There is an apocryphal folktale from the end of the Soviet Union. A guard at a construction site, every day, would search workers to make sure they didn’t leave the job site with more than they came in with. Every day, one worker (Vasiliy) would come out with a wheelbarrow full of straw. The guard would search the straw, find no contraband, and send him on his way. After a few years, the site shut down, and the guard asked what Vasiliy was stealing. Vasiliy explained: “wheelbarrows."
Hopefully, the story illustrates that we can accurately measure the wrong thing. Route efficiency might save us on gasoline, but poorly maintained roads put additional stress on fleet vehicles. Interstate highway clocks may make safer roads for drivers while making truckers’ jobs extremely difficult. Inconsistencies in online shipping models might have your customers creating a secondary market just import what you’re selling.
“My logisticians are a humorless lot … they know if my campaign fails, they are the first ones I will slay.”
Alexander the Great
If you can’t move your products well, you can lose money imperceptibly. And if your products never arrive, you won’t have a customer base. (Hence the Alexander the Great quote, Although it’s probably more relevant if you plan to conquer Eurasia.) There is often little or no informal communication between drivers, shipping clerks, and online shopping cart administrators.
People spend years reinventing the wheel and creating efficient supply chains, while bigger companies hoover up their profits with just in time chains built on massive efficiencies of scale. Advia Consulting will help you fight back. Expertise in shipping logistics is yours if you click today, bringing you decreased outlays and a better chance of retaining your metaphorical wheelbarrows. Email today.
