By: Michael Koploy, Guest Blogger Michael Koploy is an ERP market analyst at Software Advice, a free online resource for wms software. 

On the February 1, Wanted Analytics posted some great numbers for those in manufacturing, logistics and the supply chain: in the past 90 days, almost 50,000 jobs were posted online, up 24% over the same period last year (source).

I wanted to find out which jobs are in high demand, and what skills and education these professionals need to succeed. After speaking with eight industry professionals from the worlds of academia, recruiting, supply chain software and the workforce, here are the 5 positions I found.

#1 Procurement Manager

These individuals are asked to manage the sourcing and procurement activities of a business so that goods and services are attained at the highest quality and lowest cost. An education in operations, statistics, sales and marketing are helpful, as these individuals require an analytical mind as well as an influential personality. Common certifications include the Certified Professional Supply Management certification from ISM and Senior Professional Supply Management certification from Next Level Purchasing.

#2 Demand Planner

These professionals ensure that inventory production levels are matched to product demand. This is a numbers-focused role, so an educational background in finance, statistics, and operations are often a great base. Experience with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems such as SAP and Infor is helpful as many busineses use these systems. APICS’ Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) is common, as is training in Six Sigma strategies.

#3 3PL Business Development Analyst

Many businesses are outsourcing their logistics needs to third party logistics companies (3PLs), so the job of business development manager is essential in communicating with customers and finding new business. Certifications aren’t necessary for success in these roles, but experience in account/project management, finance and support is often helpful.

#4 Warehouse Supervisor

The warehouse and distribution center is the heart of an efficient logistics operation. The warehouse supervisor plays an important role in communication with inbound and outbound logistics teams, as well as managing the team of warehouse workers. These individuals are often well-versed in supply chain and inventory concepts, but are also comfortable getting their hands dirty and helping out with manual labor.

#5 Supply Chain Analyst

Oftentimes MBAs and undergraduates of supply chain management, business administration and engineering programs find success with large consulting and accounting firms, such as Aon, A.T. Kearney and Capgemini. These analysts are often comfortable with working long hours, but are able to experience working with some of top executives within the supply chain.

Throughout the interviews, there were also three skills that many of the experts I spoke with thought were needed for an individual to be competitive for most positions within the supply chain.

• A strong grounding in supply chain and business fundamentals.
• Both an academic and a working knowledge of quantitative analysis.
• The ability to communicate effectively through both verbal and written communication.

You can read more on these positions at on my warehouse management systems blog: Top 5 Fastest-Growing Jobs in Logistics.

“I am only half way through the series and I am already able to apply the principals and tools I have learned back at my company.”

There’s no doubt the Lean Supply Chain Certificate Program is providing real results. Click below to hear what else participants are saying:

Missed the Lean Supply Chain Webinar on February 3rd?

Watch it here.

Discount Code:

The Supply Chain and Logistics Intitute is also offering you a special $250 discount off your registration for one of the 2012 Spring Lean Supply Chain courses or sign up for the whole series for $6,000 (you save $1,200!) Please use the promotion code “LEANWEB” to receive the special discount. Register online or call 404.385.3501.

Lean Supply Chain Certificate Courses:

To become a Lean Supply Chain Professional, we must grow our skills in three areas: Lean Problem Solving, Lean Supply Chain Application, and Lean Leadership.

In this free one-hour webinar now available online, you will be introduced to:

• Lean problem solving through the use of problem solving tools to eliminate waste at the root cause

• Connecting lean to supply chain management, discussing how concepts such as pull and one piece flow will lead to reductions in total cost of the supply chain

• Transforming an organization from traditional to lean thinking with lean leadership

Robert and Kevin cover these areas and explain how each plays a critical role in creating a lean supply chain. The aim is to reduce the total cost of the supply chain – removing waste and creating the most value for the customer.

Be a Better Developer

Being on the software development side of LeanCor, it is important to have structure to your code.  Something that we as developers do to maintain our code is practice DRY.  DRY simply means “Don’t Repeat Yourself.”  Rushing is a common problem that can occur when balancing emergencies and standard projects.  It’s much easier to copy and paste a function, manipulate it, and push it out.  By doing this however, you create the opportunity for errors in the code later when you have to manipulate both of the functions.  It’s very possible that a developer won’t know of or will miss one of the functions that need altered now, thus creating emergencies.

