War And Peace

Not to continue a militaristic theme, and not to suggest that this will be a lengthy blog. I do hope that, unlike with Tolstoy's gigantic work, readers will actually finish reading this.

Recent developments have shown how some of the things we usually talk about easily and in the abstract can take on life and death import in specific applications. Take, for example, the consequences of restricting or shutting down border crossings into Afghanistan by Pakistan.

These actions underscore the importance of a robust infrastructure in effective supply chain operation; a fragile or limited infrastructure limits what can be accomplished with movement through supply chains. In Afghanistan, it sems to be all we can do to build and rebuild an extremely restricted highway infrastructure.

Of course, given infrastructure restrictions and pinch-points, the value of having readily at-hand alternatives for the delivery of materiel, supplies, and personnel exponentially increases. And, such alternatives were clearly not at hand at the nmoment of need.

Critically, the working relationships among supply chain partners needs to be positive and reliable for success in execution. When one partner, say Pakistan for instance, decides to punish another partner for perceived misbehavior, both partners suffer, and the supply chain destination point loses out, as well.

Developments and outcomes such as these are bad enough in commercial supply chain operations. They can have deadly consequences - and long-lasting impacts - when armed conflict and geopolitical issues are in the mix.