by Jennifer Hart Yim | Dec 6, 2016 | Big Data, Blog, Data/Analytics, Leadership, Logistics, Strategy, Supply Chain, Transportation & Trucking, Warehousing & Materials Handling
Supply chain leaders must be ready to implement big data in order to continuously improve.
This guest post comes to us from Adam Robinson, director of marketing for Cerasis, a top freight logistics company and truckload freight broker.
Supply chain leaders are enthralled with the idea of using big data, but they tend to fail to understand how to disseminate big data in their organization properly. True, they may know how to roll out big data in a single warehouse, or they may have heard their competitors used branded systems for implementing this new technology. However, the fundamental problem remains.
Supply chain leaders must be ready to implement big data and leverage it to improve their companies without any delay or inhibition. This may sound impossible and frightening, but they must only understand how big data always goes back to these two, simple principles of measurement: review and action.
Ask traditional questions, and let big data provide answers.
The most common complaint of newer companies using big data analytics capabilities tends to revolve around traditional questions of business strategy. Consider the following elements explains John Richardson of Inbound Logistics, that impact business strategy.
- Increasing order efficiency.
- Demand forecasts.
- The quantity of each product.
- Inventory location and management.
- Raw material suppliers and logistics.
- Transportation modes used in procurement and shipping.
- Distribution of goods prior to purchase.
- Demand fluctuations.
Each of these elements more traditionally handles by outsourcing analysis of processes to supply chain consultant. This is actually where the concept of third-party logistics providers involved. However, rapid growth and diversification of products are making shippers, manufacturers, and suppliers rethink their business strategy. In other words, consumers can get practically anything they want at a moment’s notice, and more consumers are expressing a willingness to wait for a product a few days if free shipping is a possibility. So, this need to adapt operations reflects the common concerns of traditional customers and supply chain entities. However, there is a distinction.
Previously, these entities only needed to focus on their local demographic for ensuring continued stability. But the rise of the internet has given consumers and everyone else the ability to access any product from any seller and any place on the globe. This is a traditional business strategy, and it is essential that the modern supply chain is willing to use big data all operations to create a more positive result than consumers, stakeholders or government organization ever needed before.
Performance measurement and management.
As explained in a previous blog post, continuous improvement in an organization can be achieved through the use of performance measurement tools via big data. Mostly, this reflects the skills and actual working capacity of employees. Since employees represent one of the largest expenses an organization may face.
Having the best staff members available can mean the difference between success or failure in a company. Furthermore, big data can help employees understand what they do and do not need to do in order to improve their performance scores. This will also help to prevent oversight from managers and keep all employees on track to complete their responsibilities as assigned.
Performance measurement does not have to be limited to the performance of employees either. It can be expanded to identify poorly performing machines, or it can be used to isolate inefficiencies in collaboration with suppliers or vendors. Ultimately, performance measurement is a metaphor for tracking any metric in the course of the supply chain, but it’s key to being effective is found in transferring the insights gleaned from big data into actionable results.
For example the operational efficiency of a given loading is directly related to how quickly pickers are able to fulfill orders and move them onto the dock. Obviously trucks can only be loaded so fast; what is the number of pickers appropriate for the current workload, or which route through the factory is adding an extra 20 minutes to each worker’s duties?
These questions illustrate that the most insignificant details can be driving forces of inefficiency in the supply chain. But they represent opportunities for continuous improvement. Changes in the design or layout of the warehouse or alterations to the truck schedule may require changing the duties of a certain worker at a moment’s notice. Essentially, the worker must be able to access continuous data measurements on all factors affecting his or her responsibilities.
Supply chain leaders need to focus on continuous improvement.
Continuous improvement is a complex notion. It is based on hundreds, if not hundreds of thousands, of individual metrics from various collection points and analyzed in real time. All of this reflects a very large volume of data. It can be digested and broken down into usable bits, much like the biological processes of the stomach making it essential to surviving the coming season.
This comparison is much more than a metaphor; it is the real issue being faced by supply chain entities and their leaders. Supply chain leaders must use big data to gather insight and create quantifiable measures of performance and functionality across their enterprises on a recurring, frequent and immediate basis.
