INTERNATIONAL TRADE


Lean processes and an approach from the ‘80s still used today


Mike Wallis (pictured), Chairman of award-winning international freight forwarder, mail, ecommerce, fulfilment and logistics specialist Spatial Global, talks about the importance of lean processes in logistics.


Put simply, lean means creating more value for customers with fewer resources. In the early 1980s we had not heard of lean, but I had swathes of evidence as to the inefficiency in the logistics market. I had just completed a law degree, where the answer is concise but the research is deep, and brought with me working class common sense and a willingness to challenge authority. Now for the evidence that engaged me in a crusade of change and


empowerment:


• A set of operating procedures with inbuilt inefficiency and no mention of activity or resource planning


• A supervision team more engaged with basic procedures than being hands-on and looking for improvements


• Lack of detailed volume or resource planning, based on the belief that every day was different and could not be forecasted


On moving to a newly-opening depot as Deputy Manager, I set it up very differently to produce some operating principles I still use today:


• Ignore or change bad instructions, experiment and improve - don’t ask head office


• Segregate processes for clearly different product/order types - Inverse Synergy


• Use the product and order characteristics to gain efficiency - lowest common denominator


You will know LCD from maths at school. In logistics operations, Japanese consumers demand


quality and spend more of their disposable income on consumer goods than other comparable markets. Companies with heritage,


authenticity and originality are well received. It’s a highly competitive market and companies should be ready to adapt products and marketing to suit local tastes. Japan is also the host of the


2020 Olympic Games and while they have a strong domestic market and experience in hosting large scale sporting events, the commercial success of London 2012 means Japanese firms will look to


UK companies for their expertise, particularly in areas such as safety and security, communications and sustainability. When entering any new market,


research is essential. Look at competitor activity and test products in-market as much as possible. It is also advisable to talk to Japanese buyers at trade shows and to identify an English-speaking lawyer before investing. Although changes in business


culture mean Japan is more accessible to overseas companies than ever, the majority of SMEs enter the market with the support of local partners.


Enterprise Europe Network can help locate suitable business partners in Japan, hold informative events and can help SMEs access the market. Call 0300 123 3066, email eeninfo@emc-dnl.co.uk or tweet @EEN_Midlands.


each number represents a level of efficiency; 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, of which 2 is the LCD and 64 represents the best efficiency. You have to deal with the 2 as every customer has a single unit pick


for a single customer, low volume, high fixed time and administration. They will be the majority of transactions but in total small volume. The key issue here is that this process becomes the base process in


the manual, IT aligned to it. In effect we slow down the more efficient orders to that of the LCD. The job is to identify the 4, 8, 16 etc process and intervene with fast


track process or a more suitable handling method, increasing the overall productivity rate. In order to extract these efficiency benefits and identify ‘lean’ processes, you need a culture of active management, taking short-term and long-term decisions:


• On the floor, in the details, with a hands-on team, in the analysis of data - at my new depot there was no office for warehouse supervisors to retreat to, eight hours on the floor, eyes open and engaged


Set yourself up to succeed in this and not revert to the ‘2’ process


and its inefficiency - plan the volume and resource. Our customers’ activity has a pattern, it repeats and is largely


predictable. Make your own plan, dummy volumes, resources to match, and have tools to adjust as it happens live.


business network February 2018 35


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72