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.
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?
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.
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.
The evolution of driverless robotic vehicles continues unabated. But what will it take for them to overtake certain warehouse tasks?
A lucky few have already experienced it — the thrill of taking their hands off the steering wheel and letting the car take care of the driving. As a reporter from the Guardian rode in the driver’s seat of a multi-million euro research vehicle “Jack” by Audi on the autobahn, she observed it carried out maneuvers so smoothly “it felt like the car was participating in a courtly dance with others on the road.”
Despite such glowing reviews and the unabated evolution of driverless vehicles, Jack and many its counterparts will not be available for mass consumption for another decade or so.
AGVs and today’s warehouse
In the world of material handling, the notion of driverless has been around for 60 years since the first Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) appeared in a grocery warehouse. High-tech warehouse operations are already used to the sight of AGVs performing tasks, such as the vertical storage and retrieval of pallets and the loading and unloading of pallets onto outbound trailers.
Driverless robotic vehicles, on the other hand, have generally been assigned to low complexity and repetitive horizontal movement of materials, as well as assisted order picking that involves a high degree of machine and human interaction. Although it may sometimes sound as if driverless vehicles are about to phase out forklift drivers altogether, Toyota Material Handling, which has developed an Autopilot AGV driverless forklift range, notes in a blog post that “there is still value in human operators in an automated warehouse. Human operators are far more capable of identifying issues in the immediate environment and any problems with picking orders. The role of the human operator in an automated warehouse will be more dynamic and varied as the ‘grunt work’ is now tasked to the automated system.”
This argument echoes the challenge that makers of driverless automobiles have expressed: In order for the technology to reach the next level of effectiveness, it has to assume “human” qualities. While the driverless car comes to a complete stop at the sight of a yellow light, the human driver is more likely to speed up to beat the red light, a fact that has been blamed for a number of collisions during testing of a Google autonomous vehicle prototype.
The potential of driverless vehicles
That being said, driverless robotic vehicles hold enormous potential. In an interesting webcast on DC Velocity — which addresses the technology’s role in distribution operations that include horizontal transport and full-case picking applications — two experts tout ROI and productivity gains.
DC Velocity Senior Editor David Maloney and Marc Wulfraat, president of global supply chain and logistics consulting firm MWPVL International, estimate a three-year ROI is possible and that 20-25% productivity gains for order picking are realistic, as long as certain obstacles are overcome. For example, old legacy applications rarely integrate well with newer real-time technologies. If the two are forced together, it may happen at the expense of speedy processes, thus negating the effect of why the driverless technology was introduced in the first place.
Maloney and Wulfraat explain: “In high-density full-case picking environments (e.g., grocery distribution), an order selector can pick 175 – 200 cases/hr or one case every 18 – 20 seconds. If a 5-second delay due to system latency is introduced, then this would result in a major decrease (19 – 24%) in order selection productivity to 141 – 157 cases/hr. In a facility shipping 1 million cases/week with labor cost of $23/hour fully loaded, this would add around $1.6 M of warehouse labor expense to the operation. Clearly, this type of technology cannot add any system latency, which suppliers are working hard to guarantee.”
Another challenge arises when multiple vehicles have to pass within the same operating aisle. Considering the minimum clearance that it takes for a robotic vehicle to pass another without safety sensors bringing it to a halt could pose a problem in distribution centers with narrow aisle widths.
Still, in the big scheme such challenges pale in comparison to how far the technology has already come. When it comes to automating the horizontal transfer of products in a warehouse or distribution center, driverless robotic vehicles are undoubtedly the answer.
What do you consider to be the main challenges to full-scale adoption of driverless robotic vehicles in the warehouse or DC?
Fronetics invites you to participate in a survey on how companies in the logistics and supply chain industries use content marketing.
If there’s one thing we can say about the ever-changing B2B marketing climate, it’s just that: it’s ever-changing. Keeping pace with shifting industry trends, innovations, and challenges can be daunting. But knowledge is power when it comes to creating a vital and robust marketing strategy.
