by Jennifer Hart Yim | May 30, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Supply Chain
Larger societal changes are affecting the way companies are planning their Supply Chains of the future. Here are the five biggest fallacies in supply chain management right now.
This guest post comes to us from Argentus Supply Chain Recruiting, a boutique recruitment firm specializing in Supply Chain Management and Procurement.
Lots of things are happening in Supply Chain Management. The field is becoming more digital, with end-to-end planning and blockchain technologies transforming the way products are coming to market. It’s becoming more strategic, as companies integrate their Supply Chains and use them as a source of competitive advantage – instead of just a back-office function. Larger societal changes are affecting the way companies are planning their Supply Chains of the future – everything from the looming arrival of driverless cars, to consumers’ demands that companies be more socially responsible.
We’ve written about quite a few of these topics ourselves. They’re exciting. They’re impactful on business. And – most relevant for us at Argentus as a recruitment company – they’re changing the talent picture by transforming the skills that Supply Chain professionals need to succeed.
[bctt tweet=”A new article in Forbes, “The Biggest Supply Chain Fallacies,” by Supply Chain researcher and beat writer Steve Banker, challenges a few of the assumptions underlying current supply chain management trends.” username=”Fronetics”]
A new article in Forbes, “The Biggest Supply Chain Fallacies,” by Supply Chain researcher and beat writer Steve Banker, challenges a few of the assumptions underlying these trends, and calls out some of the conventional wisdom that’s taken hold in the field.
We wanted to take the opportunity to discuss and respond to some of Mr. Banker’s points (because who doesn’t love a little bit of controversy?) as well as to throw it to our readers for further discussion. Whether you agree or disagree with some of Mr. Banker’s arguments, they’re thought provoking to say the least.
So here are the biggest fallacies he sees in the field right now, as well as our thoughts:
Fallacy 1: Blockchain will make everything traceable in Supply Chains, leading to greater supplier transparency.
We’ve covered Blockchain quite a bit in recent months. In short, companies are using Blockchain’s distributed ledgers to form a public record of where goods come from, allowing consumers to trace goods in the supply chain. The goal is to make the origin of goods more transparent, allowing companies to prove that goods haven’t come from workers under abuse or unsustainable sources.
Why This Might Be a Fallacy: According to Banker, Blockchain doesn’t solve the “garbage in, garbage out” problem that goes along with big data. His point: if a supplier lies about the provenance of a good at the point of origin – say, a farmer pretending beef is grass fed if it’s not – it doesn’t matter how transparent the Supply Chain is from that point forward. He says that Blockchain won’t eliminate the need for other kinds of certification in the Supply Chain, and we tend to agree – but does that mean it won’t be useful? No.
Fallacy 2: Corporate Social Responsbility initiatives improve a companies financial performance.
We’ve touched on Corporate Social Responsibility (or CSR) when discussing the annual Top 25 Supply Chains list with Gartner’s Michael Massetti. More companies are raising expectations of environmental sustainability. Some massive companies have pledged to eliminate excess waste in their supply chains entirely in the coming years, and there’s a lot of talk that sustainability helps the bottom line by improving sales and lowering costs (e.g. fuel).
Why This Might Be a Fallacy: Banker points out that companies shouldn’t assume that CSR efforts will necessarily improve sustainability. In his eyes, they’re good for society – but they have less financial benefit in business-to-business-selling industries (where customers won’t pay a premium for sustainable goods) and developing economies.
Fallacy 3: There’s a shortage of truck drivers – a threat to the Supply Chain stability – because young people don’t want to drive trucks.
The Logistics industry press has been writing a lot about a shortage of truck drivers, with a lot of anxiety about how the demographics of truck drivers are skewing older and older.
Why This Might Be a Fallacy: Banker is responding to the prevailing wisdom that says the truck driver shortage comes from millennials wanting other careers. He retorts that the median truck driver salary of $42,553 is the reason why young people don’t want to go into the field, and that the industry should raise drivers’ wages if it wants to attract applicants – instead of waiting for driverless trucks which, in Banker’s opinion, are father off than they seem. He cites data from the American Trucking Association that wages have risen between 15 and 18 percent from 2013-2017, and says this should mean that the shortage will be overblown.
Fallacy 4: Improved forecasting will always lead to lower inventory levels.
This one is a bit of a sacred cow in the world of Supply Chain analytics. Everyone knows that demand planning isn’t completely foolproof, but these forecasting solutions are improving with the advent of machine learning and other technologies.
