LA Times profile highlights importance of supply chain logistics

Illustrating the importance of properly maintaining supply chain logistics, a recently published report highlights the struggles that small business owners face as they work to turn a profit. 

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times Money & Company Blog, Don Myers, the owner of a restaurant in Southern California, told the newspaper that the biggest mistake he has made in his professional career involved not properly securing his supply chain. Myers affirmed that a mix-up in his past from nearly decades ago still haunts him to this day.

In 1993, Myers was a newly hired general manager of a restaurant in Anaheim, a Southern California enclave located about a 45 minute drive from Santa Monica. The Freedom Bowl was being held and he had booked 1,000 USC fans in his restaurant, and an additional 4,000 people across the street for fans of a rival football team from the University of Utah.

According to Myers, he realized too late that he had not checked to ensure that he had enough paper products and beverages for the thousands of fans. After he checked his receipt from his supplier, it read: "One thousand cans Coca Cola delivered, 2,000 on back order. One thousand paper plates delivered, 9,000 on back order."

After the near debacle, Myers hopped into his car and loaded it up with 10,000 paper plates and 2,000 cans of coke. He raced back in time to avoid complaints from the attendees, but he said he had learned his lesson about how to properly manage a company's supply chain. "After that I had a complete checklist for catering and personally did the inventory of all items needed," he told The Times.