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If you have a pain in your chest, you don’t call your dentist. You don’t even call your orthopedist. You call your cardiologist, and, if you don’t have a cardiologist, you call your general doctor or internist and get a recommendation for a great cardiologist. You don’t want your body to be worked on by […]

In past times distribution companies viewed their logistics functions as an expense that needed close watch in an effort to keep the costs down. Walmart’s, among others’, huge successes made this concept obsolete years ago, yet too many businesses still fall prey to this belief. Supply chain management can make or break a company, depending […]

“If the rate of change outside your organization is greater than the rate of change inside your organization, your organization is in trouble.” — Jack Welch, famous past CEO General Electric The only constant in life is that things change. Today, change is occurring at ever faster rates. If you look back over time, from […]

Cutting costs effectively with minimal harm to your business requires a scalpel. not an axe. This is not a new message. It’s been preached by management experts for decades. Yet, still, in difficult times, poor managers still use the axe. They send out the message that every department has to cut their costs by X […]

Would you go to your search engine or the Yellow Pages when you’re looking for a company to ship your products? Then, do you simply seek the lowest-priced carrier? If so, you might keep in mind the following quotes from John Ruskin, a prominent social thinker in the 1800s. His thoughts are as relevant today […]

Typical consumers believe that the “busy season” for most companies is the last three months of the year, since that is when they do their greatest amount of retail shopping. They do not understand that the peak season for many companies, and especially for logistics companies, is considerably earlier than that. Retail businesses need their […]

We discussed in our last blog how outsourcing functions that others can do more effectively than you can do in-house increases your productivity, thereby increasing your profits. However, like all things, this depends on working these relationships effectively. Nothing is all pro, with no cons. The primary downside of outsourcing is that you lose some […]

In recent times, outsourcing has received a bad reputation in the consumer market. Consumers equate it with sending jobs overseas and increasing our unemployment rate back home. There is, of course, some truth to this belief, since many functions that used to be located in the American offices of many companies are now being produced […]

Many companies hire outside consultants, at substantial cost, to help them become more productive. Greater productivity will save any company money, typically more than the cost of such consultants. However, you have people already employed who could be superb consultants with no additional cost. All you need to is regularly ask your employees what ideas […]

Do you view your logistics needs as a cost item that needs to be managed? Or, do you see it as an investment; an integral part of your company and overall strategy, a place where you achieve significant productivity gains? The reason most companies view logistics as an expense, rather than an investment is because […]