Hats Off to Companies Doing Well (by Doing Good)

If anything this COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, aside from the reminder to wash our hands often, is how crucial it is for a company’s supply chain to be agile and flexible, ready for literally anything. The primary defense against uncertainty and volatility has been, and will continue to be, an agile supply chain.

Those companies with an agile supply chain have:

• Elasticity with regards to the overall capacity of the chain, the underlying and dependent services, and infrastructure
• The ability to rapidly provision and de-provision partners, suppliers, carriers, and applications in response to supply chain disruption
• 360-degree governance disciplines and mechanisms such as end-to-end visibility, proactive, automated error handling, the monitoring of events and resources, and the measurement and auditing of transactions

As we listen to our customers in these unpredictable times, we are learning some amazing stories of how they’re expanding their business focus to leverage their organizational strengths to help others. Underpinning those decisions, in at least some cases, is them knowing they have the flexibility to pivot without curtailing their day-to-day business readiness.

It’s a classic case of “doing well by doing good” and with that in mind we wanted to share a few vignettes of how just some of the companies we do business with are helping combat COVID-19 in ways that only they can. Here’s a few examples:

New Balance

New Balance -- is obviously primarily a shoe manufacturer, but it just recently said that it has begun to develop face masks to address the significant demand for these supplies in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The company is coordinating its efforts with government officials and local media institutions as well as other U.S. consortiums and testing facilities.

Digi-Key

Digi-Key, the fourth largest electronic component distributor in North America, is coordinating with the University of Minnesota to create a plan that will make parts for low-cost respirators, devices that could save lives. While ventilators usually can cost as much as $3,000 to $13,000, this new design could be built for just $1,500.

Starkey

Starkey, based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, makes hearing aids, and recently announced that it donated more than 80,000 masks to healthcare workers in Hennepin County in Minnesota. Because the demand for protective equipment is growing, Starkey felt it had an opportunity to help keep these workers safe during these challenging times.

Prairie Farms Dairy Inc.

Prairie Farms Dairy Inc., has said that it is partnering with the American Dairy Association of Indiana to provide over 500 gallons of milk to Indiana CACFP (Child and Adult Care Feeding Program) during COVID-19. The company has also donated a truck load of milk to the Northern Illinois Food Bank.

Jockey

Jockey announced plans to support first responders and health care workers across the country by donating critically needed Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to battle COVID-19. On a national level, Jockey will supply health care workers on the front lines with critically needed Tier 3 Isolation Gowns.

We salute these and every company out there making a contribution, big or small, and we will add to this list as we learn of more examples.

Our CEO, Mahesh Rajasekharan explained in a letter to customers how Cleo will continue to play a unique role in business continuity, financial health, and your customer relationships. You can also find all kinds of resources that we’ve put together on our COVID-19 landing page, including an FAQ, blog, and three part video series from Frank Kenney and Bruce Hamblin about supply chain disruption.