14 August, 2026

Heatwaves: A Supply Chain Stress Test

Posted on 14 August, 202614 August, 2026 by David Priestman

This summer’s heatwaves have been impossible to ignore, writes Tim Moylan, Chief Growth Officer, Infios. Across Europe, soaring temperatures have disrupted travel, strained public infrastructure and changed daily life. They have also exposed something less visible: the growing pressure extreme weather places on supply chains.

Businesses may also need to prepare for more than rising temperatures alone. Scientists broadly agree that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation – the system of ocean currents that helps shape Britain and north-west Europe’s climate – will weaken as the planet warms, although there is continued debate about how quickly and severely. Even a weaker circulation could contribute to more volatile weather, combining extreme summer heat with greater exposure to cold winters and changing rainfall patterns.
Many shoppers will have noticed the immediate effects. Refrigerated cabinets in stores are occasionally taken out of service as cooling systems struggle with prolonged high temperatures. Bottled water, soft drinks and ice cream disappear from shelves faster than retailers can replenish them, while deliveries arrive later as transport networks contend with disruption.

Behind every empty shelf or delayed delivery lies a chain of operational decisions. Warehouse managers may adjust shifts or introduce additional breaks to protect employees, while transport operators reroute deliveries or work around affected infrastructure, including rail speed restrictions and increased road congestion.

These are sensible responses to increasingly common conditions. The question is no longer whether supply chains will face weather-related disruption, but how quickly they can adapt, including when conditions shift in less predictable ways.

Heat creates operational challenges at every stage

Extreme heat creates knock-on effects across warehousing, transportation, inventory management and fulfilment. Heatwaves can reshape consumer demand almost overnight. Sales of bottled water, ice cream, fans and air-conditioning units can surge while demand for other seasonal products falls. Retailers must replenish fast-moving inventory and reposition stock as buying patterns shift.

At the same time, delayed inbound deliveries, lower picking productivity and transport disruption can create bottlenecks. A problem at one stage can quickly affect inventory availability, warehouse capacity and customer delivery expectations elsewhere.
The challenge is not anticipating a heatwave. Weather forecasting is increasingly accurate. It is translating that forecast into timely decisions across procurement, inventory, warehousing, transport and fulfilment before disruption takes hold.

Greater weather volatility makes this more complex. Supply chains designed around familiar seasonal patterns may increasingly need to prepare for sharp changes in temperature, rainfall and transport conditions rather than assuming the past will remain a reliable guide.

Warehouses under pressure

Distribution centres are particularly exposed during heatwaves. Heat generated by equipment, automation, vehicles and densely stored inventory can push internal warehouse temperatures significantly above those outside. Protecting employee wellbeing may require additional breaks, task rotation, altered shifts or reduced physical workloads during the hottest parts of the day.

These are the right decisions, but each affects capacity. According to the World Health Organisation and World Meteorological Organisation, worker productivity decreases by 2% to 3% for every degree increase beyond 20°C in Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature – a measure of heat stress accounting for temperature, humidity, wind speed and sunlight. Even modest reductions in picking rates across multiple shifts can therefore create backlogs during demand peaks.

High temperatures can also affect equipment. Battery-powered vehicles and automated systems may require additional management, while teams must balance productivity with safe operating conditions.

Resilient warehouse operations therefore depend on flexibility. As labour availability, productivity and priorities change, operations must rebalance work without compromising employee safety.

Transport networks feel the strain

High temperatures can increase vehicle breakdown risks, place additional demands on refrigerated transport and contribute to delays across road and rail infrastructure. Refrigerated fleets must work harder to maintain controlled conditions, increasing energy consumption, while drivers may need more frequent breaks and infrastructure operators may impose rail speed restrictions.
For businesses operating just-in-time supply chains or offering narrow delivery windows, even small delays can have significant downstream consequences. When plans change, organisations must quickly reassess priorities, allocate available capacity and give customers realistic delivery expectations.

Preparing for greater weather volatility also means avoiding a narrow focus on heat. Colder winters, altered rainfall and sharper swings between conditions could each affect transport infrastructure differently, requiring plans that can adapt to multiple scenarios.

