FMC Report Identifies Barriers to Better Supply Chain Relationships

The lack of direct customer relationships between actors in the commercial supply chain, such as shippers and marine terminals, hinders problem solving, and lack of mutual commitment impedes realizing the full potential of customer relationships, according to the Federal Maritime Commission’s final report of its Supply Chain Innovation Initiative. In areas such as service contracting and export container availability, the lack of mutual commitment or “skin in the game,” can stunt customer relationships, FMC Commissioner Rebecca Dye, leader of the initiative, said in a statement. "One of our Export Teams recommended a ‘premium customer’ option that would solve the dual problems of export container availability and carrier booking integrity by increasing mutual customer commitments of carriers and exporters,” Dye said. In developing the report, Dye led six Supply Chain Innovation Teams, which all supported a National Seaport Information Portal to provide supply chain actors with critical and timely supply chain information. She noted she is closely following a Port of Los Angeles pilot to improve visibility of supply chain information.