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by Elizabeth Hines | Dec 5, 2016 | Blog, Supply Chain, Talent
Compare your company culture to the attributes of the four Hogwarts houses to determine where you belong.
Company culture is an integral part of who a business is. It affects the product, the kind of talent it attracts, and, ultimately, its business performance.
Company culture can also tell you which Hogwarts house you belong in.
Or, so say the folks at Venngage, a free infographic, template, and design tool. Venngage’s editors sorted their 54 favorite tech companies into the four houses that make up the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, of Harry Potter fame.
Companies like Twitter and Google fell into Gryffindor, Harry Potter’s house, for their best-in-class ambitions and risk-taking ways. On the other hand, the editors assigned Apple and LinkedIn into Slytherin, the house of dark lord Voldemort, because they are tactic-driven and resourceful.
Which Hogwarts house would your company belong in?
Venngage came up with attributes of each of the four Hogwarts houses that could also reflect company culture. Here are the descriptions for each house:
Gryffindor
Companies with a Gryffindor culture want to be the best in their niche (and maybe even the industry as a whole) and aren’t afraid to take risks to get there. Generally, they are the most likely to use competitive incentives, like sales targets, to drive productivity. Companies with a Gryffindor culture pride risk taking, determination and competitiveness in their team members.
Hufflepuff
An environment of community, collaboration and working towards shared goals is at the base of companies with a Hufflepuff culture. That’s why nonprofits and companies targeting education often align with this house. Companies with a Hufflepuff culture pride trustworthiness, loyalty and a strong work ethic in their team members.
Ravenclaw
Companies with a Ravenclaw culture put a lot of thought into every aspect of their business. They pride themselves on creating the best product and on refining that product through rigorous testing. Companies with a Ravenclaw culture pride creativity, innovation and thought leadership in their team members.
Slytherin
Companies in Slytherin are resourceful and tactic-drive and are always looking for new and better ways to achieve their goals. They may see the value in more traditional hierarchical structures, with a more rigid chain of command. But that doesn’t mean people in a Slytherin company culture don’t take care of their own — they simply regard experience as an important factor of authority. Companies with a Slytherin culture pride ambition and cunning in their team members.
I compared our company mission and values here at Fronetics, and I believe that we’d fall into Ravenclaw house. We are driven by data; we constantly evaluate our clients’ strategies for effectiveness; and creativity and thought leadership are our bread and butter.
What house does your company fall in?
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by Elizabeth Hines | Dec 1, 2016 | Blog, Logistics, Strategy, Supply Chain
Consumer expectations of expedited, free shipping come at a cost to e-commerce businesses — but is it worth it?
The race to deliver orders at an ever-increasing pace — free of charge — is raising the stakes for shippers and retailers. Everything from the size of packaging to the selection of the right carrier has to be examined to prevent e-commerce ventures from becoming financially unviable.
While Amazon, the uncontested super power of e-commerce, has been known to rack up big losses to gain market share, smaller players are battling to meet consumer expectations of two-day, next-day, or even same-day delivery. The Amazon effect also means consumers are less willing to pay anything at all for shipping.
As free shipping is becoming a prerequisite for building customer loyalty, retailers know that charging even a minimal amount to deliver the product can break the deal. If the cost of shipping is perceived to be excessive, 63% of consumers surveyed by Jupiter Media Metrix will cancel the purchase.
In addition, consumers have grown accustomed to adding on smaller items to qualify for free shipping. But those items — one-ounce face creams, eye shadow, ear plugs — frequently arrive at their destination at significant cost. Jupiter found, for example, 45% of companies lose money on shipping.
Shippers also pay the price as small items do not necessarily come packaged in small boxes, consuming valuable space at a time when U.S. trucking tonnage is at record highs. FedEx and UPS both made headlines early last year when they, despite low fuel prices, raised shipping rates, partly as a result of dimensional weight pricing.
Now standard industry practice, dimensional weight pricing is estimated to have increased parcel shipping costs by as much as 20%, an additional expense ultimately passed on to consumers as well as small business owners. And with e-commerce forecast to grow from $392 billion this year to $491 billion in 2018, according to eMarketer Projections, demand will remain high at the same time as the shortage of drivers appears to have no real solution.
Pressure is likely to mount further as Amazon seems to be preparing to launch its own global package-delivery service that could rival those of competitors such as UPS and FedEx. With space on pallets a hot commodity, Amazon kicked off the year by adding thousands of trailers to its fleet, which is transported by third-party carriers. The online giant also hopes to build its own U.S. cargo operations to guard itself against delivery delays that affected some shoppers this past holiday season.
So what is the small business owner with a burgeoning e-commerce business to do?
Since it may be nearly impossible to rival the speed of Amazon Prime, focusing on keeping shipping costs to a minimum should pay off, advise several experts interviewed by Entrepreneur.
Steve Strauss, author and founder of www.smallbiz.com, a small-business consulting site, recommends businesses offer at least one express service and one standard service. “In this competitive environment where there’s very little customer loyalty, things like shipping matters. Look at it this way: If you don’t have a store location, you’re saving on rent and employees. Eat the shipping. It’s a small cost to you, and customers will respond,” he said.
What do you think is the key to staying competitive in the e-commerce space?
This post originally appeared on EBN online.
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by Elizabeth Hines | Nov 30, 2016 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
Companies within the logistics and supply chain industries are increasing customer engagement, market and business intelligence, leads, and more by participating in social media.
Results from a previous Fronetics survey tell us that 100% of responding companies in the logistics and supply chain industries consider social media a strategic tool. So how are they using these platforms, and what benefits are they getting from participating?
Below, find some highlights from that survey.
By the way, if you’re interested in how companies in these industries are using social media, take our latest survey so that we can provide you with the latest results and trends. It takes about 3 minutes, and we’ll send you the new report once it’s completed.
Social media networks popular with the supply chain
According to the survey, the most popular networks are as follows.
- Twitter (94%)
- LinkedIn (86%)
- Facebook (77%)
YouTube (50%) and Google+ (45%) are networks which are also commonly used within the supply chain and logistics industries.
Reasons for using social media
Companies reported participating in social media for the following reasons.
- Increasing the visibility of their company (95%)
- Brand image (90%)
- Establishing the company as a thought leader (86%)
- Attracting new leads and customers (82%)
Top benefits realized from social media participation
Companies reported the following benefits.
- Customer engagement: 80% of respondents reported that they agree or strongly agree that by participating in social media, their company has realized an increase in customer engagement.
- Market intelligence: 80% of respondents also reported that they agree or strongly agree that their company has realized an increase in market intelligence.
- Business intelligence: 73% responded that they agree or strongly agree that their company has realized increased business intelligence through participation in social media.
Other top benefits included increased leads and increased demand for products and services.
You can download the full report below for more information on how your industry peers are using social media. And don’t forget to participate in our new survey so that we can send you the latest information.
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by Jennifer Hart Yim | Nov 29, 2016 | Blog, Talent
The stigma around boomerang employees is disappearing, and that’s good for companies open to rehiring talent that previously left.
This guest post comes to us from Argentus Supply Chain Recruiting, a boutique recruitment firm specializing in Supply Chain Management and Procurement.
Here’s another one of the myriad ways that the world of work is changing: more than ever, people are returning to companies they’ve left in the past. Just as the stigma against changing jobs and careers has been vanishing in recent years, new data shows that companies are less likely to say “you’re dead to me” when an employee leaves, and more willing to rehire them if they want to return.
Time was, you’d leave a job and never look back. Now it appears that more and more employees are considering returning to companies they’ve left for a myriad of reasons — and companies, rather than taking a previous departure personally, are more and more likely to rehire them.
A changing workforce
We liked a recent article by Brendan Browne, LinkedIn’s VP of Talent Acquisition, about this dynamic, which is something that we’ve seen in some of our recent recruitment efforts. Browne offers some interesting stats about these so-called “boomerang employees” that say a lot about changing attitudes towards workplace loyalty:
- While companies used to hold a stigma against people who left their organizations only to want to later return, 76 percent of HR managers are now open to “boomerang employees” returning to previously held positions, or a different position at the same company.
