When Wal-Mart is Better than FEMA . . .

we have real trouble.

The hurricanes that flattened the Gulf Coast in August and September tested corporate logistics and supply chain operations, as companies struggled to move relief supplies and inventory to and from the region before and after each storm. One lesson from these storms is that having procedures for communicating quickly about what needs to be done is as essential for companies as having integrated inventory and logistics systems.

"Resilient companies communicate obsessively," says Yossi Sheffi, director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics.