by Elizabeth Hines | Jun 12, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Leadership, Logistics, Marketing, Supply Chain
If you want to be a better delegator, you have to assemble a strong team and make sure they use you as a resource, among other things.
We’ve all heard it: the ability to delegate is critical to being an effective leader. And yet it’s one of the hardest leadership skills to master.
Giving over control isn’t easy, but effective delegation is crucial to keep your business running smoothly — and to keep you sane!
Here are our top 5 tips for supply chain leaders to become better delegators.
5 tips to be a better delegator
1) Choose your people.
This is about assembling a strong team you can trust. If you know you have smart, capable team members, you can be confident in the work they’ll perform for you, even if you’re not breathing down their necks.
2) Be clear.
[bctt tweet=”Setting up your team for success starts with clarity about your expectations. This means unambiguously communicating your goals for a project, as well as a timeline for benchmarks and completion. ” username=”Fronetics”]
Setting up your team for success starts with clarity about your expectations. This means unambiguously communicating your goals for a project, as well as a timeline for benchmarks and completion. Your expectations should be challenging, but reasonable. And it’s your responsibility to make sure they’re understood.
3) Be a resource.
It’s important that your team knows that once you’ve handed over a task, you’re still available for clarification and support. Make sure good communication patterns are in place, and that your team feels free to come to you with questions and issues.
4) Inspire results.
This one is about helping your team understand the bigger picture of why a project is important or worthwhile, and about leading without fear or blame. To be fully committed to a project, your team members need to understand how the work they’re putting in is contributing to a larger result.
5) Let go.
Repeat this ten times every night before you fall asleep: “Micromanagement is counterproductive.” Leaders like to be in control. But once you’ve delegated a task, clearly communicated your expectations, and set up open lines of communication, it’s time to step back and trust your people, as well as your own leadership abilities.
Bonus tip
Say thank you! Providing written, verbal, or public recognition for a job well done is an important element of inspiring your team to perform for you the next time they step up to the plate. And an important element of your being a better delegator.
What tips do you have for becoming a better delegator?
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by Elizabeth Hines | Jun 11, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
You have to take the long view with content marketing, allowing time for your strategy to develop, your brand to build authority, and your sales cycle to play out.
When you undertake a new content marketing program, you’re making a big investment. So it makes sense that you want to start seeing immediate results. But it’s important to understand from the get-go that content marketing doesn’t really work like that. Yes, you’ll start seeing incremental results within the first few months. But what we tell our clients is that things aren’t really going to start cooking with gas until the 12-18 month mark.
I’ve written before about why you shouldn’t give up on content marketing after a short period of time. While you’ll probably see growth in web traffic, improved social reach, and generally better engagement metrics like time on page, you’re not likely to see new leads or sales to speak of in the first few months after instituting a content marketing strategy.
And that can be hugely frustrating. But the key is understanding that content marketing isn’t a gimmick, and it’s not a short-term strategy. It’s a long-term solution that, if allowed to germinate and grow for the long haul, helps you build brand awareness, grow your audience, and generate new leads and sales. When it comes to content marketing, your goal is to be the tortoise, not the hare.
Content marketing is not a short-term solution
In fact, rushing your relationship with content marketing is one of the worst things you can do. Let’s talk about why that is.
First off, content marketing isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. You need to develop a strategy that works for your business, and that doesn’t happen overnight. When we first engage with a client at Fronetics, we generally take 30-45 days to do an in-depth dive into the company’s data to develop a custom strategy that aligns with the client’s specific business goals. It feels exhaustive at times, but it always ends up paying off.
Keep in mind that only 11% of companies without a documented content marketing strategy find their efforts successful, compared to 60% of companies with a strategy in place. And that number rises to 86% when the company designates someone to lead the strategy.
The bottom line? Skipping this step to rush to results will pretty much ensure that your efforts won’t be worth it.
Building trust
In addition to the time it takes to develop a strategy, becoming an authority — and earning the trust and loyalty of your audience — takes time. Your goal is to be a consistent source of information and value, building your brand as an expert in the area.
It goes without saying that this doesn’t happen overnight. But it’s extremely well worth the effort and the patience. Remember that the average B2B buyer consumes between two and five pieces of content before making a purchase decision. If you can position your business as the premier expert on the subject by having the best, most informative, most helpful content available, you’ll have a leg up in the buyer’s decision.
