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August 9, 2018 - Supply Chain Flagship Newsletter
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This Week in SCDigest

bullet Smart Ideas for Reducing Transport Costs bullet SC Digest On-Target e-Magazine
bullet Supply Chain Graphic & by the Numbers for the Week bullet Distribution Digest
bullet Cartoon Caption Contest Continues bullet Trivia      bullet Feedback
bullet New Expert Insight and Supply Chain by Design bullet On Demand Videocasts
 

THIS WEEK'S SPONSOR: AMBER ROAD

 
 


 
     
first thought

SUPPLY CHAIN NEWS BITES


Supply Chain Graphic of the Week
The Top 25 Ocean Container Carriers

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Autonomous Trucks Will Not Kill Driving Jobs

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Apple Threatened by China over Trade War
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US Logistics Sector Keeps Adding Jobs
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Amazon Share of Total Retail Keeps Growing

NEW EBOOK PROVIDED BY AMBER ROAD
Learn how a Digital Global Supply Chain can Reduce Risk and Establish a Solid Foundation for the Future

CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST CONTINUES

July 16, 2018 Contest



See The Full Cartoon and Send in Your Entry Today!


Feature Story: US Market for Warehouse Space Remains Red Hot, with Availability at Near Record Lows

 

ONTARGET e-MAGAZINE
Weekly On-Target Newsletter:
August 8, 2018 Edition

Cartoon, Amazon AR Patent, Levi's Goes Green, Toyota Fuel Cell Truck, More

eBOOK PROVIDED BY LOGILITY



Using Multi-echelon Inventory Optimization to Achieve Measurable Operational Improvements



NEW EXPERT INSIGHT
Getting to S&OP Success
by Henry Canitz
Product Marketing & Business Development Director
Logility

EXPERT INSIGHT
BOPIS to the Rescue - Inventory Integrity
by Richard Wilhjelm
Vice President, Sales and Business Development
Compliance Networks

SUPPLY CHAIN BY DESIGN
Putting AI in the Hands of Truckers


by Dr. Michael Watson

NEW REPORT PROVIDED BY SOFTEON






TRIVIA QUESTION

What are the top 5 US states in terms of manufacturing output?

Answer Found at the
Bottom of the Page



Smart Ideas for Reducing Transport Costs

We are obviously in what may be unprecedented period of rising transportation costs. The Cass Linehaul Index, which measures US truckload rates, was up 9.5% year-over-year in June - the largest monthly jump in the history of the index since its inception in January 2005. That broke the previous record of a 9% jump just before that in May.

What's more, rising oil and diesel costs are adding a double whammy to shippers. Many prominent companies are citing rising transportation costs as putting real pressure on the bottom line.

Just getting capacity is a parallel issue, with shippers reporting they might have to tender to more than a dozen carriers to get one acceptance - if they can get one at all.

GILMORE SAYS:


Lots of companies claim to be interested in being the shipper of choice, but for many if not most, it's just lip service.

WHAT DO YOU SAY?

Send us your
Feedback here

So what can shippers do? Below is a list of ideas, combining some maybe obvious ones with some more out of the box thinking, in some cases as noted coming from others.

Dust off the Trade Curves: Every company is operating along some trade off curve(s) that classically balances transportation costs versus inventory and/or service. Where are you on the curve, and should you move along it towards say more inventory, lower transport costs? Time to get out the textbooks.

Get a Real TMS: Repeating what I and I am sure many others said in the 2004-05 era, if you can't justify a new, upgraded TMS now, something isn't right. And the availability to access every TMS today on the Cloud means much faster time to benefit, and much less IT disruption and need for those scarce resources.

Good enough is no longer good enough. From load consolidation to optimal routing (note even UPS keeps upgrading its routing technology) to automated tendering and more, a quality TMS is simply a competitive necessity.


Model Your Network: If your logistics network is even moderately complex, modeling your network provides enormous opportunities to analyze operations and flows to look for freight savings opportunities. It also enables the ability to rapidly answer questions as needs/opportunities change.

Such modeling can come from a formal supply chain network design tool (e.g., LLamasoft) or custom model creation, from someone like my friend Dr. Mike Watson and his firm OpEx Analytics, among others.

Such modeling has moved from a nice to have to a must have. If you haven't done it, you are missing opportunities.

Mine Your Data: While things are certainly better today for many shippers than just a few years ago, few companies still well mine and leverage what is usually mounds of data to look for opportunities and just as importantly where dollars are leaking out of the system.


