The Role of Transportation in Supply Chains and Business

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It could be a bridge between your business and your customers, with your suppliers, with your carriers. It could be a software bridge, a network bridge, a transportation bridge. It can be a lot of different ways of connecting with those groups. (40:35 - 47:55) Unfortunately, very few of those bridges have been built by, planned by folks who have formal training in this area. That's why in 1991 we started this whole entity, to be honest with you. So what we try to do in here is let's get a formal definition of what we mean by logistics and talk about how transportation fits into that. And there's one other story I like to tell with this to get this point home. Actually, there's two. So just hang with me here just a minute. We were working with a large food company. We made a recommendation to them that they create a supply chain organization, which they accepted. And then they asked me to facilitate the first meeting. I'm from the South. You can't say you should have this organization and not be willing to meet with them. So I said, of course, I'd be happy to facilitate the first meeting. We had the meeting. It started about 8 in the morning and it went really well for six or seven minutes. And then it just broke down. It was, he said, she said, it sounded like our minivan used to sound about five hours into a long trip. I'm going, what's wrong with these people that they can't even get along for this period of time? This is six-figure executives. And they're out there sound like our minivan with the teenagers. And I thought, I'm gonna have to give my money back, my consulting fees, because I'm doing such a bad job facilitating this meeting. And to be honest with you, I would have been thrilled to death to give them the money and say, I'm out of here, man. By the grace of God, at nine o'clock there was a break. And I thought, Lord, what is wrong with me that I can't get these people to work together? And it dawned on me what the problem was. We had eight people in the room. We had the head of transportation, the head of warehousing, the head of materials management, i.e. inventory, the head of manufacturing, we had somebody from finance, somebody from marketing, somebody from IT, and the nephew of the chairman of the board. That was the group. None of which had ever worked for another company. None of which had ever worked outside the activity they were currently in. So if some gray-headed dude from Georgia Tech shows up and starts talking about logistics, and you've only worked in that warehouse your entire career, what do you think they're talking about? Probably what's going on in that warehouse, or the only perspective you have ever had to see the world through is that warehouse window. That's the only way you can see things. Same thing in transportation, same thing in the factory.

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