Part One: Are you charting for success?
What if you had real time visibility into where your transportation system was losing time and money and could take nearly immediate action to stop it? If you could see these profit stealers when they first happen, you could seamlessly change strategy to save money and quickly accommodate changes in the fast-moving consumer packaged goods (CPG) market. Think of how this ability to make adjustments sooner rather than later would be a game-changer when entering and exiting seasonal markets.
Score success for your CPG business by having the right transportation management system that achieves this access for you – because the rewards are huge. Get the ability to change and implement strategy in real time and you’ll never again have to be a Monday Morning Quarterback questioning what you could have achieved if you had access to critical information when you needed it most.
In our many years managing transportation within the CPG industry, we’ve seen how not having vital information when needed leads to poor decision making and even worse results. But it’s possible to avoid these negative consequences by creating metrics that provide quick visibility into the most significant factors influencing cost and service exceptions. They should highlight what actions need to be taken and in what priority. This function is crucial both to problem solving and taking preventive measures to avoid problems – like late arrivals, cost leakage, unprofitable routes and fuel inefficiencies. Having it puts you in the red zone – always ready and able to adjust strategy and make that quick score.
More than just great technology is necessary for success
It’s important to understand that, while technology to drive the most effective transportation management is vital, what matters most is the way your transportation manager combines it with seasoned industry talent to operate it, interpret data, and act on results. This talent should comprise a team of transportation technology experts and others with deep industry expertise that builds a unique and disciplined process for you – constantly evaluating your analytics, interpreting them, and taking measured action to drive improvement in cost and service. Your team needs to use key operating resources that help them perpetually execute a Standard Operating Practice that delivers directly to your business’ bottom line.
If you have the right one, you’re armed with a scoreboard that’s actually real time – rather than after the game.
Use the right tools to solve specific problems
One tool we find particularly useful is the charting aspect of quality control that highlights the most important among a set of factors. These usually include the most common source of failure, the highest occurring type of exception, or the most frequent reasons for customer complaints.
Consider the example below: The Carrier, Misc and Consignee reason codes make up 7 – 8 percent of the missed deliveries to RDD (Requested Delivery Date). By addressing these prioritized three issues, on-time performance could reach over 97 percent.
Once your talent applies the right interpretive tools to data gathered, it’s easy to see where decisions can be made swiftly and effectively. With Ryder’s transportation management, you can even use analytics that allow you as ‘head coach’ to make the right adjustments at half-time so the second half of the game delivers even better than the first.
In Part Two of our series, we’ll analyze how tracking and analyzing cost drivers with the right tools creates cost-saving opportunities.
Authored by Paul Lomas and Charles E. Husby
Mr. Lomas is Vice President, Business Development for the Consumer Packaged Goods Group within Ryder Supply Chain Solutions. Prior to Ryder, he led the supply chain practice for Accenture in New York City, was a Vice President with Cleveland Consulting Associates, and held materials management responsibilities for General Motors.
Mr. Husby is Vice President Logistics, Ryder Supply Chain Services, Consumer Packaged Goods. He has been in the field for 27 years, serving and leading logistics operations. With a passion for the practical application of technology, he has launched numerous customer implementations in both transportation and warehousing. Currently, Mr. Husby has responsibility for the Ryder Consumer Packaged Goods vertical Transportation and Public Warehousing service lines.