Refactor Your Code

How does one overcome this problem?  Find commonalities in the code, and re-factor it.  Take the functions that are similar and if possible, break them into several smaller functions.  Maybe make a call to one main function that calls all those several smaller ones from multiple locations.  This allows you the ability to keep your code dealing with a specific functionality all in one area.

While coding if you find yourself asking, “What is the next step to accomplish the goal?”  You should probably break that next step out into it’s own function.   What this allows is the code to be very modularized and any errors that occur are much easier to find and correct.

Use Long Function and Variable Names

Another major step in making life as a coder easier is long function names and variable names.  This allows commenting your code without actually commenting your code.  Why is this good?  It reduces the file size, everything you need to reference is right in front of you, and most importantly the programmers don’t need to maintain the documentation -  the code is doing that itself!

Clean Up Old Issues

What if you find poor coding practices from others around the area you’re coding?  We have a saying in our IT department: “Leave the campground cleaner than you found it.”  Go ahead and fix it.  It solves future headaches and cleans up the code for when others have to “camp” there.

Not having always been a believer in some of these methodologies, I’ve challenged myself both in practice at home and at work.  I’ve found myself not having nearly as many problems in logic or frustrations.

Recap

So let’s recap.  Structure is vital to having functioning code.  Practicing DRY will prevent future issues from occurring because you don’t have to manipulate multiple locations.  Refactoring your code allows the programmer to travel easier through the code and find errors quicker as functions are much smaller. Think about each step and its own individual function.  Create long function and variables names.  Who needs comments now?!  If you see something that appears to be rushed or was poorly coded, fix it now.

Written by Roman DeNu, Software Development Specialist at LeanCor

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I am one of the lucky lean logistics managers on-site at my customer’s facility. My customer intuitively (From the President to the CFO) understands the value of improving the Lean Fulfillment Stream.  At LeanCor, however, it’s very important that we are able to communicate the Lean Fulfillment Stream’s’ total cost with data and measurements to successful communicate our customer’s “Return on Investment” in lean (or the value of LeanCor).

Overall costs of fulfillment stream are captured in a total cost of fulfillment statement.  These statements measure the impact of fulfillment-stream improvements on operational performance and income.  – Building a Lean Fulfillment Stream, p. 23

Using the Total Cost of Fulfillment model, as outlined above, I set out to develop a tool to model the costs and variables that existed within the stream, to then communicate the “LeanCor ROI”.  Making this total cost visible to all levels at Slumberland would help me gain support from all levels for all Lean improvements.

Step 1: Gather The Data And Establish a Baseline

Sometimes not all of our customers have “complete” or “easily” traceable data -  this is why it is important to set up inputs that 1) can easily be tracked from month to month and 2) are agreed “Total Logistics Cost” inputs from your customer.

We were able to capture cost in Outbound Logistics, Shipping, receiving and trailer yard management, material ordering, Inbound logistics, Supplier collaboration, and Inventory carrying costs.

Step 2: Measure, Measure, Measure

My customer wasn’t able to provide a “baseline” Total Cost, as some of the data elements didn’t exist a year ago – but we were able to get data back for a full year – and then continued to measure month over month.

Step 3: Determine a Relative Measure

Just as sales go up and down so do our costs each month as our workload shifts to meet changing customer demands.  It is important that we relate the Total Cost as a percentage of an activity in order to make our data “scalable” – this avoids the “Shipping cost $500,000 more thismonth” argument, because well as a % of sales it’s less than last month!

Step 4: Calculate ROI YTD

To translate “Lean” in to the bottom line we multiple the % delta year over year and multiple by Sales – or in my case Material Received.  I calculate ROI YTD in order to communicate a “running total” – because even if we have a bad month – or negative delta – we might still have a positive ROI.

Step 5: Continuously Improve and Check Adjust

Now that we have a measurement signed off by the customer, we can continuously improve our Total Cost of the Lean Fulfillment Stream.

Every month my customer and I review LeanCor’s ROI along with 3 other measurements we have determined to be important strategic partnership measurements.  This has allowed for a non bias – “red, yellow, green” approach to answer the question “Do we have a happy customer?” and “What is LeanCor’s value?”.’

