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Why does supply chain matter for horse barns?
We all hear about the global supply chain crisis, but why does it matter for horse barns? Supply chain seems irrelevant at times since barns get critical supplies (grain, hay, shavings) from local companies and amazon/good e-commerce sites supplement the rest. So, why does it matter and what can you do to protect your barn?
First, let’s look at the major impacts of the current supply chain crisis that will impact us horse barns and owners.
- Goods from overseas. This could impact delivery of cloths, leather products and electronics. For instance, 80% of all leather products come from China.
- Goods that need to be transported. Well, this is of course everything, right? And, adding more impact to the lack of drivers is the drastic increase in fuel costs. For instance, if your hay is coming from any distance, the costs will increase.
- Goods impacted with crazy, COVID-related frenzies. Ranging from toilet paper to Ivermectin, products that were once readily available now have frenzied shortages.
What can you do to mitigate any of these challenges? Planning ahead has the biggest impact.
How you can take control...Planning Ahead
- Order early. For example, I have one of my horses on a supplement that comes in 30 day doses. First, I order 3 bottles at a time, since it is not shelf life sensitive. And, I now reorder my supplement immediately as I open the last bottle. Thus, I give it 30 days for delivery chaos
- Buy locally. Where possible, think about supporting your local businesses. Not only will it help your community, but you know you are physically getting your goods. One note here…if you plan to begin buying lots of an item on a regular basis, let the owner know so they can manage their inventory.
You can't buy HAPPINESS, but you can buy LOCAL and that's kind of the same.
- Buy in bulk. This concept has clearly worked for Costco. Buying in bulk gives you control of the items in your possession
- Inventory your first aid kits. This is good practice too do a few times a year to review inventory and expiration dates. Make
sure that if you have an injury, you have everything you need to treat and bandage that injury. - Drop an Amazon pin📍. This one we learned the hard way. We kept losing packages and having to search around the
neighborhood for where they may be. What we found was we did not have a pin set for our location. Once we set the pin, they knew exactly where we wanted packaged delivered.
To set your pin: To set delivery preferences for an individual address: Go to the Your Account page and select Your
addresses. Identify the address for which you want to set delivery preferences, and select Edit delivery preferences. Note: Delivery preferences do not apply to orders made via Amazon Punchout.
Use tools to manage your reorder
Within Equine Simplified, I have generated some useful lists to support my reorder practices. For example, I created a task list with all supplements that I reorder and the relevant website links. Thus, all I have to do is access the link, and I am on my way to reorder.
Additionally, I use a spreadsheet to help me monitor the daily average usage of my major bulk items (feed, hay, shavings). This tool helps me
- Know how many days I have left of each item based on my current and historical usage rate
- Identify if I am starting to go through these items faster
- Trigger me to reorder before I have to scramble for supply
In conclusion, planning ahead to minimize impacts that the supply chain will have on your horse barn will help you run a seamless operation.
Let Equine Simplified help you plan ahead ...so that you focus on your best horse care!
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