- Employees, too, are becoming more likely to boomerang. Half of millennials would consider returning to a former employer, as compared with about a third of gen Xers and baby boomers, suggesting that the generation emerging into the workforce has a different attitude about “boomeranging” back into an old employer than previous generations.
The changing concept of “loyalty” in business
The hallmark of a successful, stable working life used to be staying at one company for your entire career. It’s possible that the stigma against rehiring past employees is a holdover of that mentality. What it comes down to is a changing attitude towards the concept of “loyalty” in business.
More companies are recognizing that many people leave jobs not because they’re completely unsatisfied, but because they have ambitions, dreams, and responsibilities elsewhere. Maybe they want to launch a start-up. Maybe they need to take time to care for a sick relative. Maybe their spouse got a new job and they moved to another city. Maybe they want to get experience in another industry, or a different market. Maybe a new opportunity has opened up within the company that they’ve always had their eye on.
Companies are realizing that employees aren’t always boomeranging because they’ve “failed,” and that those employees don’t necessarily see it as a step backward.
The benefits of boomerang employees
In short, companies shouldn’t take it personally when employees leave — especially if those employees have made the effort to avoid burning bridges — and they should think about the benefits of bringing them back if and when they want to return.
- For one, a “boomerang employee” will come in with a solid understanding of the company’s culture.
- Because you’ve shown a willingness to let them pursue other opportunities, and they’ve chosen to return, they’ll be a very loyal advocate for your company’s employer brand.
- They’re a known quantity. You’ll be able to save on training costs and the time it takes to get a brand-new employee situated, which means they’ll contribute to the bottom line sooner than a conventional hire.
- A boomerang employee might also be able to bring new experiences, new skills, and even new customer contacts to bear on the job — broadening the company’s horizons while also offering these other benefits.
It’s important to note that companies should put these “boomerang employees” through the same rigorous hiring process they’d apply to a new hire. You want to make sure that they’re still effective contributors, and you want them to be able to offer a compelling reason for returning. But if they can pass this test, they can be some of the best employees around. If they made an effort to maintain the relationship when leaving, there’s no reason to hold sour grapes when they want to return.
French journalist Alphonse Karr once said, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” And we don’t think there’s anything wrong with someone applying that maxim to their careers!
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by Elizabeth Hines | Nov 28, 2016 | Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media
Supply chain companies can use influencers in their prospects’ network as a strategic tool to gain new business.
The term “influencer marketing” often brings to mind celebrities endorsing their favorite brand of bottled water or jeans — not an image that is particularly useful for B2B businesses. However, B2B marketers should be taking this powerful trend in content marketing seriously.
While your supply chain may not benefit from an endorsement by Jennifer Aniston, you likely have brand influencers at your fingertips, which you may not even realize. Effectively leveraging these endorsements is a strategic tool for gaining new business.
Developing an influencer marketing strategy
Once you’ve identified your natural influencers, here are three important steps for building an influencer marketing strategy for your company.
1) Know your target buyer.
Rather than a scatter-shot approach, making the effort on the front end to identify your target buyer personas allows you to strategically target your customers. Understanding their needs, challenges, and purchasing structures is the key foundation to any content marketing effort, and influencer marketing is no exception.
2) Identify your industry influencers.
Industry influencers aren’t just the big names, though those people are certainly influential. It comes down to how your buyers make their purchasing decisions. The 2016 B2B Buyer’s Survey Report found that nearly half of B2B buyers use peers and colleagues as a major information resource when choosing a vendor.
Who are those peers and colleagues whom your target buyers turn to? Use every resource at your disposal to determine how they get their information. Connecting on LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social networks is a great way to do this.
3) Use the right tools for your business.
Any effective content marketing strategy depends on using the most effective tools. In a post for CMS Connected, Leah Kinthaert makes a strong pitch for Twitter. She cites the ease of plugging in a hashtag or keyword in giving you “volumes of information — from who the influencers are in that industry to what today’s breaking news is on the topic.” Furthermore, clicking on a hashtag shows you what your competition is doing as well.
The bottom line is that influencer marketing can be an extremely effective aspect of a B2B business’ content marketing strategy. Knowing your buyers, finding your influencers, and effectively leveraging this information will help boost your social credibility, as well as generating new business.
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