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Author: Dillon Rust, Owner of Dilly-Bird Woodworks LLC
Major: Transportation and Logistics Management
Graduation: May 2026
Abstract: During the fourth year of running my business, a concept I learned in my supply chain management class was put into use: the importance of having backup suppliers. The application of what I learned in that class allowed me to navigate an unexpected disruption in my supply chain.
For the first three years of running my business, Dilly-Bird Woodworks, I used primarily two different suppliers for lumber and sheet goods. The first supplier was my old boss from my first job which was at a custom cabinet shop. Since he would order large quantities of lumber and sheet goods for his business, I would request to add the material I needed for my business to the order because I did not meet the minimum order quantity to have it delivered. This worked for a while, until some issues started to be realized.
The first issue was that I had to wait till he needed material for his business before I could add my order to his. This caused some delays and issues with coordination when I needed material when he was not ready to order. The second issue was that he had the responsibility of unloading my material into his shop and storing it there until I could pick it up. The difficulty of coordination and storage prompted me to look for a real supplier before the relationship between my old boss and me was strained.
The second place I would get material from was a big box store. This posed an entirely new set of challenges. The first challenge was the selection of lumber that was offered. Most of the big box stores that I went to charged a lot more for their hardwoods and sheet goods. The second issue was that the selection of hardwoods in general was limited and the quality was not to the standard I required.
With these issues in mind, I searched for a local supplier that had a great variety of lumber of the quality that I needed and at a great price. I found a great supplier in Duluth, Minnesota, who met those standards. Later that year, however, he announced that he was closing that location and would be closed for a few months. Immediately after I heard the news, I searched for another supplier. The one I found was further away, and while it did not have as much variety in its lumber offerings, it sufficed for the jobs I was working on at that time.
The supplier in Duluth did open again with the same great selection of lumber and the opportunity to order in bulk. The concept of having multiple back up suppliers that I learned in supply chain management class helped me in dealing with the shock in my business’s supply chain.