Related articles

• The Logistics Bridge Model (leanlogisticsblog.leancor.com)
• Lean Logistics Best Practice: Trailer Audits (leanlogisticsblog.leancor.com)
• What’s the Total Cost of Products You Used Today? (bellasugar.com)
• Using Lean Logistics To Decrease Transportation Costs (leanlogisticsblog.leancor.com)

Building on the success of their first two years, LeanCor and the Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistics Institute will continue the Lean Supply Chain Professional Certificate Program this March.

Course 1: Building the Lean Supply Chain Problem Solver: March 13-15, 2012, September 18-20, 2012

Course 2: Building the Lean Supply Chain Professional: April 10-12, 2012, October 16-18, 2012

Course 3: Building the Lean Supply Chain Leader: May 15-17, 2012, November 13-15, 2012

Focusing on building the lean supply chain professional, this international program changes how supply chain professionals think, act, and lead by teaching them to develop and implement strategic and tactical elements of lean principles in the supply chain. The program results in reducing the total cost of the supply chain.

LeanCor and Georgia Tech are also offering free Lean Supply Chain webinars February 3 and March 15 that will preview the series, introducing participants to lean problem solving, lean supply chain management, and the lean leadership required to guide the journey. To register, visit http://dllive.gatech.edu/scli_lean_02032012/.

 “I am only half way through the series and I am already able to apply the principals and tools I have learned back at my company,” said Derek Quinn, Service Manager at Big Freight Systems. “I’m looking forward to finishing the program and being able to share my knowledge not only with those in my organization, but with companies we service as well.”

“Successful organizations going forward will be those that focus on the customer, eliminate all non value added activities, reduce lead times and inventories, and build leaders who can navigate the supply chain from a cross-functional perspective.” Robert Martichenko, senior course lecturer and CEO of LeanCor, added that “when lean is successfully implemented in the supply chain, revenue will go up and costs will go down. This is the model of margin management and cash flow improvement required for today’s success.”

For more information on these courses or to register, call at 404-894-2343 or visit www.pe.gatech.edu/scl.

About The Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistics Institute

The Supply Chain & Logistics Institute (SCL) at Georgia Tech University is the world’s largest supply chain and logistics research and education enterprise, globally recognized for its breadth and depth in supply chain and logistics expertise. A unit of Georgia Tech’s # 1 Ranked H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, SCL has sixty years of active collaboration with industry.

What to display on the outputs is sometimes very challenging for me.  These models are typically very ‘deep,’ meaning there are many inputs and outputs (both final and intermediate).  The display of the outputs will typically take the form of some sort of dashboard or graphical display.  If you put too much in this the important ‘decision making’ information may get lost or overwhelmed by less important data points.  On the contrary, not displaying the right information will make the tool useless for certain considerations that the client is interested in.  By far, the best way to overcome this is to go back to the Voice of the Customer.  This can either be done through some previous documentation; or, better yet, initiate a dialogue with the customer (hopefully you they have been engaged throughout the process).  Concentrate on what they want to use the tool for.  All of the displayed outputs should help drive these decisions, show the problem from a different angle, or demonstrate the impacts of a decisions.

How the outputs are displayed can also muddy the waters of decision making.  The flow and placement of the information should follow some sort of natural logic.  This flow could be from the macro-level outputs to the individual details, or it could help tell the story of the problem.  No matter how you choose to arrange the outputs, you want it be easy to pick out important data points and, ultimately, make the right decisions.  Another consideration is that we, as humans, aren’t normally prone to looking at large data matrices and immediately pulling out the ‘so what.’  Not that the ‘bottom line’ values shouldn’t be displayed, but consider using the rich graphical outputs that we have at our disposal: bar charts, pie charts, line graphs, ‘waterfall’ graphs, etc.  There are many books and articles on what type of display device to use for certain types of information.  If you are having trouble deciding, don’t hesitate to utilize all of the resources at your disposal.

• Using the ‘Voice of the Customer’ to dictate what the output should be
• Not putting extraneous outputs into the dashboard/interface
• Ensuring that the outputs drive decision making, add insight to the problem, or demonstrate the impacts of decisions.

