Your supply chain brings materials and equipment to your job site so they can be used to assemble finished products. When your vendors cannot provide the materials you need or your equipment gets blocked along the way, your company encounters supply chain issues. These issues can be caused by natural disasters or man-made events. For example, both a hurricane and a worker strike can shut down a port.
Any factory or facility can experience supply chain issues, but sites in remote areas might experience more problems than others. Simply put, these places are harder to get to, which means there are more opportunities for problems to arise. Some sites are so remote — like those related to mining, agricultural, and oil operations — that they need unique equipment and specialized workers to bring supplies and resources to the location.
Here are a few unique supply chain issues that companies with job sites in remote regions face — and how they can be overcome.
1. Staffing
Your staff is part of your supply chain. Without the right employees, you cannot operate at full capacity. Companies running remote sites often struggle with staffing because they need their team to leave their homes and families for extended periods. It is also harder to hire for skilled positions because you don’t have a large nearby talent pool to pull from.
A strong example of this is the American oil and gas industry, which is short 100,000 employees compared to pre-pandemic levels. Oil and gas companies need people to perform grueling work and potentially live offshore. That isn’t desirable for many people who end up seeking employment elsewhere, creating production backlogs in the field.
Teams have multiple options to overcome staffing issues. They can overhire to anticipate higher turnover rates because of the nature of remote work and they can work with contractors and contracting firms when they need to fill staffing gaps. Knowing that staffing is a problem is the first step toward fixing it.
2. Logistics
It is often harder to get to remote locations because there aren’t as many roads, ships, and rail lines to your work site. For example, when wildfires ravished Maui in 2023, some residents and crews only had one paved road to escape. If one road is closed, there isn’t a detour to go around.
Remote locations can also be challenging for teams moving specialized equipment, which can be expensive, heavy, and delicate. For instance, a 3406 Cat Engine weighs more than 3,200 pounds while a Cummins QSB engine or ISB 4.5 L Engine can weigh around 1,000 pounds. Even if you choose a lighter engine, you’re still moving heavy equipment.
Many companies do their best to implement smart systems and optimize their remote work sites, but they still need to get their equipment and materials to those locations. One option is to invest in local infrastructure and work with local leaders to get the roads you need. Also, consider the logistics of transporting equipment before you start a contract.
3. Safety Hazards
There are also significant safety hazards that come with remote work sites. Roads might not be as well-maintained and the terrain might be more rugged, increasing the chances that accidents happen.
Access to medical care on remote sites is also a significant issue. While accidents can happen at any job site in the world, it’s much harder to get medical care when your workplace is far from the nearest town or city. This is currently a concern with the United States military because half of the active bases are located in healthcare deserts. This means residents don’t have easy access to primary, mental, and maternity care.
If something goes wrong on a remote job site, it could take hours for your team to reach your nearest healthcare facility. One way to create a safer work site is to keep a medic on staff. This person will be able to triage issues and stabilize injuries if a worker is injured. This gives them more time to be transferred to the emergency room.
4. Visibility
Visibility refers to your ability to track resources and equipment as they head to your job site. For example, you can see when your equipment is scanned at a warehouse and when it arrives at a nearby facility. Visibility is essential for preventing supply chain issues. If you are immediately alerted to problems, you can expect delays and work to remediate them.
Visibility is difficult in remote areas because companies have to be more creative in shipping items to their job sites. There are more steps in the shipping process, creating more opportunities for things to go wrong.
One way to improve your visibility is to invest in GPS tools and AI-based technology to make tracking your orders easier. You can also hire vendors who also utilize these systems. This way everyone has a clear view of where your supplies are.
5. Laws and Regulations
Laws and regulations can change over time, especially if you work in remote international areas. New governments can affect your ability to operate in certain locations and environmental protections can change the equipment you can use and your operations processes.
Just like having a medic on staff allows you to respond quickly to safety hazards, keeping a lawyer or legal team on retainer to help you will make it easier to respond to new regulations. These professionals can help you proactively respond to changes so you aren’t caught off guard. Many laws in the United States have a waiting period of several months before they go into effect, giving you ample time to respond.
6. Oversight
Working remotely can be challenging for leadership teams who are not on-site. You have to trust that your managers are keeping everything up to code and ensuring your staff follows your work instructions. Without clear oversight, you risk running out of supplies, falling behind on deadlines, or completing poor-quality work.
To maintain effective oversight in remote environments, invest in AI tools and IoT systems. Technology can help you better track your supplies and workflows to ensure everything is getting done as you expect. For example, AI tools can be used to determine which workers are wearing hard hats and which ones aren’t, allowing for remote safety checks.
7. Delegation
Delegation is also difficult in remote work sites because you can’t automate laborious tasks or bring in additional staff to help out. It’s hard to upgrade workflows when you already worked so hard to bring your current processes to the site.
To improve delegation, start by communicating with your management team. They might have ideas to optimize systems and get the work done more efficiently. For example, adding smart technology to inventory management saves time and makes oversight easier. Furthermore, develop a culture of continuous improvement. You don’t need to revolutionize your job site today but can take steps to make it better over time.
Remote job sites are challenging, but your company can handle them. Know that your supply chain issues aren’t unique and there are solutions to overcome your problems. As long as you take steps to increase your visibility, safety, and workflows, you can get the job done right.