Let the sales cycle play out
Once your strategy is documented and in place, and you begin to create and curate consistent, well-researched, high-quality content, there’s also the process of letting your sales cycle run its course. You need to allow your target audience time to find you and complete thorough research about you and your competitors before making a decision.
After all, content marketing can’t shorten your sales cycle. But lead nurturing with content can keep moving your prospects down the sales funnel. And content can help your sales team close deals. But you can’t expect a buyer to read your first blog post today and make a big purchase tomorrow. That’s just not realistic.
I cannot urge you enough: Don’t give up on content marketing before you give it time work. Hang in there long enough for your initial investment to pay off, and don’t be afraid to adjust your strategy along the way. If you stick with content marketing, it will generate those leads and sales you’re looking for.
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by Elizabeth Hines | Jun 7, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Logistics, Marketing, Social Media, Supply Chain
Supply chain and logistics marketers need to incorporate social advertising into their content market strategy (and budget) to stay on top of marketing’s biggest driver.
The way audiences use social media channels is constantly changing. As marketers, we need to make sure we’re adapting to these changes. One of the biggest changes we’ve seen so far in 2018 is the increased use of social advertising.
Social advertising is a paid form of paid digital advertising on social media platforms. For example, the advertising platforms provided by Google, Twitter, and Facebook involve “targeting and presenting ads based on relationships articulated on those same services.” Oftentimes, social advertising is one part of a larger marketing strategy.
Sounds easy enough to implement, right? Well, there are so many options and so many more users. If you’re taking the time and money to invest in social advertising, you need to ensure that you’re using the right platforms and getting in front of your target audiences.
In Social Media Examiner’s new report, it’s hard to dispute that social advertising is anything but powerful. With over 3.5 billion internet users worldwide, it’s easy to see the reach ads on social media platforms can have. Facebook alone has over 2 billion daily active users. 2 billion! That’s a lot of opportunities for distributing your content and gaining new followers.
Here are some powerful statistics to prove the weight of social advertising and why it’s worth your time and pennies.
Infographic: A look at social advertising for B2B marketers
(Made with Canva)
Key takeaway
For the first time in years, Social Media Examiner’s report revealed that marketers are more focused on lead generation than cultivating a loyal fan base. What does this mean for you? The focus has shifted from engagement to metrics and automation.
As marketers, we need to watch for increased use of chatbots and other marketing automation tools that can help supply chain marketers become more efficient and more successful in earning and converting leads.
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by Jennifer Hart Yim | Jun 5, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Data/Analytics, Internet of Things, Logistics, Manufacturing & Distribution, Marketing, Strategy, Supply Chain
The Internet of Things is revolutionizing manufacturing and supply chain. Is your organization prepared?
This article is part of a series of articles written by MBA students and graduates from the University of New Hampshire Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics.
“If you think that the internet has changed your life, think again. The Internet of Things (IoT) is about to change it all over again!”
This famous quote from co-founder of Aria Systems, Brendan O’Brien, sums up the significant role that the Internet of Things is playing now, and also its unlimited potential in the near future. The technology can be defined as the networked connection of physical objects.
Since 2014, Internet of Things is no longer a new term for most companies. However, this is just the beginning of the IoT revolution. More than 1.2 trillion items on earth now have the potential to join the IoT network, but less than one percent of them are connected to the internet.
And if we look at estimated worldwide spending on IoT through 2020, manufacturing, logistics and utilities are the industries that will spend the most money on this technology. This is partially due to their reliance on supply chain management. In addition, their supply chain networks are usually much more complex then companies from other industries.
The real value of Internet of Things is the data captured during the process, instead of the devices themselves. Nowadays customers are expecting higher quality products delivered in the shortest amount of time. That trend requires companies to have a more efficient supply chain in order to fulfill the demand. Brand matters less as it did a decade ago.
How to move products from the factory to consumers’ hands more efficiently becomes the new challenge for all players across all industries. Meanwhile, saving cost, adding asset velocity through enhanced transparency, as well as visibility are also the potential benefits by embracing the Internet of Things.
