Great post and good follow up on all the topic ideas. @Pocharle's systems approach to controlling cost is excellent an idea. Each product should be viewed and discussed by every subsystem in the manufacturing organization. It is this inter-relatedness and inter-dependence of each segment (subsystem) of the organization that truely can minimize cost and maximize profit in the manufacturing of a product.
Both design engineers, and the logistics team must work on the product from concept to finished product, planning, and problem-solving, including the total landed cost of the product.
The software developed on your motorcycle company, maximize profit based on cost reduction of fuel or more packages shipped in less trips? both ?
we developed software that required high level of maintainance, we implemented something we called JIKARI ( Just in Time, Kanban, Raw Inventory) basically we were working on the philosophy of "we sell one product we build one product" and our time delivery instead of being affected was improved from 36 Hrs to 18 Hrs.
It's interesting that the same approach used to optimize shipping is used to fit features on microchips and data on hard drives. A company can put itself ahead of the game that can use the same algorithm for its shipping and logistics as is designed for its products.
Thanks for the post Jennifer. It's important to optimise the packaging cost in reducing the whole product cost. As prabhakar said there is also a better usage of transportation needed to optimise the cost.
Wow, Excellent article, and Yes today I learned something new, Even I'm directly involved with packaging techniques for our products never consider dimensional price vs weight price.... very good article and great educational videos.
Hi Jenn, Thanks for the offer and I will definitely look into it as well.I believe that this is a great supply chain topic which doesn’t get the attention it should.
"I guess similar tools are being used in most of the manufacturing and distribution companies to optimise on their shipping and forwarding costs"
@prabhakar_deosthali,
There are delivery route optimazation software such as TourSolver that help to optimize transport logistics. It is has been reported that such software can "reduce the cost of routes by 15% and improve productivity!". I think that such software can be used together with the cubing optimization described by Jeniffer as well.
I agree with @DennisQ - @Dave Sasson it seems like you have a wealth of knowledge on this topic and lots of hands-on experience. Likewise, it would be interesting to hear more about your company's trials, errors, and successes, and get a sense of what steps other companies can take to reap similar benefits. If that's something you're interested in or if you're in a position to disclose more details, I can ask Bolaji what he thinks about a case study or profile kind of piece (If you want to talk about this offline email me at jenn [at] jenniferbaljko.com)
@Anna young - as to you question about whether design engineers should be concerned with packaging, I'm leaning towards @pocharle's idea of the teams having an open dialogue so that decision-makers address issues early on. Although @prabhakar_deosthali's idea that "product design cannot be controlled by how best it can be packaged," why shouldn't design engineers develop a sense of total landed cost. Of course, they need freedom to create the next best thing, but costs is a companywide issue, not just something for the logistics team to think about at the end of the process. Also, if logistics folks know what design engineers are working on, they can start planning their creative problem-solving early on, too.
@prabhakar_deosthali - sounds like cool and useful software your team developed.
In my opinion a product design cannot be controlled by how best it can be packaged. But once a product or product range is available the logistics dept can work on optimising the packaging and shipping to minimise on the number of trips to be made to deliver the products.
in the motorcycle company for which I was handling the IT systems , we had developed a software package to be used by the logistics dept. Based upon the orders to be despatched to various delares ona given day, this software would calculate the transport vehicle to be used ( small truck, medium size truck or a container ) and also fit the maximum possible mix of the vehicles to be despatched. It also decided from which depot the shipment would be made to have shortest shipping distance and also the route to be taken to deliver the vehicles to multiple dealers in a single trip .
I guess similar tools are being used in most of the manufacturing and distribution companies to optimise on their shipping and forwarding costs.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
While no one really can accurately predict the future, we can take guidance from another Drucker saying which is the best way to predict the future is to create it.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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