Competitive, much?

I always knew the 3PL industry was competitive, but I had first hand experience of just how cutthroat it can get at a press conference this week.

One of the major 3PLs held a good press conference this week and after the presentation and q&a I decided to approach the company's head honcho with a couple of questions, notebook open and pen poised.

It was only when he exclaimed and called over his head of marketing that I realised something was amiss. I was at their company event, but writing in my notebook from another 3PL, with a pen from a third major player in the logistics market.

Whoops.

It was a bigger hooha than I had originally expected. The executive made sure the marketing department sent over a new company-branded notebook saying "this simply will not do!". I think he was more than just a little appalled.

I really wasn't out to offend anyone, and my attempts at telling them I still have the media gift they sent two years ago fell on deaf years after my little faux pas.

But if I may just defend myself for a minute, I guess they really don't call us starving writers for nothing. When we need notebooks, pens or recorders (just a few journalism essentials), we'll grab the first thing available. Of course there are certain notebooks or pens or post-its that we like from one company over another, but when push comes to shove and you're running out to nail that story, most of us will grab the nearest free essential we can lay our hands on.

On the flip side, it just goes to show exactly how loyal these executives are to their brands, and that's always really nice to see. Competition is healthy anyway, right?

Ps/ Unlined notebooks are the best. I'm not saying anything, but you know. Just FYI.

Who says logistics is a boring business?

At our job we sometimes have to trudge through pages and pages of photos to put in the magazine. During one such session late in the night I came across this image that stopped me in my tracks.


While some may look at it like a silly, even frivolous thing to do (or in Singapore the colloquial terms "eat already nothing to do"), it made me chuckle and think: there's so much being said about not being able to find good talent because the supply chain is not a sexy business, but is that really true? Being in charge of a whole network that drives a company means you have to get creative to get an advantage, so why the boring stigma?

I don't think logisticians and supply chain professionals deserve the "boring" title. Don't believe me? Here's more proof. Check out this Christmas carol from William Martin of Total Logistics Solutions I got in the mail:

It was the night before Christmas, when all through the warehouse, Not a forklift was stirring, not even a mouse;

There were no stockings hung, only safety signs that read, Pedestrians beware, or you could end up dead;

As I looked around I noticed, the inventory was not nestled where it was supposed to be,

The warehouse was out of space and all the world could see;
The supervisor in his kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down and told me, the consultant, "he was sick of this crap;"

Inaccurate inventory, not enough space,

Constant employee turnover, a pile of returns,

He took a deep breath, and then put his hands on his face;

How did we get here, he asked, what are we doing wrong,

How will we catch up with receiving, I thought to myself,

"This is the same tired song;"

Next comes the dreams of a Warehouse Management System, to save us next year,

But it never comes, because a lack of ROI is what the executives fear;

I tell him the lack of ROI is not because of the software,

But because few organizations address their problems,

Before implementing a solution that big,

They merely end up putting clean clothes on dirty kid;

He says, nothing ever changes and wonders if we will be able to keep our sanity,

How many more customers will we lose and blame on the economy;

What will we do when the customer on the phone asks, "Are you sure you have that in stock,"

Smile like always and say, "Can you hold while I check my receiving dock;"

Just then the CEO enters and asks how is it going,

The supervisor smiles and says, "Its going, as you can see its going;"

The CEO then tells of a simpler time when customers weren't so demanding,

When inventory levels were low and all he thought about was expanding;

Well expand we have done, with a warehouse bursting at the seams,

But is the warehouse too small he asks, or do I need to speak with the Purchasing team;

The supervisor responds no I think we will be okay,

We just need to catch up on the receiving that came in the other day;

Well we definitely need to get those receivers entered so we can close out this year,

So do what you can, to make it disappear;

As he began to stroll away, down the aisle, he stepped over numerous piles of inventory, He then turned and said, "Merry Christmas you two," and that is the end of Warehouse Christmas story.

Now to all of those who think the supply chain business is boring and "not sexy" enough should think twice. Clearly people can get pretty creative on this. And even if some might look at it and laugh, what it actually highlights is just how much passion and interest the community has in their work - something that has drawn me in since we kick-started the magazine.

Passion. Now that's pretty sexy, isn't it?

Cord blood banking, a logistics organisation?

Lighthouse Independent Media recently lost one of our designers to a much dreaded illness, leukemia. It started with a minor bout of bleeding gums in September last year but by 18 January 2009, she had left us.

In her painful and heart wrenching fight to recovery, she managed to find a donor match, but the donor "disappeared" before the operation could begin. As a last alternative, the use of cord blood was introduced in her treatment. Which brings to mind, what is cord blood?

Cord blood is the extra human blood left over following childbirth. Cord blood, from the umbilical cord and the placenta, is exceptional because of the abundant blood-forming stem cells that it contains and the advantages it has over other types of stem cells.

Medicine obtained from these stem cells can be used to repair or replace cells that are diseased or damaged. Specifically, stem cells can cure or treat red blood cell diseases, white blood cell diseases, cancers and Tissue (such as heart tissue).

So what is cord blood banking?

I spoke with Victor Tay Kah Soon, director of transport, logistics, environmental & engineering services, biomedical & chemicals at Spring Singapore last month about niche concepts in logistics when the same topic of cord blood came up.

He told me that in Singapore, there are approximately three cord blood banking groups.

