Every logistics provider and freight forwarder’s goal at the transactional
level is to provide customers 100 percent on-time performance, but at some
point or another, problems will evidently
arise that disrupt the flow of goods along
the global supply chain.
“Logistics is not an exact science — I tell
customers and team members all the time
that until we invent the Star Trek transporter, there will always be those unpredictable and unexpected conditions that
arise, threatening to snarl our otherwise
seamless service and supply lines,” says
Keith Tholan, vice president of the western
region for AIT Worldwide Logistics, Inc.
“It’s certainly not a revolutionary or
groundbreaking concept, but proactive
communication is the single most important factor in successfully serving your customer base.”
Smart Business sat down with Tholan to
discuss how using proactive communication can effectively build a strong, solid
link in the logistics chain.
How do you define proactive communication as it relates to a global logistics organization?
Proactive communication, in its very simplest terms, involves providing consistent
and timely updates to all necessary supply
chain parties throughout the entire life
cycle of a shipment. It’s about ensuring that
expectations not being met on the front
end are resolved before they affect the end
user or customer. More than anything,
proactive communication means that your
organization’s operations and customer
service teams are just as quick and efficient
in delivering the bad news as well as the
good news.
We are paid to operate at a high level, but
the real differentiation between those
logistics companies that falter and those
that succeed can be measured by how they
handle these exceptions or crisis situations
that we are all inevitably confronted with
at one point or another. Systems can certainly help streamline the information flow
of our operations and service industry
leaders rely on these processes, but in the
end, it is the people who drive the proactive communication to troubleshoot, problem solve and ultimately deliver results.
In addition to communication, what factors
are necessary to both enhance customer
relationships and benefit the logistics
organization as a whole?
Customers are increasingly requiring customized management of their supply
chains. In dictating the cost and time constraints of their commodities, they are also
expecting all-inclusive visibility, flexibility,
specialized industry expertise and extensive service options. Every single one of
these factors is tethered to the concept of
using proactive communication and dedicated people in order to enhance your
organization’s service excellence and optimize relationships with your customers.
After all, you are not only held accountable for building a link between you and
that particular customer, but you are also
building an extension from your customer
to theirs.
In any situation, whether you are moving
digital cameras and cell phones to a bigbox retailer or an oil rig to the Southern
coast of Brazil, you can’t provide customers the ultimate in logistics management from point of origin to point of destination without proactive communication
taking place across all points of the logistics plan.
What obstacles and challenges are presented when that link is broken?
There is a wide range and broad spectrum of scenarios that can potentially disrupt the customized transportation solutions you have crafted for your customer.
Whether those supply chain hiccups are
clock-stopping or allowable, diminutive or
detrimental, our jobs are to make our
clients look good for choosing us. Delivering bad news to a customer is never easy,
but it needs to be done as soon as the
slightest hint of a problem presents itself.
In the event of inclement weather, service
failures, port strikes or labor stoppage in a
specific sector of the marketplace, there is
nothing worse than putting customers in a
precarious shipping situation without giving them information as it becomes readily
available. Likewise, being conditioned to
exercise proactive communication practices affords logistics providers ample time
to find the proper resources to develop a
workable, feasible solution.
For example, at AIT, our projects and
energy division recently coordinated a
shipment weighing 3,000 tons traveling
from New Orleans to Singapore in the face
of catastrophic, near-hurricane weather
conditions in addition to a 419,000 gallon
oil spill in the Mississippi River. Because of
the proactive planning and strategic communications executed by an excellent and
dedicated AIT team throughout the tumultuous, two-month long journey, the customer was both tremendously pleased and
grateful, despite the inevitable delay in the
arrival of its commodities.
KEITH THOLAN is the vice president of the western region for AIT Worldwide Logistics, Inc., headquartered in Itasca, Illinois.
Spanning numerous nationwide locations and an ever-increasing network of international partnerships, the global transportation and
logistics provider delivers tailored solutions for a wide variety of vertical markets and industries. Reach him at (888) 818-6788 or
[email protected].