Simplify the display of the outputs, while increasing usability by:

• Organizing the placement of the outputs to create a logic flow to follow
• Ensuring that data can be easily identified and ‘pick out’ for decision making
• Using graphs, where appropriate, to turn numbers into visual displays
• Making sure that the ‘bottom line’ is easy to identify

Increase usability and decrease complexity of the model’s usage by:

• Minimizing the user inputs to only those critical to decision making or the variables that have the greatest impact on your model
• Utilizing ‘Visual Management’ to let the user know what is expected of them
• Using buttons, sliders, and dials to encourage the user to ‘play’ with the model

Building a Lean Fulfillment Stream has won the The Shingo Research and Professional Publications Award!

The award is given to authors for their writing on operational excellence and promote and recognizes new knowledge and understanding.

 Awards are given in four categories: (1) books (monographs), (2) published articles, (3) case studies, and (4) applied publications/multimedia programs. Research or publications submitted should provide new theory or novel application. Reviews, re-statements, textbooks, and/or edited versions will generally not be considered.

About The Book

Building a Lean Fulfillment Stream will change the way you think about your supply chain and logistics networks.  Even better – it gives you a way to act using lean principles to transform and continuously improve these two key flows.

In this pioneering workbook, lean logistics veterans Robert Martichenko and Kevin von Grabe explain step-by-step a comprehensive, real-life implementation process for optimizing your entire fulfillment stream from raw materials to customers, including practical insights into two critical concepts: calculating the total cost of fulfillment and collaborating across all functions and firms along the fulfillment stream.

Your company, like most, probably calculates costs at different points within departments, such as the piece price paid by the purchasing department to a supplier. Few companies figure the total cost associated with each major function across the whole fulfillment stream. Calculating total cost, which most executives find surprisingly large, lets you measure the impact of your improvement efforts on operational performance and overall income.

Martichenko and von Grabe also give you guidance and tools for collaboration. Using the example company ABE Corp. as their model, the authors illustrate how the lean conversion process is a win-win for every company along the supply chain. And an accompanying analysis illustrates the financial benefits and shows you how to apply the metrics.

The narrative, supported by 41 charts and illustrations, including value-stream maps, shows you:

1. How to apply the eight guiding principles for implementing lean fulfillment, even when all the data and variables are not known.
2. The seven major types of waste in logistics and supply chains.
3. How a fulfillment-stream council of representatives from internal departments, customers, suppliers, and transportation providers gives critical guidance and support.
4. The “eight rights” for assessing perfect order execution.
5. What lean metrics to use, such as why average days on hand of inventory is a better measure than inventory turns.
6. How to identify and eliminate waste in shipping, receiving, and yard management.

Learn how to use lean management principles to convert supply chains and logistics networks into smooth, fast-flowing fulfillment streams.

SALE: Now through January 31, purchase Building a Lean Fulfillment Stream for 20% off with code “shingo” at checkout!

Both Lean and Six Sigma lend distinctive disciplines and tools to supply chain management and logistics. Using these disciplines and tools will allow an organization to uncover and deal with wastes and inefficiencies. Although Lean and Six Sigma tools are very powerful, we need to remember that for Lean and Six Sigma to work in logistics, a fundamental mind shift must occur. This mind shift requires that we first begin making decisions based on the concept of “Total Logistics Costs,” and second, we have the courage to eliminate waste in its various forms. This may sound simple but in reality will prove otherwise. Organizational norms, management tradition, and financial accounting methods will fight against “Total Cost” and will continue to support our natural tendencies to create waste. The Logistics Bridge Model provides a template for the design and implementation of a logistics strategy based on Lean and Six Sigma principles.

The Logistics Bridge Model is a model that can be used as a compass for the supply chain professional. That is, it will provide direction and insight on how to solve today’s logistics challenges. At the heart of these challenges is the need to bridge our suppliers with our own processes and then bridge our processes to the customer. All this must happen while we face competitive and shareholder pressures to increase market share and reduce costs.

