Expect the Unexpected

 

If you've ever planned a backpacking trip, you'd know that having the right kinds and quantities of supplies is essential to completing your expedition safe and sound. This was also one of the main problems facing the Hudson Bay Company (HBC) expedition teams who had to travel mostly by canoe in a particularly harsh part of better known as the "North of Summer."

Chartered by 's King Charles II way back in 1670, the HBC based its fortune on outfitting fur traders for expeditions out of Hudson Bay in . For these teams, having the right supplies in the right quantities wasn't just an essential factor to completing their expedition, it was also a matter of live and death. It was also a matter of life and death for the HBC, whose business depended on how many expeditions successfully accomplished their objectives.

If the success of the HBC depended on the success of its customers--the expedition teams--then it stood to reason that the best way for the HBC to succeed was to help its customers succeed. And that meant making sure that they had the correct gear and supplies in the correct amounts. But how did people know what to bring and how much to bring? There probably wasn't an established body of knowledge that provided guidelines or standards for the planning and provisioning of expedition logistics. And you also couldn't depend on trial and error, because if you screwed…

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