Reiser’s Pieces: Surviving the Storm - How to Future-Proof Your Supply Chain

Ask yourself: How much disruption can your supply chain really handle? Tariffs announced one week, delayed the next, then suddenly back on the table, every shift forces suppliers to scramble. Yes, retailers have been rushing to stock ahead of potential reciprocal tariffs, temporarily filling ports, but everyone knows the rebound won’t last. NRF’s Global Port Tracker is still projecting a double-digit drop in imports through the fall, with some months expected to plunge nearly 20% year over year. For small and mid-size businesses especially, it’s a daily gauntlet: longer lead times, rising freight costs, canceled sailings, and retailer scorecards that won’t wait for geopolitical uncertainty to settle.

Delays upstream force last-minute pivots downstream, and the pressure doesn’t stop at the warehouse door. Miss one delivery window, and fines stack up. Non-compliance with ever-growing retailer logistics requirements chips away at already thin margins. It’s not just tariffs that sting; it’s the inefficiency they expose in a disconnected supply chain. When you’re spending more time reacting than planning, it’s tough to keep your team focused on driving the business forward.

So, how connected is your order-to-cash process? When an order comes in, do all the moving parts, ERP, 3PL, retailer EDI, speak the same language? Or does it feel like a relay race with too many dropped batons? ERP setup, 3PL management, and retailer EDI all have one thing in common: They require significant upfront investment in technology and people…only for you to later spend even more time figuring out why retailers are deducting for the very processes you worked so hard to put in place.

In short, here’s what these terms mean. ERP, Enterprise Resource Planning, is the system you rely on to run your business. EDI, Electronic Data Interchange, is the format retailers use to send purchase orders and invoices. And 3PL, Third-party Logistics, is the warehouse partner that picks, packs, and ships on your behalf. In theory, they work seamlessly. In reality, each handoff is a potential fail point, especially when tariffs force rapid shifts in sourcing or timing.

We’ve all seen how deductions creep in when it’s not working right. Maybe it starts as a small pile you promise to clear “later,” until later never comes. Or when you finally dive in, it’s too late and the claims get buried in a catch-all “co-op spend” bucket. Was it a compliance issue? A mislabeled shipment? A missed EDI transmission? Regardless, the charges add up fast, quietly eating into your bottom line. Even when you identify the root cause, the fix often requires cross-functional collaboration you may not have the time or resources to coordinate.

The suppliers that navigate these storms well have a few key things in common: communication, collaboration, and most importantly, a connected supply chain. From manufacturing to warehousing, transportation, order management, invoicing, deduction management, and sales…every link knows how the process works, what information is needed to keep it running, and how to communicate when the inevitable error occurs. That kind of alignment doesn’t happen by accident. It takes a disciplined approach and, often, experienced partners who know how to bridge the gaps.

Why does this matter more than ever? Because retailer demands for data and connectivity grow more stringent by the day. Non-conformance doesn’t just take dollars out of your business; it can disrupt distribution entirely. And if you’re waiting to hear from your buyer that performance has slipped, you’re already too late. Staying ahead requires real-time visibility, actionable data, and an integrated supply chain that not only meets retailer expectations but stays ahead of them.

The payoffs for getting it right? Significant. Take a mid-sized CPG brand we worked with whose 3PL couldn’t keep up with retailer requirements. Logistics fines were eating up 2% of sales, and because they were shipping only their own products on purchase orders, transport costs climbed to 5.2%. By consolidating retailer shipments, tightening compliance processes, and streamlining their order-to-cash workflow, those logistics fines dropped to 0.6%, and transport costs fell to 1.8%. The result? Hundreds of thousands saved, redirected toward growth instead of patching holes.

And this isn’t an isolated case. When ERP, retailer EDI, 3PL management, and deduction recovery are integrated into a single, end-to-end process, you gain more than efficiency. You gain visibility, predictability, and the confidence that you’re meeting retailer requirements before the fines hit. Our team has seen how this connected approach can reduce average days sales outstanding by 40 days and cut retailer chargebacks to a fraction of typical industry levels, unlocking time and resources for growth instead of firefighting.

Tariffs will come and go. Retailer scorecards will keep evolving. And there will always be another disruption around the corner. But an integrated, well-managed supply chain supported by the right processes, systems, and partners who bring every piece of the order-to-cash puzzle together seamlessly—can steady the ground beneath you. Done right, it reduces cost, accelerates payment, and unlocks capacity for growth. Done poorly, it quietly erodes profitability until you’re too busy playing defense to move the business forward.

Are you ready to stop reacting to chaos and start building a supply chain that is resilient, connected, and prepared for what comes next?