Technology Sustentation 75: Mobile Movement (Madness)

The mobile movement, as we pointed out in technology damnation 75, is as much of a curse as it is a blessing. As we noted in our post:

  • you will be expected to work anywhere, anytime;
  • data entry will be painful as small screens, and smaller keyboards made for real mice, will be the norm (and you can thank Apple and their new mini 4″ iPhone); and
  • task time will triple as small, limited power processors, chug, chug, chug trying to deal with media-heavy websites and bloated data transfer protocols despite the fact that
  • suppliers and customers will expect a whole new level of relationship management

So what can you do?

  • define your relationship management processes and protocols and make sure new suppliers and customers know, day one, what they can expect and the level, and kind, of service you will provide
  • limit the amount of functionality that your applications will support on a mobile device to needed functionality
  • make sure mobile applications and devices support scanning/sensor reading as much as possible (bar codes, QR codes, RFID chips, etc.); manual data entry should be web-based OCR (image, upload for server processing, user override, save); etc.
  • make sure support channels are well defined so that only people who are working or on call get contacted when requests come in — don’t automatically route a non-critical support call to the primary rep at 3 am in the morning when a secondary support rep is on call half a world away at 3 pm in the afternoon (VOIP is a wonderful thing)

We’re stuck with these devices whether we like ’em or not, so let’s make sure we design for them appropriately and work-life boundaries are properly set, otherwise, we’ll all be asking:

Can I Play With Madness?

Provider Sustentation 69: 3PL Firms

Just like 3PL firms were the first provider damnation we covered, they are also the first provider sustentation we are going to cover. For many under-staffed, under-supported, and under-platformed logistics departments, 3PLs are a blessing because, without sufficient staff to analyze options or modern technology platforms to crunch the numbers, 3PLs offer the organization an instant cost savings, a substantial time savings, flexibility, and, presumably, focus. But, as we said, these advantages are there for a reason — to cloud the disadvantages that 3PLs also bring. 3PLs are a true double-edged sword that, depending on the angle you see it from, shines as bright as the sun or drowns you in the darkest night of the abyss.

As we clearly said in our damnation post, in exchange for:

  • cost savings, the organization gets IT headaches
  • flexibility, the organization gets a loss of visibility
  • focus, the organization gets a complete loss of control

Why?

  • the 3PL uses its own TMS, and doesn’t give a damn whether or not it integrates with any of your systems
  • the 3PL contracts the carriers, and if it the carrier gives you sucky service, too bad as you’re stuck with them until the contract is over (which could be a while if it services the 3PL’s bigger clients good)
  • the 3PL manages the carriers it contracts, the lanes they take, the cross-docks they use, and so on and as a result your visibility into where your stuff is at might be limited to expected ship date, current status, and expected delivery date

But all is not lost. If you properly pre-qualify, properly pre-nup, and properly (pre-)define the commitments, you might only see the bright and shiny side of the double-edged sword — the side that cuts through your problems and leaves only cost savings, flexibility, and focus in its weight. Of course, to do this, you have to make sure that:

  • during the pre-qualification phase you
    • be sure to dig-deep into the TMS, out-of-the-box integration support, data import/export options, and timelines for custom integration
    • be sure to ask a lot of questions about standard carrier contracts, common carriers, selection process, and the input you can have over it
  • during the proposal phase you
    • make sure the provider gives commitments on system integration timelines, carrier selection process, issue response and resolution times, and support availability
    • make sure the 3PL provides active references of a similar size, proof of necessary insurance or regulatory approvals, and other documentation that will be needed upon signing
  • during the final contract pre-nup phase you
    • make sure the carrier agrees to penalties if integration dates are missed, deliverables are late, or promised performance never materializes
    • make sure the organization can back out if problems persist or go beyond a certain point of severity

As we said before, the right 3PL, that is properly selected, agrees, and adheres to the right terms and conditions, will be a lifesaver for many companies, but the wrong one could bring the organization to its knees. So it’s critical to select the right 3PL.

