OMG! LCL is MTWI! Should I be ROTFLMAO?

LCL, or Less than Container Load, as noted in this article over on Inbound Logistics on Less Than Containerload, More Than Worth It, was, historically, slow, costly, risky, and nothing to get excited about. But that was before we had consolidators, freight forwarders, and 3PLs who had access to advanced route planning and optimization technology that can figure out the best way to consolidate LCL shipments from multiple vendors.

As the article notes, today’s LCL is much improved, with end-to-end pricing; direct routes and frequent sailings; increased visibility and control; streamlined processes; and packaged solutions that provide security, clarity, speed, and certainty. This is true, and has been for quite a while. Logistics, Inventory, Warehousing, and Route Planning solutions have been pretty damn good for almost a decade now, and this is old news.

The only thing that’s not old news is the fact that many a shipper, still operating on the 3 bids and a buy, using the phone, and doing it like they were 20 years ago, still don’t know the realities of the new reality and are not taking advantage of all of the options that are available.

Good visibility and optimization capability allows 3PLs to consolidate LCL shipments to make FCL for most of the shipment, take advantage of empty miles using services like BuyTruckload.com that allow shippers to save as much as 20% as a full truck is better than an empty truck, increase service frequency to meet demand, and take almost direct routes to the destination. So do what’s best for your business, be it LCL, FCL, LTL, or FTL. There are good options for all of them.

Don’t Confuse Centralized Sourcing with a Centralized Sourcing Model

A recent article over in S&DC Executive on “The Four Vs of Fixing a Decentralized Procurement Model” noted that implementing a centralized model from nothing is no mean feat and then presented the Four Vs” as a good starting point to begin their path forward to centralization of selected spend categories. Centralization of spend is a necessary step on the path to a centralized sourcing model, but that’s all it is – a step.

In order to have a centralized sourcing model, you have to centralized:

  • Talent,
    all of the Sourcing and Supply Management Personnel have to be in the same business unit
  • Technology, and
    all of the operations, even if they are decentralized all over the world, need to run on a common base technology platform
  • Transition,
    all of the processes need to be migrated to common sourcing and supply management processes, with local sourcing only taking place on categories that are truly local (otherwise, sourcing should be center led)

Now, when you are transitioning processes, you should start with sourcing and procurement, as this one-two punch will give you the biggest bang for your buck. The application of good advanced sourcing techniques to categories never sourced this way, or to significantly larger spend volumes, will typically identify savings opportunities in the 10% to 12% range. Then, good procurement systems will make sure that the savings are captured by preventing maverick spend (if the spend has to go through the system and appropriate rules are in place) and making sure the invoices match the POs which will need to match the contracted rates.

And the first step in a good sourcing process is spend analysis, which, if you want to get it right, does require:

  • Visibility,
    into all of the spend in the category being sourced
  • Variance,
    on the spend between sites (which will give you a quick estimate of savings potential)
  • Velocity, and
    to savings which results by choosing categories where contracts are expiring or have expired and where there will be little resistance
  • Value.
    generated from the process in a way that can be measured, tracked, and reported to the CFO.

The four V’s covered in the article are indeed a good starting point on your journey to centralized the sourcing process, but that’s just one aspect of transition, and it doesn’t even address technology or talent, two key factors in the centralization of a Supply Management function.

Stop Blaming the Supplier! Melamine in the Milk is Your Fault!

Research reveals that only 6% of procurement managers and directors have ever been made aware of unethical activity in their supply chain. (Source: EY.com)

As much as we’d like to believe that only 6% of supply chains have unethical activity, given that almost 86% of North American companies have a supply chain reliance upon China alone for key parts1, that’s a pipe dream. Depending on how rigid you want your definition of ethical to be, I’d guess that the number should be closer to 60%.

So why is it your fault if your supplier does it? Simple. It’s because less than half of your organizations do any due diligence in their supply chains! Only 48% of UK firms do any due diligence at all! Even worse, 14% of respondents to the EY survey did not even know what third-party due diligence meant, for crying out loud! You have to do due diligence and you have to ask tough questions and someone who can be trusted has to do a site visit to major suppliers at some point. If you do all this, and the supplier lies through their teeth, then, while your company may still be held financially responsible, it won’t be held criminally responsible and ethically you will know you did all you could (except cut the supplier loose before they did the unethical act, but at least you can cut them loose as soon as they do).

