Archive for Metrics and Standards
The Perfect Order Metric is Not Sufficient
· CommentsThe Perfect Order is often recognized as the highest level of customer service. It can be defined in different ways, but the traditional definition includes four elements: order completeness, timeliness, condition, and documentation. In other words, to be considered perfect, an order must be delivered to the customer’s distribution center (DC) complete, on time, free of damage, and accompanied by the correct invoice and other documentation.
[caption id=”attachment_2808″ align=”aligncenter”… Continue reading
“Focus on executing to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).” This is the key piece of advice for navigating the recession from a top supply chain executive at one of the world’s largest consumer electronics firms (due to confidentiality, I can’t disclose the name of the company). The top-level supply chain KPIs at this company include cost, delivery performance, cash, and quality. These KPIs can be decomposed into lower-level supporting metrics. For… Continue reading
The most entertaining, and perhaps most acute, business book that I’ve read in several years is “The Management Myth: Why the ‘Experts’ Keep Getting It Wrong” by Matthew Stewart (you can read a short book review by Andrew O’Connell at HBR online). Matthew is a cynical ex-consultant who reports on the methods consultants use to win business, debunks management theory, and provides a strong cautionary tale for anyone contemplating… Continue reading
Editor’s Note: This posting is a follow up to the posting Steve Banker wrote last week which contained some inaccurate statements about the GS1 Canada Product Recall service. This posting provides a more accurate and detailed overview of the service.
GS1 Canada Product Recall is a subscription-based service which provides a standards-based communication tool enabling manufacturers to share real-time product recall notifications with retail partners in a direct, secure… Continue reading
Editor’s Note: The posting below contains some inaccurate information about GS1 Global Traceability Standards (see comment posted below by John Keogh, Senior Vice President EPCglobal Canada and Traceability). A follow up posting has been published which provides a more accurate and detailed overview of the GS1 Canada Product Recall service.
GS1, the global organization responsible for RFID, EDI, and bar code standards, has been developing Global Traceability Standards… Continue reading
I received a question a while back from a client, a supply chain director at a process manufacturer. In the process manufacturing industry, storage often does not involve warehouses that store cases and pallets; it involves putting various types of liquids, at various temperatures and pressures, in storage tanks. These tanks might store raw materials at the front end of the manufacturing process, they might store products that are… Continue reading
Don’t Neglect Fleet Maintenance!
· CommentsMany private fleets have to justify their existence versus for-hire carriers every few years. Better service and cost competitiveness are the key justifications for keeping a fleet. A private fleet manager is often responsible for both operations (the drivers and fleet planners) and fleet maintenance. Achieving strong performance on the cost-per-mile-driven metric requires not just better routing, more backhauls, better trailer utilization, and so forth, but also having fewer truck… Continue reading
Benchmarking a Private Truck Fleet
· CommentsThe National Private Truck Council (NPTC), a U.S. trade association focused on the interests of companies with private fleets, conducts an annual Private Fleet Benchmarking Survey. This survey has three goals: (1) to validate private fleet performance based on comparative peer data; (2) identify areas of improvement and opportunity; and (3) identify the significant trends affecting private fleet operators.
In many cases, benchmarking data is difficult to use—i.e… Continue reading