Higher Adoption is Where the True Value of Optimization Lies

Today, Sourcing Innovation (SI) released it’s latest optimization paper, sponsored by Keelvar, on Optimization: Higher Adoption is Where True Value Lies (registration required).

As SI has said repeatedly, optimization is the ultimate sourcing strategy, but optimization is still grossly under-utilized. And this is a crying shame. Because of this, an honest appraisal of its failure to become the de-facto standard approach in all mature Procurement functions is overdue. That’s why, unlike most of SI’s papers to date, this paper looks at the softer side of optimization and starts out by taking a look at why adoption rates are historically low before discussing what is changing in the marketplace and how a radical increase in adoption could be just around the corner. An increase in adoption that is sorely needed if the true value of optimization is to be realized.

So, while previous papers focussed on defining complex sourcing and what comes next, this paper focusses on what is critical to drive adoption: the needs of the average buyer and supplier. It discusses the need for flexibility, speed, and simplicity above feature-bloat and power. The need for user-friendliness over functionality (as only a few categories require the full power of today’s optimization engines). The myths that have been holding you back. And what a modern platform needs to increase adoption not only by Procurement organizations but, more importantly, by users within a Procurement organization. The maximum value is obtained when everyone uses the optimization-backed sourcing platform. Not just a few super-users.

We discuss, for example, how a platform that supports an instant analysis after each RFP is submitted that presents the lowest total cost of ownership taking all costs, capacities, and business constraints into account provides a buyer with considerable value as the buyer can go straight to negotiations, or contracting. These new platforms prevent the buyer from having to waste countless hours on side-by-side comparison reports and off-line analysis to identify the best buy for the organization. This usability allows the platform to be applied to every category, which not only gets more spend under management, but, at the end of the day, pushes more savings straight to the bottom line.

SI strongly recommends that you download Optimization: Higher Adoption is Where True Value Lies (Registration Required) today and then, if you don’t have such a platform, do something about acquiring such a platform.

For example, the vendors who have a true optimization-backed platform will happily demonstrate the power of their platforms on one or more categories you have run in the past. Pick a direct or indirect category (not transportation or packaging, every optimization vendor can do these over-analyzed categories well) where you’ve had issues due to stakeholders not being happy, actual savings being far less than expected, supplier relationships fraying, etc. Then, contact one of the few optimization-powered sourcing solution providers, provide your data, define your constraints, and watch them demonstrate in a matter of minutes how much you could have saved.

But since that won’t be enough, because every CXO says you could always do better in hindsight, kick-off a low-cost paid trial (see SI’s previous post on why paid pilots are the future) on a few jointly-selected current, critical, categories that typically hide large savings opportunities that the organization has never been able to tease out. As the provider helps you run these events on their turn-key SaaS cloud-based offerings, you’ll quickly see the power, the ease, and the real-world results that you can use to build an internal case for acquisition of an unlimited platform license that will quickly be followed by mass adoption. And since it doesn’t cost six (or even seven) figures to get started anymore, there’s no reason not to do it.

Four Hundred Years Ago Today …

The Catholic Church attempts to return the world to the Dark Ages when they ban Nicolaus Copernicus’ book: De revolutionibus orbium coelestium where he puts forward the correct heliocentric theory that the Sun is the centre of our solar system (which was essentially the known Universe at that time).

And while he was not the first to do so, as Aristarchus of Samos had posited such a theory almost 1,900 years earlier, it was the seminal work on the matter during the Renaissance and one of the most detailed as Copernicus went to great detail to reconcile the known orbits of the planets with his heliocentric model. The only drawback of Copernicus’ model (published in 1543) was that he held onto the circular orbits of the Ptolemaic system (that put the earth at the centre), something not corrected until Kepler posited that the orbits were actually elliptical in 1609.