There are a number of IoT practices in supply chain:
Operational efficiency
Warehouses always play a vital role in a supply chain. It is also an area where IoT technology shows its magic by providing competitive advantages through data acquired from sensor networks. And generally, it can be improved from four aspects:
- Manufacturing maintenance – Sensors and robots linked to the internet increase up-times, reduce operational costs, and improve overall service quality. By visualizing and collecting data — such as temperature and equipment malfunction — managers are able to see and control operations on the floor in a real-time manner. Data collected in the IoT process can also be used in setting alerts for predictive maintenance. It works like HP Instant Ink, which will automatically order new ink when you the printer is about to run out of the old one.
- Inventory forecasting – As Vice President of IT at DHL Supply Chain Javier Esplugas said: managers no longer have to wait for weeks or months to get a report to have an understanding what happened during the last quarter. Instead, managers can make decisions on things that are happening now. Even companies using a 3PL can closely monitor the distribution centers and warehouses so that they can avoid prolonged cycle times and receive warnings in advance.
- Asset tracking – In a warehouse, scales and visual sensors can alert workers about fulfillment needs. The IoT also reduces human error for inbound and outbound records, requiring less human capital for one warehouse.
- Freight transportation – Logistics also holds a great potential for IoT networks. Today, sensors can track and monitor a container in a freighter in the middle of the sea or on a cargo flight. In the future, IoT will also be used to provide a more secure freight transportation environment. In 2016, around $3.7 million worth of consumable goods was stolen in cargo thefts in the U.S. The number of incidents reported in 2016 was 692. Through IoT technology, owners will have access to real-time information on the movement of goods.
Real-world examples
We’ve already seen leading car manufacturer BMW using IoT to improve its product lines efficiency. That is the most basic level of optimization within a warehouse.
A more thorough example would come from DHL. This global company actively involves IoT in different stages of its logistics process.
The journey of a package at DHL starts at the time it’s received by a carrier. By scanning the bar code or QR code on the package, it is formally recorded in the company’s system.
When the package arrives at the warehouse, basic information such as height, weight, and goods type will be collected as it enters the gate, providing accurate inventory control for workers. Sensors in the facility will be constantly monitoring the condition, as well as location of the items, giving workers a visual graph on the computer. When the package leaves the warehouse or sorting center, sensors built in the gate will collect information again for outbound items. Cameras attached to the gateways could also be used for damage detection.
They call the warehouse with all those systems the Smart Warehouse. And now they are testing the solution in multiple locations.
Due to the fact that DHL has been focusing on global logistics, its activities always include freight transportation. To reduce the inventory delays as well as the cost of stolen goods, DHL expects to set up location and condition monitoring through IoT. Ultimately, transport visibility and security functions will be enhanced.
What’s more, DHL’s Supply Chain segment is developing a software that gives clients a way to manage global supply chain risk by providing alternatives. The tool can find other optimized solutions by leveraging data collected from connected objectives.
Last-mile delivery
It makes a lot of sense to introduce IoT to warehouse management or freight transportation. However, for last-mile delivery, it can be a very different story. This final part is highly dependent on labor.
Carriers use data collected from vehicles for road condition in order to optimize the route. Before delivery, they would send notification to the end-customer, who has the choice to either accept the scheduled delivery time or re-schedule the delivery.
The future
By the year of 2020, the number of devices connected to the IoT will be over 50 billion. But that’s still just 3 percent of the number of all things on earth.
JDA’s Intelligent Manufacturing Survey discovered that 57 percent of manufacturers were going to incorporate IoT into their digital supply chain strategy. However, according to an Accenture report, up until the beginning of 2017, 88 percent of manufacturing executives were not prepared to adopt the technology. This is going to benefit companies that are willing to be the first movers and create barriers for the rest to catch up.
So, is your company ready for the digital revolution?
About the author
Xiaoxue Liu, originally from China, is a current MBA student at University of New Hampshire, with a huge interest in supply chain digitalization.
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by Jennifer Hart Yim | Jun 4, 2018 | Blog, Content Marketing, Current Events, Logistics, Manufacturing & Distribution, Marketing, Supply Chain
3-D printing opens up new revenue opportunities for supply chain, helping companies meet demand in real time, manage inventory without limiting products they offer, and increase lead time.
