44 | JUNE 2020
Business
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
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 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
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