Why This Might Be a Fallacy: Similarly to #2, Banker wants to put a bit of a pin in the hype about forecasting. He wants to challenge the assumption that better demand forecasts will always lead to lower inventory levels. In his mind – and we tend to agree – some things are still unpredictable no matter how advanced the forecasting technology. For example, if a recession hits unexpectedly, demand will be way lower than expected and you’ll likely have tons of excess inventory.
Fallacy 5: Companies who have functional excellence will always win.
Banker challenges the assumption – or “trap” as he calls it – of privileging any function’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) over the success of the Supply Chain ecosystem as a whole. Better reporting and data have made for an increased reliance on KPIs to maximize performance in areas like Sourcing, Logistics, Manufacturing, and Sales.
Why This Might Be a Fallacy: According to Banker, if you rely on excellence in any particular function’s KPIs, you risk hurting another function and the overall business. For example, if a company is measuring their Procurement function on price, and they source materials based on price without emphasizing quality, this can harm manufacturing will still making it look like Procurement is succeeding.
Banker argues that companies who take a more holistic approach – through processes like Integrated Business Planning (IBP) – will win over companies who prize excellence in any particular function. From our perspective, this is something most companies recognize they need to do, even if they aren’t always successful at executing it.
Whether you agree or disagree with any of Mr. Banker’s assertions, we still think it’s always valuable to question conventional wisdom and hype.
Please check out the original article, and then we want to hear from you! What do you think about any of these topics? Is Mr. Banker right, or is he barking up the wrong tree?
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by Elizabeth Hines | May 29, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Data Security, Data/Analytics, Manufacturing & Distribution, Marketing, Strategy, Supply Chain
While information-heavy companies employ entire teams dedicated to cyberattacks, American factories have quietly been growing more and more susceptible.
It’s been eight years since the widely publicized Stuxnet virus was released to wreak havoc on its unsuspecting victims. Are we in a better place now to deal with a highly sophisticated next-generation Stuxnet-style attack?
[bctt tweet=”Information heavy companies have entire teams dedicated to cyber defense, while American factories have been left more and more susceptible.” username=”Fronetics”]
Most experts say no. In fact, studies suggest that manufacturers, in particular, are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. While information-heavy companies have grown to employ entire teams dedicated cyber defense, American factories have quietly been growing more and more susceptible.
Time to Pay Attention
Ransomware attacks, in which hackers use malware to encrypt data, systems, or networks until a ransom is paid, are alarmingly common. According to a recent report from Radware, 42% of global companies have dealt with this kind of attack. That number has been steadily rising. The number of companies reporting financially motivated attacks has doubled in the last two years.
Manufacturers — if you haven’t been paying attention yet, it’s time. This summer, about half of the organizations targeted by the sweeping Petya ransomware cyberattack were manufacturers. The recent WannaCry virus actually forced a Honda plant in Japan to halt production.
And there’s a bit more: The Wall Street Journal recently reported on what they call a new type of cyberattack that targets factory safety systems. Hackers who attacked a petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia last year specifically focused on a safety shut-off system.
Is the WSJ right? Is this a new trend? Will hackers begin targeting control-system computers that manage American factory floors, chemical plants, and utilities on a more regular basis? Maybe.
There are plenty of theories that even the most crippling ransomware attacks like Petya and WannaCry are, at their core, motivated by something other than money, namely sheer pleasure in chaos and disruption. The potential damage to factory production and safety systems is growing. Now is the time to wake up and pay attention.
Factories Growing More Susceptible
Factories and manufacturers are at a heightened risk for a few coinciding reasons.
The complexity of our supply chains is a liability. With parts and materials from diverse and sometimes changing sources, as well as networks that can span all phases of production, our supply chains are large and constantly adapting and, because of this, extremely vulnerable.
The intensity of the manufacturing schedule raises a second issue. Many manufacturing facilities run around the clock, and halting factory production for testing is often cumbersome and costly.
The third reason is, of course, the byproduct of a manufacturing sector that has become steadily more data-driven and dependent on information technology. As manufacturing has steadily merged with technology to create the Industrial Internet of Things, we too have unknowingly created a space in which hackers see the potential for massive amounts of under-protected data, equipment, networks, and intellectual property.
How Can We Prepare
We’ve all heard the mantra, “The first step to solving any problem is admitting you have one.” A core concern has been the manufacturing sector’s inability or unwillingness to face this growing threat.