This article is part of a series of articles written by MBA students and graduates from the University of New Hampshire Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics.
Spring has finally arrived in New England. However, with spring comes every vehicle’s most dreaded enemy, the pothole! My coworker Will recently fell victim to one such nemesis. His part-sourcing saga has me wondering how soon the narrative may change.
On what started as a normal morning, Will soon found himself calling a tow truck to get his car to the shop and a coworker to get himself to work. An unavoidable pothole caused one of his ball joints to fail, and limping anywhere was not an option. The silver lining of the day was that his very accommodating mechanic agreed that Will could source his own parts.
A sourcing saga ensued.
The layers of research he had to do was frustrating. Which manufacturers make the quality of product he wants? Then which distributors can provide him the quantity he needs when he needs them at the best price?
This meant calls to local auto part stores, price checking against online distributors, verifying brands & model numbers, accounting for lead times, stockouts, shipping and handling fees to determine how to get the best total value of quality, cost, and delivery.
Complex decisions like this are common in many sourcing scenarios.
But does it have to be?
What if distributors could better manage their inventory without limiting the products that they offer or increasing the lead times to their customers?
With 3-D printing, that may soon be attainable.
Rather than holding inventory from various manufacturers, a distributor could have license agreements with manufacturers to print parts on demand.
Revolutionary though this sounds, it’s not an unfamiliar model. Not so long ago, buying music meant going to a physical store to purchase or order an album. Now streaming services have license agreements with record companies to meet consumer demand in real time.
Jay Leno has been 3-D printing parts for his fleet of classic cars for nearly a decade. He admitted that initially the costs were prohibitive for most people. However now that 3-D printers are available at a wide range of price points, it is becoming more economical to print products on demand.
Printing parts with low inventory turns on demand would reduce inventory costs within the entire supply chain, having a positive impact on a company’s bottom line. High-value, low-volume parts like those of late model vehicles are the perfect candidates. In fact, BMW, Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz Trucks have begun 3-D printing spare parts older models and freight trucks.
3-D printing and logistics
The next logical progression to reduce overall supply chain cost is to move production as close to the customer as possible. Logistics companies are positioning themselves to be ready to integrate into this production model.
Both UPS and DHL have recognized the potential for end-of runway 3-D print capabilities and local 3-D “print shops.” UPS has partnered with SAP and Fast Radius to launch its On-Demand 3D Printing Manufacturing Network, which leverages 3-D printing technology, analytics and UPS’s global network to execute production at the location where capacity and logistics are optimum.
This summer, BMW Motorrad will provide spare-part printing capability directly to customers with BMW Motorrad iParts, a mobile 3-D printer designed to travel with you on the back of your BMW Motorrad motorcycle. Customers will use a mobile app to download a part file from the cloud-based library and print parts on the go. Although limited by the size of the printer, Motorrad rides will be able to replace small parts in nearly any location. Customers can even preload files so, no matter where they are — the side of a mountain or the middle of a desert — they can make spare parts.
These companies are not alone in seeing the value of 3-D printing on the go. Amazon made headlines when it first filed for a patent on a 3-D printing delivery truck. That patent was granted at the beginning of this year. Although a launch plan has not been announced, a major player with that capability is a definite catalyst for more innovation at the intersection of 3-D printing and logistics.
The future
It’s clear that change is coming, logistics and inventory management will not look the same 10 years from now. The question is: when and where it will be economical to print parts on demand? Will it be at an end-of-runway distribution center, a local multipurpose 3-D printing shop, or on-site at repair shops? Will AAA be able to print a new ball joint in a roadside truck and change it out like it was no different than the services they offer for tires and battery today? I can’t wait to find out.
In the meantime, Will had to deal with today’s sourcing options. After many phone calls, dozens of emails, and multiple carpools to work, his car is back on the road. And he believes he got four new ball joints at a good value.
About the author
Ruth DeMott is a quality engineer at Pratt & Whitney currently pursuing an MBA at the University of New Hampshire. She holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (class of 2010). She has held roles of increasing responsibility in the manufacturing and quality engineering departments since joining Pratt upon completion of her undergraduate degree. She is involved in the New Hampshire Youth Rugby program, enjoys traveling, putting things together, and spending time with friends and family.
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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.
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 Responsibility 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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