For example, a major consumer goods company recently found several sources of leakage from rates as achieved through a carrier bid optimization process to what was actually achieved in actual execution, and closed many of those holes.

Get More Freight on Each Truck: The reality is that few companies fully maximize their loading capacities. This is for a variety of reason, including a lack of technology. A company such as Warehouse Optimization optimizes pallet builds and then full truck loading in a way that maximizes available trailer cube, generating savings of 4-8%.

More Consistently Execute According to Plan: Do you track what percent of outbound are executed according to plan? My experience is that many don't, and that this leads to extra costs. There can be a variety of reasons, from changed/cancelled orders to lack of process discipline. But as with most such measurement, simply focusing on the metric will likely bring improvement in the results.

Trading Partner Collaboration: While, depending on the sector, there is a fair amount of supplier-customer collaboration going on out there, I think we can all agree there is room for a lot more, which can take transportation costs out for almost free.

In its current precarious financial state, I am not sure what is happening at former retail giant Sears, but about a decade ago it built a technology tool to pursue what it called "Collaborative Transportation Engineering." The system and approach allowed Sears to take data on logistics from its suppliers, marry that with its own network and flows, and a huge percentage of the time find savings opportunities that would be shared between the two companies.


Horizontal Collaboration:
This typically refers to transportation collaboration between others unconnected companies. The simplest example is finding other shippers that have complementary freight moves to enable round trips or continuous moves. While attempts in the US to do this from a centralized platform (i.e., the old Nistevo system) have largely fallen flat, many companies are doing it more informally, generally reducing freight costs and in this environment locking up capacity.

So, maybe you should start "dialing for dollars" with other shippers in the neighborhood to explore opportunities. The barrier here is primarily simply behavioral.

But horizontal collaboration can go far beyond load linking. For example, there is the concept of "co-mingling" freight, where a company that ships dense heavy products might combine loads with a maker of light, bulky products, such as insulation. The combo results in more fully utilizing the trailer and saves money for both parties.

Unfortunately, the concept is much more mature in Europe than the US (more on this someday soon). I spoke with one consultant last year who said that while shippers know such opportunities exist, there are always so many other opportunities for transportation improvement without horizontal collaboration that it just can't make the priority list. There is quite a lot in that simple statement, if you think about it.

Better Connect Procurement to Transportation: Taking basic control of inbound only takes you so far. More opportunities probably exists in optimizing purchase order timing and quantities to deliver maximize transport efficiency. It takes quite a bit of analysis, but such an effort can lead to savings of 15-25%, US Foods found a few years ago.

Become the Shipper of Choice - Really: Lots of companies claim to be interested in being the shipper of choice, but for many if not most, it's just lip service. Processes really don't change substantially, or regress after temporary improvements. And that means it will be all the harder to get a carrier to take your load.

I recently had the CEO of a small carrier (60 trucks) tell me things are still so bad in the food/grocery sector (loading delays, requirement to use lumpers, etc.) that right now he is accepting no tenders from those shippers. And in this environment, he doesn't have to.

How easy or not it is for carriers not only at your facilities but those of your customers makes a huge differences in how likely it is that a carrier in this environment will accept your move.

My friend Mike Regan of TranzAct Technologies tells the tale of Ardent Mills, which as part of its program to become the shipper of choice collected survey responses from 800 drivers that served its facilities - and use that insight to drive improvements that made things better for drivers and carriers, getting more consistent acceptances as a result.

Get Smarter about when to Use the Spot Market - or Not: Geoffrey Milson, a senior director at consulting firm enVista, tells me, based on analysis of historical truckload shipment data compared to market spot and market contract rates, he's finding that shippers have a very hard time establishing the "optimal mix" of each on their lanes.

What this means, he says, is shipper often turn to the spot market when they shouldn't, and don't when they should. While he says it isn't realistic for any shipper to achieve the optimal mix, often shippers are getting this wrong than 50% of the time. With a more real-time understanding of the markets, costs can be reduced.

Get Your Processes Tighter: Regan also says that currently, if you are giving carriers only 24-48 hours to pick-up a load, you are likely going to pay 15-20% more than if you give the carriers say four days.

But this takes process discipline and cross-functional collaboration - not easy. But the prize seems worth the effort - and it seems Lean Six Sigma type techniques could be well leverage to address the challenges.

 

Think this is a pretty good list - what would you add?

Any reaction to Gilmore's list of ideas to reduce transport costs? What would you add? Let us know at the Feedback button below.