Cold chain operations face even greater risks

For organisations handling food, pharmaceuticals, healthcare products, cosmetics or chemicals, the stakes are higher. Maintaining temperature-controlled conditions throughout storage and transportation is critical to product quality, regulatory compliance and customer safety.

During extreme heat, refrigeration systems work harder, transportation becomes more complex and the margin for error narrows. Products may need to move faster through distribution centres, while businesses must identify and respond to disruption before it compromises product integrity or creates waste.

The risks can extend beyond temperature-sensitive goods. Adhesives, protective films and corrugated packaging may also become more vulnerable during storage and transport.

Visibility is only the starting point

Organisations have far greater visibility into their operations than they did a few years ago. They can identify delayed shipments, monitor warehouse activity and track inventory levels in near real time. But visibility alone does not solve disruption. Knowing that productivity has slowed only becomes valuable if an organisation can adjust labour, reprioritise orders, redirect inventory or revise transport plans accordingly.

This is where ‘Intelligent Supply Chain Execution’ becomes important. Traditional supply chains were designed around predictable conditions and optimised primarily for efficiency. In a world where disruption is constant, organisations need supply chains that can sense what is happening, determine the best response, act quickly and learn from each event.

Artificial Intelligence can support this shift by analysing operational data alongside demand patterns, inventory positions, transport constraints and weather forecasts. This can help organisations identify disruption earlier and make faster, better-informed decisions, while leaving human teams in control.

During a heatwave, this could mean anticipating demand increases, repositioning inventory, adjusting warehouse priorities as productivity changes or recommending alternative transport options when routes are affected. The same capabilities can support responses to other weather extremes. As conditions become more volatile, organisations must understand how different scenarios could affect demand, labour, inventory and transport, then coordinate their response across the operation.

The goal is to help teams make better decisions faster. The organisations that perform best during disruption are not necessarily those with the most information, but those that can turn it into coordinated action.

Preparing for a hotter future

Climate-related disruption is becoming another operating reality alongside geopolitical uncertainty, labour shortages and shifting consumer demand. The debate around the future of the Atlantic circulation illustrates why businesses cannot plan around a single, predictable climate scenario. While the precise effects remain uncertain, organisations need to prepare for a wider range of operating conditions.

Rather than treating each heatwave, cold spell or period of extreme rainfall as an isolated event, organisations should view them as tests of operational resilience. This means building supply chains that can adapt as conditions change, whether disruption stems from extreme weather, transport delays, unexpected demand or workforce constraints.

The businesses that thrive will not be those with contingency plans sitting on a shelf. They will be capable of sensing disruption early, making informed decisions quickly and acting with precision. Organisations cannot control the weather. They can, however, control how quickly and effectively they respond.

Driving Change: Respect for Women in Transport

Posted on 14 August, 202614 August, 2026 by An Industry Expert

Breaking barriers, challenging stereotypes and creating workplaces where women can thrive are all key, writes Claire McKinlay of Route to Respect.

For generations, industries such as transport, logistics, freight, construction and engineering have been described as male-dominated. It is time to challenge not only that description, but the culture and perceptions that have allowed it to remain true for so long.

Talent has no gender. Ambition has no gender. Leadership has no gender. Every woman and young girl should know that these industries are open to her. Whether her ambition is to become an engineer, driver, operations manager, technician, logistics professional or future industry leader, she should feel that she has every right to take her place.

Throughout my career, I have seen first-hand the incredible opportunities these sectors can offer. I have also seen some of the barriers women can face when entering and progressing within traditionally male-dominated working environments. That experience became one of the driving forces behind Route to Respect.

Inspiring the Next Generation

One of my greatest passions is encouraging more women and girls to explore careers they may never previously have considered.
Young people are often asked at a very early age what they want to do with the rest of their lives. Yet how can they make informed choices if they are unaware of the opportunities available to them?

We need greater visibility. We need women already working within these industries to share their experiences, and we need young women to see that careers in transport, logistics, construction, freight and engineering are not simply ‘jobs for men.’ Sometimes, seeing someone who has already walked that road can be enough to make another young woman believe that she can walk it too.
But attracting women into these industries is only part of the challenge. We also need to create workplaces where they want to stay.

