The joint work shop was well attended by 27 people from both the ACC member and RC Partner communities.  The ACC presenters broke down the RCMS Technical Specifications into 27 focused presentations followed by open discussion.  Numerous attendees commented that they thought the ACC presenters were excellent in how they presented the material providing clear examples of what the ACC expected and made the material easy to understand. 

The interaction between the presenters and the attendees led to a valuable information exchange with numerous questions and answers such as how to meet certain RCMS objectives, stakeholder identification and communication,  management review and employee safety training.  There were observations and illustrations of RCMS^® actions and activities.  When asked how this event clarified the process and requirements, Ken Howard responded, “It’s not so much that it clarified, but showed that by looking at each tree rather than the forest, it is easier to focus on and achieve each of the requirements.”  Feedback from the attendees was positive.  They felt the event was well worth the time invested. 

Our systems really are “mission-critical” to our customers, as all of their transactions are handled through this technology platform—they can’t ship without them.  Prior to revamping our infrastructure using Linux servers, we had a mix of Windows and proprietary Unix servers.  This was getting costly as the company’s transaction volume grew.  So OL&T decided that the time was right to completely refresh our infrastructure.  Going through Red Hat, we’ve created a much more cost-effective and scalable server infrastructure.  Red Hat is also more user friendly and manageable than Windows and proprietary Unix servers.  So now our server infrastructure is run more effectively, with solid support, and more cost effectively.  That makes perfect sense to me.

Another option is to source material from companies stocking material closer to the end-user. 

Finally, there are other means to keep products warm in-transit, such as blanketing and with container blanks encapsulated in plastic film.

At one of the first sessions of the day, Kim Denney, President of Air Liquide America, covered the topic “Securing Senior Management Buy-In to Ensure Sufficient Investment,”  a presentation that is key to all industries.  Fundamentally, Kim zeroed in on the process of developing ideas, looking for those “ah-ha” moments and then starting the journey to get approval of the all important budget.

In the next session, Stuart Agler, Manager, Logistics Process Improvement, Global Marketing at ExxonMobil Chemical discussed Business Continuity Planning (BCP).  He gave an insightful definition that we all need to zero in on.  Stuart stressed the need “to achieve a sustainable level of readiness supported by reasonable plans for foreseeable risks that may endanger the continuity of the business…”

BCP is one of those things that we would all agree is important and yet, is also one of those things that sits on the back burner. Stuart cited four areas for planning elements: loss of people, loss of facilities, loss of IT, and loss of services which could benefit from a common global approach if a situation does happen.  Yes, BCP is like the insurance policy that pays big dividends,  if we take the time to do it right.

Later in the morning, the crowd enjoyed a highly engaging presentation from Alan Milliken, Business Process Education Manager at BASF.  Alan’s topic was “Comprehensive Competency Based Supply Chain Learning System at BASF.” Alan gave fantastic examples of the structure that BASF has concerning both personal and major components of the technical competency curriculum for his company.  His most salient and humorous example came from his overview of an executive meeting where one senior level person asked: “What happens if we do this extensive educational training with our employees and then one of them leaves and goes to our competition?”  Alan’s response:  “And, what if we don’t do any of this critical educational training and they all decide to stay?”  And, with that, the EVP at the meeting said that all of his people would be signing up for the next training session. Way to go Alan!

The most interesting change was the addition of logistics’ cost barriers to growth over the last twelve months.  There is a challenge within the industry and for us in logistics is to break the barrier or build a bridge across it.  At Odyssey Logistics & Technology, we continue to leverage the network, build on our technological expertise to manage freight costs and develop transportation routes which will help our clients.

Jack also commented that 35% of the CEO’s surveyed will be facing substantial customer pressures and 45% are predicting boosting profits over the next two years that will require cost reductions. This seems like it will continue to be a real challenge for everyone over the next couple years.

Overall, we tend to be so involved in the day to day business that we seldom think about risk or risk management until a disaster happens.  Bill pointed out that collaborative risk management with your logistics partner is an effective way to lower transportation risk and even unplanned risk like a hurricane.  

While the analysis and data collection require a process to analyze the potential risks and a dedication to dig into the data, if done in collaboration with a partner provider, the process can be valuable and reasonably efficient to accomplish.  Hercules partners with Odyssey Logistics & Technology (OL&T) to obtain the risk factors based on volume and containers.  Using OL&T’s system to determine population risk factor and then measure based on a straight calculation, Bill said that he can determine the severity of hazardous levels.

From this data, Hercules can map ’supply chain at risk” products and assess the pipeline to collaborate with suppliers and put in risk management actions.  Sounds like Hercules is on to something!

Our goals for this blog are really very straightforward:

• To discuss real issues facing process industries today
• To share perspectives and insights about logistics best practices
• To present information that is relevant and thought provoking

Although most posts will come from my desk, I will periodically ask my OL&T colleagues and other experts to contribute. We’ll start slow and build, as we all learn how to derive real value from a new type of conversation about where we are, where we’re going, and how we’re going to achieve our vision of an efficient, safe and effective global supply chain.

Warren Hoppmeyer
VP Marketing & Sales Operations
Odyssey Logistics & Technology