Mount Royal alumni — and MRU programs — are building supply chain resilience in real time
A previous Always Blue story described the scope of supply chain woes on businesses both global and local. Here, we look at how some MRU alumni are adjusting to these new realities through innovation, and how MRU programs are training the next generation of supply chain professionals.
The disruption to supply chains in 2020 and 2021 has wrought havoc on consumers and businesses large and small.
At TC Energy, Bryce Mapletoft, a 2007 graduate of the Bachelor of Business Administration — International Business and Supply Chain Management program, has made major adjustments in project planning. “Lead times have significantly increased, so one thing we’ve had to get better at is planning when we’re going to execute work,” he says.
“One of the keys to success is ensuring we have good relationships with partners, manufacturers and logistics companies so we can avoid delays.”
Bryce Mapletoft
Smaller Alberta businesses are no less immune. MRU alumna Dayna McCombs, a Bachelor of Communication — Information Design (2004), and husband Tyler experienced a similar test with their premium underwear and socks business, Devon + Lang. “We’ve had to adjust how we deal with cash flow by planning so much further in advance,” Tyler says.
Dayna and Tyler McCombs
Nomodic, a Calgary-based provider of integrated modular and hybrid building solutions, including residential, commercial, and hospitality facilities, has diversified the materials it sources for projects. “Given the demand and increased pricing of lumber,” says Kevin Read, a Bachelor of Applied Business and Entrepreneurship — Small Business (2004) graduate and Nomodic’s CEO, “we are incorporating structural framing materials such as steel. Our partners have had difficulty sourcing materials, such as resin in particular.”
Kevin Read
Re-thinking the chain
While everything from fresh lettuce to Christmas trees to new trucks might be harder to find right now, the crisis has opened up opportunities to innovate.
“We are in a new reality,” Read says. “Those higher commodity prices will likely not rebound. However, this will push us to adapt and the spotlight on housing affordability that was exacerbated by COVID has created an appetite for building faster and using more sustainable methods of construction.”
Dr. Rajbir Bhatti, PhD, an associate professor of international business and supply chain management at Mount Royal’s Bissett School of Business, says Canadian businesses in many sectors will want to reconsider how and from where they source their products to be less susceptible to future supply chain stresses.
One alternative, Bhatti says, is near-shoring or bringing suppliers closer. Instead of relying on a manufacturer in China, for example, use factories in Mexico and take advantage of the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement (CUSMA) benefits.
“Being on a contiguous land mass is an advantage,” Bhatti says. “Getting things from Mexico is far easier than from Shanghai.”
Professor Rajbir Bhatti
Mapletoft reports TC Energy, where he is senior manager of Canada operations — supply chain, is exploring “expanding our network with new manufacturers, in India, Japan or Italy instead of just China.”
The other option — and one Bhatti feels was critically exposed during the pandemic — is re-shoring, or manufacturing more products in Canada. “Here we are, in the 21st century, scrambling for ventilators, hand sanitizer, gloves. That is not acceptable. We need a national strategy around re-shoring.”
At Devon + Lang, co-founder Tyler McCombs is already researching both strategies. “We’ve started to reach out to manufacturers in Mexico, and we’re also looking at testing with two Canadian manufacturers, in Calgary and Montreal.”
While manufacturing costs would undoubtedly rise, “if we can get it made at the quality level we want, it goes from being a fun experiment to flipping our entire model around,” McCombs says. “From an ethics standpoint, we want to be sustainable and to support Canadian businesses.”
“The shorter we can make the supply chain, the more secure it's going to be,” Mapletoft says. “There are opportunities to build locally and buy locally.” He adds provincial economies such as Alberta’s can leverage existing expertise — he cites the potential for hydrogen development as one example — to catalyze new industry.
Businesses must rethink their logistics strategies, from manufacturing to transportation, Bhatti says. “We need to ask ourselves if we can do our fundamentals differently. I already see those conversations happening: people are talking about creating bench strength, additional storage space and route optimization.”
Equipping the next generation for SCM
The tools for developing supply chain expertise or establishing a career are abundant at MRU. For professionals wanting to increase their knowledge or transition into a career in SCM, the Faculty of Continuing Education and Extension offers a Supply Chain Management extension certificate.
Featuring such courses as inventory and warehousing, e-procurement and negotiating contracts, content is delivered by supply-chain professionals with extensive experience in all aspects of the field.
For an even richer foundation, in 2019 the Bissett School of Business introduced a four-year Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) with a major in supply chain management.
Bhatti says the degree program benefits from strong partnerships with industry experts hailing from such companies as Bison Transport and CN Rail who help develop a forward-facing, applied curriculum.
“These business intelligence tools such as the CN Supply Chain Analytics Lab are expensive but access to information is the key now,” says Bhatti. “Even if you’re not in analytics you should be able to make sense of data.”
While the degree program has evolved significantly since Mapletoft graduated, he speaks highly of his student experience and has stayed in touch with the faculty.
“What I keep coming back to is the foundation it gave me, from best practices in manufacturing through to consumption. I feel that some people are born for this kind of role, always being curious, trying to find efficiencies and the most value in what we’re doing.”
— Matthew Fox, with files from Peter Glenn, Andrea Ranson and Jonathan Anderson