A report summary issued through a joint venture between MForesight and the Computing Community Consortium warned, “There’s a widespread failure to reckon with the risks.” The report recognizes that solving the issue will be long-term and complicated, but offers a few suggestions, including wide-reaching efforts to increase awareness, collaboration with trusted third-party partners, and cybersecurity research and development.
In the shorter term, maybe this can help. Last year the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a Cybersecurity Framework Manufacturing Profile that provides a roadmap to managing cybersecurity and reducing risk to your manufacturing systems.
But I think Sridhar Kota, professor of engineering at the University of Michigan, hit the nail on the head in his article entitled A Plan for Defending U.S. Manufacturers from Cyberattacks, when he wrote: “Cybersecurity needs to become a deeply ingrained part of every manufacturing company’s culture — embedded in management decisions, workforce training, and investment calculations.”
The risks to manufacturers are growing from all-too-common ransomware attacks to sophisticated Stuxnet-style assaults targeting our safety systems. Its’s time that we in the manufacturing sector think of cybersecurity, and cyber defense, in absolutely every decision we make. To do otherwise is reckless.
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by Fronetics | May 24, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
Influencer marketing capitalizes on the relationship between popular influencers and their followers to help your organization reach your target audience.
By now you’re aware of the latest marketing trend: influencer marketing. For decades, Hollywood elite have been used to promote everything from make-up to movies and now this trend is taking over the most popular social media sites.
[bctt tweet=”Why is influencer marketing so effective? Because buyers trust influencers talking about your products and services more than they trust you talking about yourself.” username=”Fronetics”]
Influencer marketing is a form of marketing in which marketers identify individuals that have influence over potential buyers and create marketing campaigns and activities around these influencers. Why is this so effective? Because buyers trust influencers talking about your products and services more than they trust you talking about yourself.
Is influencer marketing here to stay?
Linqia’s latest report, The State of Influencer Marketing 2018, shows that companies are already taking full advantage of this marketing trend. The report shows that 86% of marketers used influencer marketing in 2017, and 92% of marketers that tried it found it to be effective.
But don’t just take our word for it. Here are some statistics that prove you should pay close attention to this trend.
Infographic: Influencer Marketing and the Supply Chain
(Made with Canva)
With 39% of marketers planning to increase influencer marketing budget this year, B2B companies are quickly seeing the leverage that influencers can have over their target audiences. By teaming up with the right influencer, marketers can easily reach thousands of potential consumers, increasing website traffic and leads.
The bottom line: influencer marketing can be an extremely effective aspect of a B2B business’ content marketing strategy.
Have you tried influencer marketing? How was your experience?
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by Fronetics | May 23, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Strategy, Supply Chain
If you’re hoping to generate more leads on your website, you’re going to have to develop a holistic content strategy and create many strong calls-to-action.
You may have read part one of this mini-series about the importance of having a solid website if you’re going to invest in content marketing. Essentially, there’s no point in pouring a bunch of time, money, and resources into a robust content marketing program if the website that you’re driving traffic to stinks.
Be thoughtful about the role your website plays in the lead-generation process. It’s a really important piece of the puzzle that companies often overlook.
Consistently producing quality content and distributing it through various channels, like social media, will help attract your target audience to your website. But unless you provide them with a good user experience while they’re there — and give them plenty of opportunity to opt in to learn more about your business — you’re not going to move them down the sales funnel. And you’re not going to generate more leads on your website.
So how do you ensure your website is a lead-generating machine? Here’s what I know.
5 tips to generate more leads on your website
1) Create a holistic content strategy.
I can’t overstate the importance of creating a content marketing strategy, documenting it, and then designating someone to lead it if you want your content marketing to be successful. As part of that strategy, you should outline the role your website will play in assisting the conversion of leads.
Ask yourself these questions:
- Do different pages of my website suit prospects at different stages of the buyer’s journey?
- Where do I want traffic to go from each page (so prospects move further down the funnel)?
- What calls-to-action can I add to each page to assist them in that move?
- Which pages are ripe for lead conversion, and which are better for providing information?
- If you’re using the topic cluster model (which you should be!), where are my pillar pages and corresponding topic cluster pages?
Also, make sure your messaging is consistent across your website and your regularly published content (like blog posts).
2) Think about the user and how s/he experiences your site.
Hopefully in creating a holistic content strategy that includes your website, you’re thinking primarily about how the user will be interacting with your site and each page. That means organizing pages in a way that makes sense for the prospective customer, rather than internal politics.
