Welcome to the Spring 2022 issue of JBF Freight Transportation Industry Bulletin, a monthly newsletter curated by the JBF Consulting team, with a focus on supply chain, transportation, logistics and of course freight.
In The Spring 2022 Issue
- In Times of Turbulence
- Freight Truck Shortages Are Changing The Face Of Logistics
- How a TMS Can Be a Catalyst for Change
- An Assessment is a Good Place to Start
- Welcome new JBF Consulting Team Members
- TMS Transformation for Automotive Sector Manufacturer - Success Story
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A Message From Brad Forester, CEO
In today's logistics environment, I'm reminded of this quote by Peter Drucker, “The greatest danger in times of turbulence is not the turbulence - it is to act with yesterday’s logic.”
Each party and link in the supply chain is being impacted by a flock of black swans these days - but those aren't the only catalysts of change we deal with. Systems integration - especially within the logistics function - is a 'planned' catalyst of change.
No black swan needed!
However, many buyers of logistics technology - be it a TMS, Vehicle Routing & Scheduling solution, or a Visibility platform - don't realize that fact, and therefore don't plan for the change.
In our feature article this month, Mike Wolf, Client Engagement Director at JBF, frames up how systems can enable change - and he's got a lot of experience with change management.
When I was reading an early draft, I thought about my own difficult transition from iPhone to Android several years ago. The hardware change was easy - it's essentially just another touch-screen smartphone with a different GUI and underlying O/S.
The 'systems integration' was also relatively straightforward - I go to a new app store, all my apps integrated nicely since everything is cloud-native, and I had no problems in the conversion from iOS to Android.
Even Microsoft Outlook worked well on the iPhone, and worked the same way on Android.
Where I struggled the most was how I personally interacted with the phone doing common, mundane things like taking screen shots, sharing pictures with other iPhone users, copying links to articles and sharing them, and yes - text messaging with friends and colleagues.
For me, this was the most difficult part of the transition, and I think it has a strong correlation to the Change Management topic that Mike lays out in his article.
The "turbulence" was my own reluctance to changing the way I had always done things before, and finding a new path forward on my own to perform the same functions I previously paid no attention to.
I realized I could no longer operate using "yesterday's logic" (without failing miserably at being a friend, colleague, CEO, human, etc.).
Systems implementations are indeed about connecting applications, but they are also about changing how people interact with others - other functions, processes and people.
Implementation correlates to "turbulence" and forces us to behave differently - the "new logic" Drucker was referring to.
In some cases, the magnitude of enterprise change may drive a re-organization of people and departments based on how the technology shifts these human interactions.
To be clear, I'm not saying that's always a bad thing - but it's a critical piece that is often overlooked during planning and budgeting for a systems integration project. And, while I will eventually go back to iPhone - I'm honestly not in any rush to change.
We look forward to helping you with your challenges when it comes to adapting to change. Always interested in your feedback. Feel free to reply to this email.
Click here to read the JBF Spring 2022 Bulletin
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