Tag Archives: modern

Is Virgin Hyperloop One going to change the supply chain game?

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Here is a breakdown of the potentially industry disrupting impact points that the integration of hyperloops into global supply chain could have.

Speed

So, let’s say we get a hyperloop built in the kingdom that runs from the port city and modern commercial hub of Jeddah in the West, to the city of Dammam in the East. The 844 mile journey takes over 12 hours by road. With its projected top speed of 760mph, Virgin Hyperloop One’s train could cut that travel time to just over an hour.

In June, Port Technology magazine interviewed Ryan Kelly, Virgin Hyperloop One’s Head of Marketing raised concerns about the current global supply chain’s ability to measure up to the logistical demands of the coming years. “We are not poised to meet the demand of the coming decades. Today, on-demand deliveries are novel. Tomorrow, they will be the expectation. E-commerce, set to grow to $4 trillion globally by 2020, is driving a dramatic shift in both consumer and business behavior. The market for express and parcel freight is set to grow to $516 Billion by 2025– this expanding market is currently limited by airline/airport capacity challenges.”

Kelly believes that, by being able to deliver goods across long distances, at the speed of air freight and near the cost of conventional trucking, hyperloop technology “can serve as an integrated logistics backbone, supporting the fast, sustainable and efficient delivery of palletized cargo. Deliveries can be completed in hours versus days with unprecedented reliability.”

Sustainability

The ability for this new mode of transportation to support high-speed, high-reliability logistical solutions across vast distances is obviously a game changer for supply chains currently bogged down by air, sea and land traffic congestion. Virgin Hyperloop One’s cargo subsidiary, DP World Cargospeed, will reportedly be a carbon emissions neutral, electrically powered alternative to current freight strategies, given that, according to a UK government survey, “heavy goods vehicles are currently estimated to account for around 17%1 of UK GHG emissions from road transport and around 21%2 of road transport NOx emissions, while making up just 5% of vehicle miles.”

The ability for hyperloops to transport freight that otherwise would make its way via truck, cargo ship, cargo plane (by far the most environmentally harmful form of transportation) and traditional rail freight alternatives is a strong argument for its adoption.

According to Kelly, Virgin Hyperloop One is currently setting its sights on eroding the market share of supply chains currently taken up by air freight. “We’re focused high-priority, on-demand goods — fresh food, medical supplies, electronics — the same goods often delivered via air. Hyperloop doesn’t make sense for carrying things like coal and other bulk goods which can be on the back of a truck/train for weeks with little impact,” he explains. “Air cargo currently accounts for less than 1% of world trade tonnage, yet 35% of world trade value is carried by air. This is an expanding market that is currently limited by capacity challenges.”

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The Value of a Supply Chain Executive Education

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Executive-level supply chain positions have gained both prominence and importance for today’s global companies, and to support this trend, universities, colleges, professional organizations, and training firms have enhanced their supply chain and logistics programs to help executives stay current on supply chain trends.

It wasn’t that long ago that supply chain managers worked mainly behind the scenes, stealthily orchestrating the movement of products from the raw material stage to manufacturing/production and right on through to the final delivery of the finished goods.

Typically occupied by employees who had successfully “worked their way up” through the company, these executive-level supply chain positions have over the last few years gained both prominence and importance for today’s global companies.

To support this trend, universities and colleges have enhanced their supply chain and logistics degree programs; organizations like APICS and the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) have expanded their certification programs; and training firms offer myriad options to help executives stay current on supply chain trends.

These executive education offerings provide executives with the opportunity to hone their skills, upgrade their technology acumen and better understand the inner workings of the modern-day supply chain.

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How Big Data and CRM are Shaping Modern Marketing

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Big Data is the term for massive data sets that can be mined with analytics software to produce information about your potential customers’ habits, preferences, likes and dislikes, needs and wants.

This knowledge allows you to predict the types of marketing, advertising and customer service to extend to them to produce the most sales, satisfaction and loyalty.

Skilled use of Big Data produces a larger clientele, and that is a good thing. However, having more customers means you must also have an effective means of keeping track of them, managing your contacts and appointments with them and providing them with care and service that has a personal feel to it rather than making them feel like a “number.”

That’s where CRM software becomes an essential tool for profiting from growth in your base of customers and potential customers. Good CRM software does exactly what the name implies – offers outstanding Customer Relationship Management with the goal of fattening your bottom line.

With that brief primer behind us, let’s look at five ways that the integration of Big Data and CRM is shaping today’s marketing campaigns.

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Communicating sustainability in the supply chain: Five top tips

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The sustainability of modern supply chains is under scrutiny from all angles, with consumers, manufacturers, processors and farmers all keen to ensure affordability and profitability. With such tensions in the chain, how can ‘the middle man’ deliver on demands of global customers and mobilise staff in the changing landscape of ever-higher stakeholder expectations?

1 – Don’t over-promise

It’s very easy to get carried away and over-promise, but sustainability targets should never be divorced from your basic business principles. Road-test promises internally before they are communicated to the outside world – especially when they are made within customer partnerships.

2 – Don’t alienate colleagues

No sustainability targets can be achieved by the sustainability team alone. We need our colleagues to deliver on our promises. However, sustainability has developed its own jargon-filled language which tends to alienate those working outside of it – take the term ‘capacity building’. While it means giving people the necessary knowledge and skills to shape their own development, I’ve had numerous instances where colleagues thought we were talking about building extra factory processing volume or similar!

3 – Don’t doubt yourself

There is a growing pressure from customers, shareholders and NGOs to comply with regulated sustainability schemes. While external certification bodies, such as FairTrade and Rainforest Alliance, act as third party auditors and provide reassurance to customers, it is often true that no-one knows your business better than yourself. We believe that in addition to third party certification, there is a role for companies to develop verification schemes that are independently audited.

4 – Don’t collect data for data’s sake

Don’t get obsessed by the metrics without knowing why you’re collecting them or how to usefully act upon them. Focus on impact, insight, outcomes and improvement, not the glory of numbers.

5 – Don’t go it alone

Companies don’t operate in isolation. There is a paradigm shift towards collaboration, and the nature of where and how to compete is being re-framed. The CEO of a global telecoms company once said that his biggest business regret was wasting over a decade and billions of pounds’ investment before he discussed sharing infrastructure such as masts with his competitors.

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