 


   

On Demand Videocast:

Digitizing the Order Management Process



Orders Still come in Many Different Forms and Systems - Here's How to Get them Under Digital Control

This videocast discusses breaks down all the ways in which orders can arrive, the downstream challenges associated with each, and the benefits of digitization.


Featuring Dan Gilmore, Editor along with Esker's Sarah Joiner.

Now Available On Demand

On Demand Videocast:

Reducing Costs through Automated Inventory Replenishment & Analytics


How Motor City Industrial Taps into Data Visualization to Help Customers Identify Waste, Reduce Inventory


This videocast discusses how to connect people, processes and technology across commerce and supply chain operations to achieve unified commerce.


Featuring Dan Gilmore, Editor along with Joseph Stephens, CEO, Motor City Industrial, Jay Fielder, Supply Chain Technology Manager, Motor City Industrial and Mike Wills, Chief Revenue Officer, Apex Supply Chain Technologies.


Now Available On Demand

On Demand Videocast:

Yes, Retailers and Distributors Can Survive and Thrive by Unifying Commerce and Supply Chain

Integrated Approach will Improve Customer Experience as Smart Retailers Move Beyond Omnichannel

This videocast discusses how to connect people, processes and technology across commerce and supply chain operations to achieve unified commerce.


Featuring Dan Gilmore, Editor and enVista CEO Jim Barnes, a highly recognized industry expert on retail and distribution.

Now Available On Demand

YOUR FEEDBACK

We are way behind on Feedback. Catching up on some email here.

Feedback on a New Way to Think about Gartner and the Top Supply Chains:

comma

Excellent article, thank you for your analysis. Whenever I see a comparison or rankings of this nature it makes me think, who's raising the question (who cares) and why?

 

Beyond obvious bragging rights does an analysis of this nature equate to a higher stock price? Do underwriters give more favorable rates or increase the scope of coverage? Does the CEO use the analysis as a way to communicate to shareholders that the organization is achieving a greater return on invested capital? Or for a Risk Manager does it mean that the higher ranking organizations will be able to better manage (or exploit) "black swan" events?

 

If we move away from the operational performance metrics, does a higher ranking equate to greater difficulty for disrupters or new entrants to enter the market? Does the ranking equate to greater financial leverage over suppliers or the customer (a greater willingness to pay)? Does the ranking reflect overall speed of execution in the market, i.e. not just inventory turns but an ability to exploit an opportunity?


Dan, I think your article brought to light the elephant in the room and a question many think but don't ask. As a former Gartner Research Director I am very aware of "the process" and the purpose for these studies. Gartner's value is it's directional research. They are also in the marketing business and must create hype, community and competition. Studies (and conferences, research notes, special research projects) do exactly that! This is about the benefit to Gartner and their ability to drive business.

Of course, they are not alone and I don't mean to infer that they act alone. Bottom line: until the "who asking the question" and "why" are the motivated to address such a question, then studies of this nature are limited to entertainment value.


Gary S. Lynch
CEO and Founder
The Risk Project, LLC




Feedback on Home Depot and the Arc of Supply Chains:

 

comma

 

Excellent story. For supply chain to be a competitive advantage, dynamic operating model approach is a must. You got to pro-actively understand (I mean, really understand...) your customers and shape the operations/supplychain to provide a personalised, meaningful and profitable customer experience... Little bit of tinkering here and there just doesn't cut it.

 

You can sweat your assets only so much. If the alignment is fundamentally flawed, you will only create stress... And on a different angle, endless personalisation won't get you far.

 

Vikram K Singla
Oracle


Feedback on Gartner Conference:

 

comma

 

Picking up on your report on what Anthony Bourke was saying and your comment reminded me of a 30 minute meeting I started holding with my logistics team every Friday just before lunch. I asked each one to select something that had gone right that week and to flag up one that had gone wrong. I then asked them to report on one concern about what might go wrong the following week.

 

It certainly concentrated minds and after a relatively short while brought through a great deal more collaboration and made a major contribution to improved customer service and cost control.


David MacLeod
Learn Logistics Limited

comma

An excellent round up of the proceedings. I particularly liked the way you covered Fareed Zakaria's observations on the threats of increasing digitization. It was great reading through your summary. Thanks indeed.

Krishnan


comma

 

SUPPLY CHAIN TRIVIA ANSWER

Q: What are the top 5 US states in terms of manufacturing output?

A:(1) California; (2) Texas; (3) Ohio; (4) Illinois; (5) North Carolina.

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