Recruitment Is Only the Beginning

Increasing the number of women entering transport and operational environments is important, but recruitment statistics alone do not create inclusion. What happens after a woman joins the organisation? Does she feel safe, respected? Is her voice heard? Does she have appropriate welfare facilities and PPE? Can she see opportunities to progress? And, perhaps most importantly, does the culture make her want to stay?

These are the conversations organisations need to be having if we genuinely want to improve female representation and retention.
Through Route to Respect, I work with transport and operational teams to improve safety, communication, inclusion and retention, with a particular focus on women working in operational and frontline roles.

Turning Conversation Into Action

My practical workplace workshops are designed for depot managers, frontline leaders and their teams. Rather than relying solely on policies and presentations, the sessions focus on real workplace scenarios and practical actions that can strengthen culture and improve day-to-day operations. I have seen the impact that this approach can have.

In my previous leadership role, focusing on the experiences of women and making practical improvements within the workplace delivered positive change. It demonstrated something important to me: improving workplace culture does not always require enormous interventions. Sometimes it begins with listening. Sometimes it is better communication. Sometimes it is recognising a problem that has simply become accepted as ‘the way things are.’ Small changes, when supported by committed leadership, can create significant improvements.

It’s about creating a workplace that makes women want to walk through it — and giving them every reason to stay.

Supply Chain’s Weakest Link?

Posted on 14 August, 202614 August, 2026 by Peter MacLeod

We talk endlessly about supply chain visibility. But there is another form of supply chain visibility that perhaps deserves rather more attention: how exposed is your supply chain to cyber attack?

A new survey highlighted on logisticsbusiness.com recently makes for uncomfortable reading. Only 55% of businesses say they actively monitor cyber and technology risks across their supply chains. That seems remarkably low at a time when so much of logistics depends on interconnected digital systems.

The consequences of getting this wrong were demonstrated rather spectacularly last year. Marks & Spencer’s well-documented cyber attack in April 2025 caused widespread disruption, including the suspension of online orders. The company’s digital operations were badly affected for weeks, with the retailer eventually restoring online ordering only in June. M&S subsequently confirmed that some customer personal data had been taken, although payment details and passwords were not compromised. Arguably the reputational damage this caused will haunt them for much longer.

The Co-op suffered a cyber attack around the same time. Whilst its response was more contained, it still had to shut down parts of its IT infrastructure as a precaution. The disruption affected systems including stock monitoring and virtual desktops, with knock-on implications for the support of its stores and wider operations. Its food stores and home delivery services continued to operate, but the incident demonstrated just how quickly a cyber problem can become an operational problem.

And this is where I think the logistics industry needs to pay particular attention. Logistics companies routinely hand over sensitive information to third parties because they have to. Carriers need shipment details. Warehouse operators need inventory data. 3PLs need customer and order information.

Technology providers need access to operational systems. Visibility platforms, telematics, WMS, TMS, APIs and cloud services all create connections between organisations that are enormously valuable operationally – but potentially valuable to an attacker too.

The industry also has an awkward dependency simply cannot be overlooked: we rely more and more on connected digital systems to keep physical goods moving. The answer, of course, isn’t to stop connecting systems – as digital integration is fundamental to building the efficient, visible and responsive supply chains that businesses now expect.

But it does mean that cybersecurity should no longer be ignored, or simply regarded as somebody else’s problem. If your operation depends on a network of suppliers and technology partners, their security and not just your own is part of your resilience.

Incidentally, we’ve been rather busy these past few days putting the finishing touches to the August edition of Logistics Business magazine. The digital edition is live on our website now, while the print edition will be posted to subscribers over the next few days. As always, there is a heck of a lot of exclusive content in it – interviews, analysis and plenty of original insight that you won’t find anywhere else – and I’m particularly proud of this issue. It’s full of knowledge that can help your business run smarter and bring you competitive advantage.

But, to bring it all back to cyber security, always remember that there is little point building the world’s most optimised supply chain if someone else can simply switch it off.