This is why you need good supply chain visibility, document management, and CSR monitoring. There are companies that do this, including Resilinc, Integration Point, and Ecovadis. (See the Vendor Post Index or Resource Site for more.) Reach out and get these types of solutions if you don’t already have them. They will be worth it.

1 Supply Chain Disruptions, Ted Landgraf, Above the Standard Procurement Group, July 15, 2012

It’s Time for California to Update It’s Passenger Rail Solution

BART, Bay Area Rapid Transit, turns 40 today! While rail has more or less stood still in North America, High Speed Rail has been progressing rapidly in Asia (Japan, China, South Korea, and Taiwan) and Europe (Germany, Italy, and Spain). In fact, some high speed rail lines reach 300 km/h (185 mph). Considering a 767 cruises at 858 km/h, that’s quite impressive. In comparison, the top speed of BART is 129 km (80 mph), it’s definitely time for an update.

But things aren’t looking good, as per this recent post on SI which notes that despite the fact that the US has a 100 year lead on China on the rails, it will be at least 15 more years before the US has a decent high-speed rail line. And that’s only if the California High-Speed Rail Authority starts to build their high-speed rail line between Anaheim and San Francisco, which appears to be perpetually stalled as they continue their efforts to save a dime while losing the dollar. Otherwise, we’re looking at 25 years before Amtrak builds its high-speed rail line between New York and Washington.

California, please take the lead because we’re not going to get high-speed rail for cargo until someone builds a high-speed rail line for people.

Squeezing the Most Out of Your Supply Chain

Supply chain investment is finally on the rise again, but many companies are finding that effectiveness still declines over time after the introduction of a new solutiould be n, be it technology, business process, outsourcing, or some combination thereof. Why is your average supply chain, which, by now, should be powered by best-of-breed technologies, still not operating at peak efficiency? I’d argue that there are a number of reasons, including a continued lack of proper visibility, a continued lack of proper monitoring processes, and a continued lack of proper training, but a classic article in Supply and Demand Chain Executive takes a different twist. In “Squeezing the Most Out of Your Supply Chain”, the author, who notes that it is likely that your average supply chain is not operating at peak efficiency, indicates that a supply chain opportunity assessment can help you you determine if, and where, this is happening. This would imply that one of the reasons your supply chain is still not efficient, five years later, is that your average company probably doesn’t know where it should be focussing and that the systems it is employing might not be the right systems or the systems the company needs the most. Given that very few companies do detailed assessments before deciding what they need, instead waiting for a major disruption or fiasco that needs to be dealt with reactively, SI has to agree.

A supply chain opportunity assessment gives your company a complete look at the overall state of one of its most critical functions and provides your company with a comprehensive list of opportunities for improvement. With this knowledge, your company can define a set of actions to improve its operating efficiency and ensure that its supply chain is properly designed to support growth and flexibility to prevent supply disruption.

A supply chain assessment is a straightforward process, which, as per the classic article, can be boiled down to a succinct series of steps.

  1. Define the scope.
    Business Unit or Entire Operation? Subset of processes or full spectrum? Although you should assess your entire supply chain, it’s often best to start small, focussed on key areas, to generate some initial improvements and wins that will fund future assessments.
  2. Examine the ongoing challenges in your business model.
    Document how information, materials, and financials flow through the organization and review the metrics that are being used to evaluate effectiveness. This will help to reveal the challenges.
  3. Identify key issues impacting performance and perform a root-cause analysis.
    Also be sure to compare the company’s existing processes to industry best practices. This will help you zero in on the real improvement opportunities.
  4. Identify and prioritize opportunities.
    Determine the potential business impact of each opportunity and the relative ease with which they can be realized. Then select the most valuable ones and start with those.
  5. Develop a solutions roadmap.
    Once you’ve identified the appropriate improvements, develop a roadmap that outlines the project plan, estimated timelines, and expected costs. And follow through!

Still great advice, and advice every Supply Management organization should take.