After the birth of a baby, these companies help to bank the newborn's umbilical cord and part of this becomes very rich cord blood that can be stored.

"At first glance, these companies look like pharmaceutical companies and [need to be] well trained in clinical aspects to be able to transport the umbilical cord, store it and after 'x' number of years down the road, if the newborn is infected with diseases, they can retrieve the cord blood which is rich blood and be able to extract the cells when the technology becomes more advance," he said.

Upon delivery, these blood cord companies arrange for a delivery person to go down to the hospital, wait for the doctor to cut the umbilical cord, place it in an air-sealed envelope which is brought back to the cord blood company, registered into a system, banked in and never do anything more until needed. The whole process of delivery and storage is frankly that of a logistics company, he said.

Pondering on his views that a cord blood company runs on the basic principles of a logistics company, I decided to call up a local cord blood group, Cordlife to find if they share his views as well.

Jerrel: What kind of services do you provide?

Customer service officer: We are a cord blood company; it is the business of storing the baby's umbilical cord blood after delivery.

Jerrel: So what kind of a company do you consider yourself? A pharmaceutical company?

Customer service officer: I would say it's under healthcare. It not pharmaceutical because this is not a pharmaceutical product, it's more of a health service.

Jerrel: You know, it would seem like a logistics company as well as you have the core functions of one. You send a delivery man to collect the cord blood in the hospital, the delivery man returns and cold storages it in in Cordlife until a need for it arises. As such it functions as a logistics company as well you think?

Customer service officer: It's not really that case, it’s not logistical in that way, I would say.

Jerrel: So what is the process like?

Customer service officer: The doctor collects the umbilical cord blood for the parents and then it is brought back to us for protecting and storage. We liaise with the parents.

Jerrel: How much does it cost to use your services?

Customer service officer: Currently, $1,400 (US$950) for the initial payment and then $250 (US$166) per year for the storage fees.

I have gathered the views from an expert in the logistics sector and also that of a cord blood bank and it seems they share differing view. Is cord blood banking really just a niche logistics company? What do you think?

[Video] DHL introduces First Choice program in AP

India - Frank Sterpin, DHL vice president for strategic planning in Asia Pacific tells ProcurementAsia how the company's First Choice programme will improve the logistics situation in India.

The First Choice programme aims to establish a mode of continuous improvement throughout the group's operations. The programme's focus is on analysing work procedures, identifying problems in processes and systematically developing solutions. It encourages employee initiatives for improvement and incorporates it into the work process.

Watch on to find out more

Thank God for ERP!

On my first ever visit to India, blessed with good fortune; I was able to take a day trip to visit the Taj Mahal – one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The Taj Mahal is located in Agra and since I was putting up in New Delhi, that meant a gruelling eight hour journey to-and-fro with ample time to observe the traffic conditions of roads in India, which would very much affects the logistics and supply chain of companies operating in India.

It must have been the third or fourth time I had to stop, queue and pay toll fees on the 203 km journey when I started comparing the Indian Toll-fees system to Singapore’s ERP (Electronic Road Pricing). This must be the first time I must say, with a little bit of embarrassment that I actually welcomed the “beep” of passing through an ERP gantry and be off on my journey, without the need to stop, queue and pay. The ERP for me represented a new dimension of efficiency.

As I engaged in more time consuming stopovers to pay toll, the situation turned dire. Instead of being confronted by yet another toll booth, at some stopovers, paying toll was done at a 1.5m x 1m desk in the middle of nowhere and my driver had to literary get down from the car and walk towards these desks.

In this time consuming and rather comical toll paying practice, I cannot help but notice the huge number of trucks and goods vehicles which were queuing up back to back at these “toll-desks” I came across and like my drivers, the drivers of these vehicles had to unbuckle their seat belts, leave their vehicles and crowd around to pay toll at these desks.

In fact, this ritual was proving such a deal, that street performers find it lucrative enough to bring along their monkeys to earn an extra buck (see picture on the left).

Although stopping at toll booths were time consuming, having your driver get out of the car and pay toll at a desk was all very unprofessional and a complete waste of time.

This would no doubt affect the efficiency of companies dealing with end to end supplying and I thought was a problem that could be eradicated with a bit of planning and restructuring.

I am not suggesting that roads in India go high tech and start erecting gantries, as I am sure drivers in India would soon be heard cursing and swearing every time they hear the “beep” like drivers on “the little red dot”. But surely, they could build more toll booths and employ very efficient toll collectors like the one in the (picture on the right) to speed up the whole process.

I do wish that some higher-ups in New Delhi or Agra reads this little comment I’ve made and for all you know, transporting of goods and end to end supply could be much less time consuming and all these truck drivers could spend more time resting on their beds rather than queuing and waiting into the wee hours of the night (see picture below) just to get their shipment to their destination.

Manufacturers' guide to surviving the economic slump

With the manufacturing sector already notoriously named the "sunset" industry, the recent slew of reports on job cuts and mass retrenchment may be leaving folk in the sector shaking in their shoes.

I speak with Randy Sng, industry manager for manufacturing and general business at IBM Singapore on whats in store for manufacturers in Asia, and what they can do to help ride out the economic storm.

Watch on to find out more.

Pilots forced to fly uncomfortably low on fuel

The fuel price crisis seems to have hit a new level with this TIME exclusive on how pilots have been forced to fly with minimum fuel.

Read more here: http://tinyurl.com/6r4etu