May, 2023 - Longtemps International

May 16, 2023 By user

How Manufacturers Can Optimize their Supply Chain Workforce

Adopting a 5S workplace organization strategy can be the key to a successful post-COVID workforce. By implementing these policies, manufacturers will be able to optimize their supply chains and workforces in a way that will allow them to overcome the challenges they have faced since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The manufacturing sector has faced several enormous challenges since the pandemic. From supply chain disruptions to labor shortages that are still leaving many companies understaffed, manufacturers are struggling, causing a ripple effect that has left no link of the manufacturing process unaffected.

But by adopting strategies to optimize the supply chain and workforce efficiency, manufacturers can stand tall in the face of these challenges and come out the other side even stronger.

Workplaces that hope to be efficient in the post-COVID environment should strive to adopt what is known as a lean management strategy. Lean management was pioneered by Toyota and involves eliminating waste at every step of the supply chain—including the workforce.

Not only does eliminating waste help reduce the pressure manufacturers face due to current social and economic conditions, but it also makes the process more efficient and saves companies money in the long term.

One easy way for companies to minimize waste is to emphasize quality control throughout the entire manufacturing process. Too often, manufacturers only perform a quality control check at the end of production, meaning entire defective product lines—and the labor used to produce them—go to waste. By investing in quality control in the earlier stages of manufacturing, companies can catch rejected products before too much is invested in them in terms of labor and raw materials.

Another important strategy for manufacturers to adopt is called Hoisin Kanri. This Japanese business strategy, which was also developed by Toyota, involves aligning a company under a unified, “true north” vision across departments and teams.

Since Hoisin Kanri entails the creation of a company-wide strategy, dramatic changes can be implemented relatively quickly throughout the entire organization.

Adopting a 5S workplace organization strategy can also be the key to a successful post-COVID workforce. In this strategy, business leaders work to identify value-added and non-value-added activities in the workplace and devise practical solutions to help implement lean logistics principles.

Each “S” in the 5S organization strategy represents a different Japanese principle whose application helps make the supply chain more efficient.

Sort (Seiri): By eliminating unnecessary items and materials from the supply chain, production employees can easily access the materials they need to complete their jobs. Employers should also strive to remove as many physical and non-physical barriers as possible that prevent their employees from reaching maximum productivity.
Set in Order (Seiton): The organizational structure of the business is key to its efficiency. An ineffectively organized business wastes time between two links in the supply chain. If each part of the supply chain—from the warehouse to the front office—is precisely and expertly organized, businesses can much more easily navigate the complexities and unique challenges of their supply chain.
Shine (Seiso): Studies have long discussed that clean workspaces lead to better efficiency in the workplace. However, cleaning should go far beyond the type of cosmetic cleaning used to keep up appearances. Thorough inspections and cleanings of resources and equipment allow businesses to identify any inefficiencies early in the process and respond to them with any potentially necessary repairs.
Standardize (Seiketsu): To effectively manage these three steps, organizations must implement standardized policies and procedures for their enforcement. This standardization ensures consistency in initiatives across the entire organization.
Sustain (Shitsuke): Finally, after developing the procedures and standardizing them in a way that can be efficiently implemented, workers must be trained and educated in these policies to ensure they know how to effectively implement them in their day-to-day operations.

By implementing these policies, manufacturers will be able to optimize their supply chains and workforces in a way that will allow them to overcome the challenges they have faced since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although there is no one-size-fits-all solution to every business’s struggles, these policies can help improve performance and boost the overall bottom line.

LOGISTICS

May 9, 2023 By user

Six Digital Supply Chain Trends That Are Happening Now

Here are some of the top digital supply chain trends that shippers need to understand and leverage as they continue along the path of transformation.

Focused on increasing productivity, improving organizational resiliency and fostering innovation, supply chain professionals are also being asked to “do more with less” in the midst of economic uncertainty and constant change.

As they also navigate rising costs, inflation, labor pressures, and other challenges, these professionals are using more technologies that help them engage their employees, make better use of their assets and resources, and develop intelligent, responsive logistics operations.

Those technologies come together to create digital supply chains that can be used to leverage new opportunities, tackle current challenges, and plan for the future. “Advancements in technology provide supply chain technology leaders and other executives an opportunity to support new business models, enhance decision making, and improve integration with trading partners,” Gartner reports in Top Trends in Strategic Supply Chain Technology 2023. “This is causing supply chain organizations to fund new initiatives focused on digitizing asset tracking and management, supporting digital supply chain transformation, improving user experience through technology, and reskilling and upskilling their workforces.”

The proof is in the numbers. According to Gartner, 73% of supply chain organizations are currently allocating their supply chain IT budgets to “driving business growth and enhancing performance.” A movement that has been underway for several years now, digital supply chain transformation helps shippers work smarter, faster, and more efficiently amidst the current market uncertainty. It also helps them plan for a future that’s sure to include a blend of opportunities and disruptions.

Here are six digital supply chain trends that shippers should be paying attention to along with some top analyst advice on how.

What’s old is new again.

Greg Aimi, VP, team manager of supply chain research at Gartner, remembers the day when Walmart set a January 2005 target for its top 100 suppliers to be placing RFID tags on cases and pallets destined for its stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex area. The announcement sent a chill down the spine of all suppliers that worked with Walmart, which promised to extend the mandate to all of its suppliers by a certain date.