That sounds easy, but I have helped many organizations for whom this is incredibly challenging. Often, one department (or person) feels strongly that something very important to them deserves real estate on the homepage or in the main navigation. But, if it’s not something that is meaningful to a prospective customer, you’d best not cave. Doing some usability testing with prospects is a good way to collect data to support your reasoning.
Also to consider: think about the language your buyers are comfortable with, and avoid any overly jargony or technical wording. Make sure to lay things out in a way that is approachable for them. And aim to provide the information they seek, rather than trying to sell them at every step.
3) Publish original, quality content.
Along those same lines, the best way to convince today’s B2B buyer to choose you as a vendor is to win them over with your content. Content marketing is all about positioning yourself as an expert in the industry, after all, the business that knows the most about your product/service.
Instead of promoting your business on every page, use each as an opportunity to showcase your expertise. Create resources that will help buyers better understand how to solve their pain points. And make sure everything you publish is well-written, offers value to prospects, and is completely original. You want people to want to read what you have to say.
Consider incorporating various content formats to cater to different learning preferences:
- In-depth blog posts and articles
- Infographics for visual learners
- Short video tutorials or explainers
- Podcasts for those who prefer audio content
4) Strategically place strong, visible calls-to-action.
I’ve hinted at this one already, but it bears further explanation. Make sure your website is full of calls-to-action, or buttons/links/forms that ask visitors to do something further. After all, how do you expect someone to take an action (like providing their email address) if you don’t ask them to do it?
You can generate more leads on your website by asking visitors to become leads more often.
Make sure these calls-to-action stand out on the page so that visitors’ eyes naturally go there. Be very clear about what you’re asking for and/or what the user will get in return when they complete the action. And, again, be strategic about what you’re asking people to do on which page. You won’t have much luck, for example, asking visitors to call a sales rep on a page that is designed to assist them with initial information-gathering.
Pro tip: Use A/B testing to optimize your CTAs. Try different colors, copy, and placements to see what resonates best with your audience.
5) Offer value with your calls-to-action.
Sometimes it might take a little convincing to get visitors to provide their contact information. The best way to persuade them? Give them something they want in exchange.
We call this high-value content. Examples might include:
- Case studies
- White papers/industry reports
- Webinars
- Tutorials or how-tos
- Demonstrations
- Sneak peaks or previews
- Guides or ebooks
- Podcasts
Ask visitors to download your high-value content by completing a form, which asks for their email address. Set up your marketing automation to email the content to them, then send a series of lead-nurturing emails following up at strategic intervals to keep them moving down the sales funnel.
If you want to generate more leads on your website, follow these five steps. Above all, just be thoughtful about the role your website plays in the lead-generation process. It’s a really important piece of the puzzle that companies often overlook.
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by Fronetics | May 22, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Supply Chain
If you don’t give visitors many easy, attractive opportunities to convert on your website, content marketing won’t generate leads for you.
I’ve been noticing a trend lately that I wanted to share.
We talk with a lot of supply chain and logistics companies who are interested in the idea of content marketing. They’re catching on to the benefits, particular those involving lead generation. They know that creating high-quality, original content on a regular basis — mostly, timely blog posts on a weekly (or more frequent) basis — can drive organic traffic to their websites. And a lot of that traffic will be marketing- or sales-qualified leads.
[bctt tweet=”Content marketing won’t generate leads if you’re driving visitors to a website that stinks.” username=”Fronetics”]
That’s great! I’m glad supply chain and logistics companies are increasingly interested in content marketing. But there’s one problem: Some aren’t willing to take a holistic approach to this solution. Mostly, they aren’t willing to improve their websites.
I totally get it: Websites are a major investment — both financially and temporally. But so is content marketing. And you would be wasting a lot of time and money investing in a content marketing program if all the leads you’re going to drive to your website don’t convert or end up with mixed messaging about your business.
When content marketing won’t generate leads
Content marketing won’t generate leads if you’re driving visitors to a website that stinks. How do you know if your website stinks? Here are a few examples:
Your content is disorganized, unclear, or filled with jargon.
I see this most often. Companies create websites without considering a larger content strategy. Their company or products/services have evolved over time, but the website has not evolved with it (or someone quickly threw up a couple of extra pages without considering the site map as a whole). And, worst of all, web pages become filled with jargon and corporate speak because companies don’t take the time to strategize web page creation as part of that larger content strategy.
Messaging on your website pages serves internal purposes rather than helping customers.
So many businesses create their websites and fill pages with information about their company. “Wait, isn’t that what a website is for?” you might be asking.
