A supply chain is not a monolith. It is not composed of a few trucking companies. Instead it is an amalgamation of trucking companies, shippers, brokers, receivers, distributors, advocacy organizations, inspectors, and so many more. These are the players who come together to ensure commerce happens and the nation’s goods get from one place to another.
There is no model for what the supply chain should look like and how it should behave. It doesn’t matter what country you’re in, they may be different, but they have similarities. Supply chains should be dynamic and outward looking. Supply chains are by nature put together by the companies that that depend on one another.
In a healthy supply chain, brokers must be flexible and ready to shift in just about every facet of their business. Whether it be through the adoption of new technologies, more robust policies, or better hiring – companies operating in the supply chain have a lot at stake.
What is a Healthy Supply Chain?
We live in a business environment where transparency and accountability mean a lot. Companies demand it of their partners. It doesn’t matter what industry you work in; the top operators make sure they function in a manner that generates trust among them and those they work with. Trust, transparency, and accountability make up the backbone of the supply chain.
The main operators that keep the whole thing moving are the shippers, receivers, and distributors that facilitate the flow of goods between states and companies. These players – on an unconscious level – set the rules of the game and determine the overall performance of the supply chain, or how “well-oiled” the process of moving goods is.
Healthy supply chains are driven by the maturity of the operations that make them up. Experienced trucking companies use real-time data, sophisticated operating agreements, flow management systems, and consistent performance management to manage their business. They value trust, honesty, openness, and collaboration above all else.
Remember, it is up to the company itself as to whether it wants to join a particular supply chain. They must be discerning about what supply chains they choose to become a part of. Once the decision is made, smart companies utilize supply chain teams to set up a finely tuned operation. But how do they do this?
The Secrets to a Best-In-Class Supply Chain Team
Supply chain teams that are worth their weight can put their organizations in positions where they get the most out of the transactions occurring within the chain. It is critical a supply chain team ensures a win-win outcome for everyone involved. Managing one’s position in the supply chain should be symbiotic, not parasitic. Shippers and receivers can work together for the good of the industry.
Still, this does not mean building your status in a supply chain is easy. There are many different forces at work within the supply chain. Trucking companies that want to operate successfully need to ensure they have access to fair rates and availability, the right equipment, experienced truck drivers, clear compliance requirements, and advanced technology.
Over time demands like these have become even more exacting. We no longer operate in a 20th century trucking environment. Truckers have a lot more tools at their disposal and it is the responsibility of their fleet managers to ensure they have them.
Companies that want to survive in a modern supply chain must also realize that unexpected things happen. One of the biggest supply chain disruptors are things we may have no control over. Things like natural disaster, national emergencies, and global pandemics, for instance. Just about anyone operating in the transportation space has had to freeze, take a step back, and rethink their operations considering current events. That’s why flexibility and versatility are key.
Success Requires Flexibility and Versatility
Smart and successful trucking companies understand and adapt to the demands of their customers. They can set expectations in a way that is good for everyone involved. Many fleets overlook simple relationship-building measures.
Supply chain teams address factors that directly influence relationships between shippers and receivers. Yet as supply chains evolves, the conditions that set the original terms change. As they vary from shipper to receiver and principle to principle, the rules of the game shift. It is up to supply chain teams to read the tea leaves and adjust.
Many transportation companies operate in many different supply chains. Each of these supply chains will have their own practices and traits. Fleets must be able to adapt to each because different supply chains have different communication practices and tactics between operators, destinations, and particular truck drivers. When it comes to meeting expectations and managing transactions, trucking companies must be prepared for different policies.
Trucking companies should never have an “I am what I am” mentality. Whether you operate in the transportation sector or another sector, you never want to remain static. Companies that don’t change often find themselves left in the dust when their competition passes them up. Most companies fail because they don’t focus enough on their most important asset, their people.
From a Personnel Perspective
When it comes to service industry companies, people come first. It may seem incredibly obvious, but when you offer a service, your focus must be on the people you offer the service to. The complexity of ensuring a proper focus on your customers is often overlooked, and sometimes to disastrous results.
Consider that supply chains are centered around physical goods. This makes on time performance, visibility, tracking, and transparency ever more important. Shippers and receivers are not expected to provide accurate, real-tie information when it comes to the when and the where of the physical goods being delivered.
Fortunately, supply chain technology has made it a lot easier for shippers, receivers, and supply chain teams to focus on what is most important: Their people. Any real change within an organization starts with the people that make everything run smoothly. Being versatile and flexible are people traits. When you trust and rely on your people, you get more out of them.
Adopt Technological Solutions
While this may not have been the case just a couple decades ago, technology offers far too many modern-day solutions to be ignored. Many may consider technology a critical element in ensuring supply chain flexibility. Internal staff must be able to scope out, adopt, and integrate advanced technologies. Remember that rushed, flawed approaches not only harm your competitive position, they add significant costs.
Yet investing in new technologies is always a stressful endeavor for any organization. Technological implementations have long-term impacts on the companies that adopt them. Technology is often the first point of entry and the last impression that a company leaves on those they work with, whether they are partners or customers.
When companies invest in new technologies, they must ensure the tech involved supports robust internal communication and collaboration. There must be a concerted effort to keep costs low and flexibility high. You never want to invest in a technological solution that shoehorns you into a tighter corner than you were in before.
Your investments need to be scalable, versatile, role-based, predictable, and customer-centric. Never invest in a technology simply for the sake of doing so. Successful supply chain operators take a rigorous and thorough approach to the technologies they employ. But whether it is enhanced route monitoring or GPS-based load monitoring, there are many technologies out there that help companies operate as better members of the supply chains they are in.
In the end, when a company adjusts and adapts based on the needs of their customers balanced against market evolution, they succeed. Smart fleet managers ensure they are excellent communicators and pay close attention to organizational flexibility. They empower their supply chain teams to find solutions that are in the best interest of their organization.