Blueprint for business resilience in crisis mode

Cardinal Health proffers a five-step plan to help itself and its customers to manage operations when disaster strikes.

1. Prepare: Institute emergency response plans and communicate them to key partners for proper synchronization. Ensuring your HQ teams, facilities, employees and customers have a plan is critical. Communication is key. Make sure you have various means for communication: Satellite phone communications can proceed even if an entire region loses power and cellular capabilities. Key leaders at each facility should have a satellite phone charged and ready for use at all times. When an event materializes, schedule “T-minus” calls with regional facilities to determine who may be in harm’s way. Pre-position support when possible with tactics like temperature controlled trailers near impacted areas, fuel truck at the ready, etc. When possible to anticipate an event like hurricanes, stock inventory in advance so that additional days of critical supplies are available, even if cut off from transit routes. With proper inventory planning, teams can help assess and prioritize build-up of specific products.
2. Respond: When an event materializes, communication is key with clear points of contact and ownership. Disciplined execution of event response calls ensures needed support is provided and desired outcomes for your customers are achieved.
3. Connect: Establish key points of contact pre-event to map out clear communication plans and hours of operation with your teams, customers and local officials. Through communication with customers and local officials, you can assesses the situation in the impact zone and determine which delivery routes are open to get supplies to your customers.
4. Flex: Peoples’ health in these situations doesn’t wait for the weather to subside. Our team stands close by to ensure that we can respond quickly and with agility to an event. Often, out of the box thinking is necessary to make sure you are prepared to respond during a crisis. During Hurricane Florence [September 2018], when floodwaters accounted for much of the damage, we were prepared to contract for use of low-profile airboats to make deliveries to sites cut off by flooding. While this proved not necessary, we now know it is an option and have added it to our play book for a response to flooding.
5. Learn: Every event is different and our team draws learnings from each event. It is critical to conduct post-event recaps with your teams and customers to ensure you adjust plans.