No, I would argue. Your website, like your content, should service the customer first. You should design it with the user in mind, helping that prospect find the information they’re seeking and move seamlessly down the sales funnel.
Sure, you should include information about your company on your website. But too many times I see organizations forget about their customers in the creation of their sites. And when prospects visit, they’re caught in a web of the company’s self-promotion — an no closer to making a purchase than before.
There are no opportunities for conversion.
This one seems obvious. But, for some reason, companies frequently create websites hoping to generate leads but give visitors few (or hidden!) opportunities for conversion. If each page doesn’t have a clear call-to-action, specific to the page’s content, with the opportunity to submit contact information, how do you suppose visitors are going to become leads? I’ll say from experience, very few, if any, will proactively reach out and ask to join your email list.
Get it together
If you’re going to make the significant investment in content marketing — and lead generation is your primary goal — you have to think about your website, too. Otherwise, the traffic you’re driving to your site will never convert. And you’ll have wasted your time and money.
Want to make your website an effective lead-generating machine? Stay tuned for part 2 of this post tomorrow: 5 Tips to Generate More Leads on Your Website.
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by Fronetics | May 21, 2018 | Blog, Logistics, Strategy, Supply Chain, Talent
Millennial talent seeks employment opportunities with companies that promote transparency, technology, excellence, and social change.
We write often about the supply chain talent gap and how supply chain companies should be proactively recruiting millennials to join their companies. So a recent Harvard Business Review article, which talks about how companies that “young people find dull” (like electrical distributors and manufacturers) can make their businesses seem “cool,” seemed particularly relevant.
While we adamantly disagree that the supply chain isn’t cool, we do think it’s important that logistics and supply chain companies think strategically about recruiting millennial talent.
Millennial talent and the vision thing
According to a new study by strategy firm Department26, “Transparency is the millennial standard operating procedure in the workplace.” Honesty and security are top of mind for this generation that came of age just as the country plunged into The Great Recession.
[bctt tweet=”Beer kegs and ping pong are nice, but millennials are more impressed with leadership that sets goals and delivers on them. ” username=”Fronetics”]
Beer kegs and ping pong are nice, but millennials are more impressed with leadership that sets goals and delivers on them. They want to know how their role contributes to the organization’s success, and they want to know the effort they’re putting into a job is worth it.
“Setting them up for success means regular check-ins, both positive and constructive feedback as a rule, and structured mentorship,” write the authors of the Department26 study.
People say millennial talent doesn’t work for money, and it’s true that they’re not motivated by salary alone. Younger employees want meaningful work that enhances their personal growth.
They also want flexible work rules that show an employer respects and trusts them. Sharing details of your strategic plan or examples of how your HR policies reward personal initiative can help millennial talent see your “boring” business in a new way.
“The thought of not being granted flexibility in exchange for hitting performance metrics is absurd to millennials, and it’s a concept that’s diametrically opposed to the freedom they crave,” the study concludes.
Talk tech
Logistics or trucking can sound dull to the iPhone generation — until you paint a picture of forward momentum and innovation that might surprise them.
Automation, robotics, autonomous vehicles, blockchain, drones and the Internet of Things (IoT) are reshaping the industry. Companies like Amazon, Pfizer and Wal-Mart are experimenting with new technologies to reduce costs, boost productivity, and improve handling performance.
“Wearable technology could soon become a standard must-have in the logistics industry,” according to a recent story in The Business Journals. “As these technologies continue to carve out their role in the global logistics industry, we’re likely to see previously unimagined levels of optimization — from manufacturing to warehousing to delivery.”
Find ways to change hearts and minds by exposing young people to the realities of today’s supply chain. If they think it’s boring, it’s because they really don’t know what it is.
Be the best damn supply chain company anywhere
People want to work for “the best” — the most innovative, the most profitable, or the most admired brand — in every industry. Workers are proud to say they work for a company recognized as being the best at what it does because it says they’re the best, too.
Even millennial talent that has never thought about a career in logistics might reconsider if they’re being recruited by an industry leader.
Celebrate excellence at your company. Promote the awards you’ve won. Share customer testimonials, positive media coverage, and community recognition with prospective recruits.
It also helps to do well by doing good. This is a generation that trusts business, not government, to create positive social change. “Millennials are hungry for a work culture that inspires them. At a macro level, companies should communicate clear plans that reflect their core values,” says Department26.
HBR author Bill Taylor summarizes these sentiments well: “What [millennials] value is the chance to join companies that make a difference and where the work brings out the best in them.”
How is your company recruiting millennial talent?
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