BUSINESSNEWS
MIND THE GAP (IN YOUR RETURN TO WORK STRATEGY)
While the UK remains in lockdown to limit
the spread of COVID-19, government
ministers are preparing to issue their “back
to work” plans to restart the economy.
And according to FTA, the business group
which represents the logistics industry,
these plans will create both opportunity
and risk for businesses keen to comply with
new safe working regulations and get their
complex supply chains re-started or reenergised
to cope with growing demand.
» AS PAUL WILSON OF FTA’S
Supply Chain Consultancy team
explains, successful re-starting and
scaling-up of operations will rely
on a number of dependencies in
other parts of the supply chain,
meaning that successful strategies
are therefore likely to depend on
the weakest link in the chain:
“Many businesses have started
to create and implement their own
strategies for returning to work,”
he says. “In addition, complex
supply chains that have been idle
will need to be re-started, and
those that have been running
will need to be re-energised
and refocused to cope with
growing demand. But how many
businesses have considered the
interdependencies on which their
supply chains rely, and considered
the impact which outside forces
could have on a successful return
to ‘normal’ working? Evolving
government health and safety
advice for the workplace is liable
to change working patterns for
logistics businesses around the
world, but how many of us
have taken these changes into
consideration when scoping what
the ‘new normal’ could look like
in operational terms.”
To assist logistics businesses
of all sizes to return to work
safely and effectively after the
COVID-19 crisis, FTA’s Supply
Chain Consultancy has launched
a new independent strategic
business review process, which
aims to identify areas which
fail to comply with new health
and safety legislation and spot
bottlenecks and weaknesses in
supply chains.
“Using online meetings, a
comprehensive survey and a
series of one-to-one interviews,
all backed by FTA’s years of
expertise from across the sector,
the new independent assessments
will ensure operators and their
people can have the confidence
and independent verification
that warehouse and handling
activities are as good as they
can be,” continues Wilson,
“that they are compliant with
new government rules, and will
provide identification of gaps
in the operational process. The
reviews will cover all areas of
operation from inbound and
outbound flows of goods, to the
use of PPE, operating processes
and staff support systems.
“The success of any return to
work depends on operational
weaknesses being identified and
eradicated, or at least minimised.
Bear in mind, too, that the
whole economy scaling back
up at the same time will create
potential bottlenecks that may
delay or derail the plan – such
FTA is one of the UK’s leading business groups, representing
the logistics industry, which is vital to keeping the UK trading,
and more than seven million people directly employed in the
making, selling and moving of goods. With Covid-19, Brexit, new
technology and other disruptive forces driving change in the
way goods move across borders and through the supply chain,
logistics has never been more important to UK plc. For more
information about the organisation and its work, including its
ground-breaking research into the impacts of COVID-19 on the
whole supply chain, please visit www.fta.co.uk
as increasing carrier volume,
demands on the workforce,
catching up with postponed tests
or PMIs for vehicles and specialist
equipment. Our experienced
consultants can help you review
or create an appropriate Back to
Business strategy, and the plans to
execute them while also helping
you to identify key risks, resources
and mitigations to keep your
organisation on track.
“With a likely insistence
from government that a full
workplace risk assessment will
be required before any restart is
possible, using an independent,
well respected body like FTA to
conduct compulsory reviews,
employers can reassure staff that
working practices including social
distancing are safe and compliant,
and that business continuity
plans are robust. Employees want
to be confident that everything
possible has been done to protect
their safety in these uncertain
times – we believe FTA’s reviews
will provide this, right across the
supply chain.”
To find out more about the
FTA’s new Back to Work
Strategic reviews, or for a free
confidential discussion with the
team, please visit https://fta.
co.uk/coronavirus/covid-19-
strategic-supply-chain-review
72 » JUN 2020 » CLEARVIEW-UK.COM