The 2:00 Minute Warning

I don’t know if it’s because of our Two Minute Warnings, or the fact that shippers are experiencing the conditions we warned about in our Code Red webcasts, but lately, I’ve heard the same message from several C-Level and supply chain executives: Their companies are experiencing supply chain challenges and their freight costs are going through the roof!

And now they’re interested in our insights and tips for dealing with these challenges. In response, we highlight our E3 Strategy: Educated, Equipped and Focused on Execution. What does this look like?

First, get Educated about what is happening in the freight and supply chain marketplaces. There’s lots of great information out there at no cost, like our recent interview with Peter Tirschwell about what’s happening in the ocean sector. There are many other free resources as well. Between publications like the Journal of Commerce, DC Velocity, and Logistics Management, incredibly valuable and moderately priced subscription services like FTR and FreightWaves, and great shipper based associations such as CSCMP, NIT League, NASSTRAC and TIA, staying informed and educated is a relatively easy and cost effective proposition.

Second, you need to be Equipped to address the challenges of the marketplace and be engaged in this battle. In the past, supply chains have gotten neglected as long as they were running smoothly. And that is why we continue to see shippers who are managing multi-million dollar budgets with Excel spreadsheets, inferior, or worse, inaccurate data, and nothing that provides shipment visibility capabilities. It’s obvious: They don’t have the tools they need to do the job! Our message to C-Level and supply chain executives has been and continues to be: Investing in the right tools doesn’t cost money, it saves money – a bunch of money by providing an outstanding return on your investment.

Third, now that you are educated and equipped, the focus has to be on achieving outstanding Execution. There are things you can do to improve your execution capabilities, such as creating a transportation spend management plan that articulates the key opportunities and issues, and identifies the resources required and the individuals/teams that will be responsible for completing the tasks and assignments that need to be done.

And there is great news. If you are serious about improving your execution capabilities, our Rapid Assessment, is a great place to start! It has proven to be an effective tool in helping companies chart the right path forward for controlling their transportation and supply chain costs.

And if your company is looking for the right tools to get things done, we can help there as well. So if your company needs to tighten up processes for shipping and receiving, replace manual work with technology such as our Constellation TMS, or obtain shipping data through reliable freight auditing, we have a variety of ways to help you and encourage you to get in touch.

BY MIKE REGAN, CO-FOUNDER OF TRANZACT
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