In the end, the initiative wound up being what Aimi calls “the epitome of the hype cycle.” Fast-forward to 2023, however, and the retailer—which has mostly been using RFID tags for apparel—is now revisiting the idea of using the tags for general merchandise.

The RFID technology itself has advanced since 2005, and more retailers are using automation, robotics, and RFID in their fulfillment centers and stores. If the technology becomes ubiquitous in the retail environment, Aimi says it will increase inventory visibility levels, support the use of more robotics in stores, and migrate into additional use cases.

Servitization comes to the forefront.

Robots as a Service (RaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS) and Retail as a Service (Raas) are all gaining in popularity as more companies obtain their equipment and software on a service basis versus buying it outright. A lower upfront investment means companies of all sizes can get a ticket to the digital supply chain game. It also puts less stress on internal IT departments because the vendors themselves usually maintain and upgrade the hardware or software that they’re selling as a service.

Vamshi Rachakonda, VP and sales/GTM lead for U.S. manufacturing, auto and life sciences at Capgemini, sees this trend continuing as more companies hone their individual digital supply chain strategies. “We’re definitely seeing increased demand for services, both from shippers and from their customers,” he says. “This is likely to continue for at least the next few years.”

The digital supply chain isn’t a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have.

Any company that’s still using spreadsheets to track shipments, walkie-talkies to manage yard activity, and clipboards to track inventory is slowly making itself obsolete. That’s because the digital supply chain is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. “Companies are making progress in this area because they really don’t have a choice,” says Rachakonda.

Among the key drivers is logistics’ transition from being a “back-end” function to one that can substantially affect revenues (both positively and negatively). In response, Rachakonda says smart manufacturers are leveraging the latest technologies—IoT, big data, AI, blockchain, etc.—to their advantage. “This is an area where manufacturers are making progress, but there’s still more work to be done,” he adds.

Vendors are stepping up their games.

Never ones to sit on the sidelines while their customers struggle with increasing supply chain complexity, hardware and software makers are stepping up to the plate and helping shippers tackle the rigors of global supply chain and logistics management.

Many of them are adding digital enhancements based on customer input and feedback, says Aimi, and others are starting up entirely new companies based on specific needs. He points to organizations like project44, FourKites and MacroPoint as some of the newer entrants born out of shippers’ need for improved transportation visibility and tracking.

“That whole market of companies came about on a serious level just within the last five years or so,” says Aimi. Their platforms incorporate handheld and in-cab computers, IoT sensors, and real-time location systems (RTLS) versus satellite. Rather than using EDI to transfer messages out to the drivers (and vice versa), everyone knows where the truck is at any given time. “That’s all being handled by ubiquitous, federated networks that are cloud-based,” he adds.

People play an important role in the digital supply chain.

As they struggle with a persistent labor shortage, shippers recognize the importance of finding and keeping good talent—and even as they continue to invest in automation. According to Gartner, 95% of supply chain professionals are considering cyberphysical automation solutions and 59% say that “ongoing labor availability issues” are their primary reason for doing so. Asked which factors motivate their organizations to invest in supply chain technology, 17% of survey respondents cited the need to address labor constraints or shortages.

As operational labor management and its supporting technologies continue to evolve, Gartner says those solutions will be largely focused on improving workforce retention and deployment—and all while maintaining and/or improving productivity.

These are important wins in a labor environment where Deloitte expects U.S. manufacturers to have 2.1 million unfilled jobs by 2030, and where the Bureau of Labor Statistics is projecting that logistics employment will grow by 7% annually through 2026.

All eyes are on sustainability.

Logistics, fulfillment, and transportation operations are all being called upon to institute environmentally-friendly processes and procedures, and for good reason. According to the EPA, the transportation sector is one of the largest contributors to U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and accounted for 27% of all U.S. GHGs in 2020.

As consumers, business partners, governments, and regulators strengthen their push for more sustainability, shippers are placing similar expectations on their own suppliers. “Two years or three years ago, suppliers weren’t really being measured on sustainability the way they are now, and the way they will be going forward,” says Rachakonda, who recently worked with the head of sourcing for one of world’s largest aerospace manufacturers. That professional’s biggest concern was how to effectively measure suppliers based on their sustainability impacts.

This is just one example of the critical nature of sustainability in today’s manufacturing and distribution environments, where software vendors are being asked to meet similar expectations. For example, Rachakonda says software vendors develop solutions with help of partners/suppliers, all of which should also have their own sustainability programs in place.

What’s next?

As Rachakonda makes predictions about the future the digital supply chain, he sees more autonomous vehicles, delivery drones, and fully-automated warehouses coming into view. These technologies are all being developed, piloted, and deployed at various stages of the logistics process, but he expects the pace of adoption to accelerate over the next few years.

“We’re definitely seeing more companies interested in how to use drones for deliveries, automate their warehouses, and use more autonomous vehicles in their fulfillment centers,” says Rachakonda, who points to consumer packaged goods (CPG) and food and beverage as two sectors that have been leading the pack in this area.

“This is something we’re seeing more companies think about and spend dollars on,” Rachakonda adds. “One thing we all learned from the pandemic is that there are situations where you may not have a workforce in the warehouse. That event made more companies take everything from drones to autonomous vehicles to AI a lot more seriously in manufacturing and distribution. This isn’t just a theory anymore; it’s a reality.”