The Logistics Bridge Model teaches us that Lean Six Sigma Logistics is made up of three main principles. These principles are:

1. Logistics Flow

2. Logistics Capability

3. Logistics Discipline

Logistics Flow

Flow is a crucial tenet in any corporate logistics strategy. The CEO recognizes that elements of flow are inherent in every business function. Understanding flow inside the organization allows the firm to understand its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and constraints. Flow describes the operational effectiveness of the company. The CEO will be most interested in three types of flow: asset flow, information flow, and financial flow. How productive are the assets, how do we manage information, and how do we generate a return on our investment? These three key elements of flow form a foundation that is closely tied to supply chain and logistics activities, creating awareness of the importance of flow and strategic logistics management.

Logistics Capability

Logistics Discipline

Maintaining flow and capability requires discipline. Discipline is the third key focus area for CEOs as they develop a logistics strategy. Enlightened CEOs recognize that logistics and supply chain management are not about technology, but rather about people and process. For people and processes to be effective, there must be discipline to the principles and strategies being used. Lean is a quintessential example of the importance of discipline. Many executive managers review the principles of Lean and recognize them as nothing more than common sense. Yet their attempts at implementing Lean fail miserably! Why? The number one cause of failure is lack of discipline. Lean Six Sigma and eliminating waste is not difficult conceptually. At the end of the day, it is nothing more than a lot of hard work. And hard work requires discipline. To work hard and to work smart require a commitment to the principles and consistent application of the tools. Relative to logistics, discipline is extremely important. The Logistics Bridge Model describes logistics discipline as focusing on three main aspects: Collaboration, Systems Optimization, and Waste Elimination. These three tenets will drive discipline and success and are necessary to support any corporate Lean Six Sigma initiative.

Logistics Bridge Model – Getting Started

In summary, the Logistics Bridge Model starts with higher-order principles that will be the focus of the top executive of the organization: Logistics Flow, Logistics Capability, and Logistics Discipline. Once the CEO believes this is the proper strategic approach to logistics, the CEO can pass the strategic focus areas to the next level of management.

Senior management will be tasked with implementing the three key Lean Six Sigma Logistics principles. This takes us to the next level of tenets in the model. Logistics Flow will focus on Asset Flow, Information Flow, and Financial Flow. Logistics Capability will focus on the logistics system’s Predictability, Stability, and Visibility. Logistics Discipline requires strategies focused on Collaboration, Systems Optimization, and Waste Elimination.

In the end, the senior executive will embrace these nine second-order tenets and will develop an execution plan to implement the strategies, engaging the next management level of the organization. This takes us to the level of the doers, the people who have to implement the strategy. These are the people who have to get it done! Fortunately, the Logistics Bridge Model has developed third-order tenets. These are the strategic areas that the implementers need to focus on, twenty-seven tactics that represent the best of what Lean and Six Sigma have to offer to supply chain organization and processes.

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• Lean Assembly: A New Hire’s Appreciation For Poka-Yoke (leanlogisticsblog.leancor.com)
• The 5 Whys: Brilliant Processes Drive Brilliant Results (leanlogisticsblog.leancor.com)

Image via Wikipedia

For the first few days of this project, my daily standard work was to shadow different departments and lines in the automotive plant in order to learn their processes and parts. However, this method made it very difficult for me to “truly learn” the process and its flow since I wasn’t actually doing the work. Because of my way of learning, I asked if I can be put on the line as a new hire and by the middle of the week, I was “hired” as a new line employee in sub-assembly.

There has never been a time where I have felt the power of poka-yoke more than when working at this plant. Poka-yoke (in Japanese, poka means error and yokeru means to avoid) is a term that means to mistake proof a process by building safeguards into the system that avoid or immediately find errors – basically, stopping me from assembling incorrect parts or making assembly errors.  And believe me, I made errors!

Thankfully, none of these errors were passed down the line because:

• the machine in the cell would not start until all parts needed for assembly were placed in the machine, in the correct location,

• the machine in the cell would not start until each part placed in the machine was of perfect quality and inserted properly, and

• an indicator light would turn red if the final assembled part (after the machine assembly) had a quality issue, indicating the employee in the cell to not pass this part down the line.

Placing these poka-yokes into the system enabled the process to flow smoothly and without defect. It built quality at the source which not only gave each employee (especially me!) trust in the part and assembly process they were working on, but also reduced the cost of poor quality and customer incidents that could have stemmed from even a small scratch on a part.

Written by Ana Bailey, Lean Deployment Specialist at LeanCor

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