In 2014, Fronetics decided it was time to gather hard data on how logistics and supply chain companies were using modern marketing tools like content. We conducted an industry-wide survey, gathering a valuable snapshot of the marketing landscape.
Now it’s time for another look at the data. So Fronetics invites you to participate in our 2016 surveys on content use in the logistics and supply chain industries. The survey takes about 3 minutes to complete, and no personal or company data will be reported. Additionally, you can indicate your preference to receive the completed report.
Key findings from the 2014 content use report point to companies using content primarily to build brand awareness and generate leads, with blog posts being the most popular content format. While all respondents reported using content marketing for a relatively short time, the majority had already seen a positive impact on their business.
Fronetics is curious to know, two years later, about the ongoing impact of content marketing. In addition, we’d like to find out if the industry is using content in new ways. Has content use expanded? Are blogs still the most popular format? What challenges are B2B companies facing when it comes to content creation and distribution?
The answers to these and more questions can provide vital insights as you shape your company’s marketing strategy for the future. Especially when it comes to modern marketing techniques, knowledge is power.
Take the content survey by clicking on the button below. Be sure to indicate your preference to receive the results. We look forward to your responses!
The shortage of drivers paired with the continued growth of the trucking industry paves the way for driverless trucks.
This guest post comes to us from Rachel Everly, a writer for Cerasis, a top freight logistics company and truckload freight broker.
The trucking industry has been serving America for many decades, and even today it is the main method by which freight is transferred all over the country. Anyone who says the trucking industry is facing a decline or a reduced demand is way off the numbers. More large trucks are coming on U.S. roads, traveling more miles, and transporting more good than ever before.
We have seen more than 3% increases in the number of trucks, which translates to almost 11 million trucks. Also, trucks are still transporting 73% of almost all cargo weight moved in one year. With all these impressive numbers, surprisingly there is a shortage of drivers. That spells both trouble and opportunity for this industry.
Where is there a shortage of drivers?
The U.S trucking industry is facing a severe driver shortage. One estimate shows that around 48,000 drivers are required to move about 70% of freight.
To improve safety, in December 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) announced that driver hours will be recorded via Electronic Logging Devices by 2017. This becomes mandatory by December 18, 2017. This was introduced because the existing systems of time-logging are purposely made very complicated, thus not allowing one to check how many hours is a driver on the road.
This is being introduced to ensure that driver safety is not compromised, keeping fatigued drivers off the road. According to calculations, this will save 26 lives a year and prevent 562 injuries every year. Not just this, the ELD will save companies the hassle of paperwork, eventually leading the trucking industry to save somewhere around $1 billion due to reduced paperwork and time-savings.
However, this means reduced hours per driver, thus increasing the need for more drivers. Small trucking companies will be hit the hardest, but overall the industry will be in a better position thanks to this rule. It is estimated that this new rule would cost the industry $1.8 billion, but cost savings from reduced accidents and paperwork amount in excess of $3 billion.
The way to driverless trucks
Humans are amazing creatures, but we are prone to human errors. Human errors account for the majority of the road accidents. Plus with the new rule in, companies will need more drivers, adding to costs. Uber has been actively working on getting driverless trucks on the roads, with a project already started in Singapore, and now has turned its eyes on the trucking industry.
Uber has recently acquired the start-up Otto. Otto has made great inroads into driverless trucks. Otto currently has 6 working self-driving trucks, with plans to expand to 15. This year Otto is continuously running tests; trucks are hauling random items from the company’s garage to test how the vehicles respond to hauling weight.
The company is confident that soon they will be moving all kinds of goods for shippers. They have already started forging relationships with big names in the trucking industry. The self-driving trucks have shown that they can easily operate on highways, maneuvering off the open interstate is still a work in progress.
The following infographic outlines some of the benefits of driverless trucks:
Gryffindor
Hufflepuff
Ravenclaw
Slytherin
