to avoid any delays when activated. Vendor purchase orders should be verified as still valid or replaced before they are needed. Not only should contract terms and conditions be updated to reflect new information as and when it is submitted, but the details of existing terms should be checked as well. 

By way of illustration, if an organization contracts with another company to rent equipment in the event of an emergency, it really must know whether that the rental company is guaranteeing to supply said equipment, or whether it has similar contracts with multiple organizations and just offers to lease it on a ‘first come, first served’ basis only. I was once on an out-of-town assignment and was sent to a rental vendor by the host utility. Not one piece of equipment was available due to another utility calling a day earlier.  This may sound obvious, but more than one organization has been caught short in this regard.

In addition, special attention should be taken to determine whether any supply chain vendors could be impacted by the same weather event. In such cases, it is clearly advisable to have contracts with alternative vendors that do not share the same weather zones.

In this regard, it is also a good idea to work on the client–vendor relationship by occasionally purchasing from the alternative vendor during the course of normal business. When a vendor starts receiving multiple calls for limited material, they will tend to supply those companies that are repeat customers.

Tomorrow’s topic is STAGING SITES.