Five Key Issues Emerge During Arnall Golden Gregory’s Interviews at the 2017 Georgia Logistics
Approximately 1,200 people attended the 9th Georgia Logistics Summit, which was held May 16-17 at the Georgia World Congress Center. Arnall Golden Gregory has been a summit sponsor since 2013.
Michael D. Golden, co-leader of AGG’s Logistics and Transportation Practice, with 18 attorneys, serves on the Georgia Logistics Summit Executive Committee. This year’s keynote speaker was Sandra MacQuillan, Chief Supply Officer at Kimberly-Clark, who was introduced by AGG partner Ashley Steiner Kelly. Another partner, Andrew J. Schutt, moderated the panel discussion “New & Next Statewide,” about economic development trends.
AGG contracted with former television journalist Laurie Dhue to interview summit attendees at the firm’s booth, which generated considerable buzz at the event. Two dozen business professionals shared their insights. Here are five themes that emerged from those discussions.
1.Technology is Playing a Bigger Role in the Industry
Disruptive technology was perhaps the most popular topic at this year’s summit. A new feature was the Logistics Technology Showcase, where companies displayed their innovative products. One of the early summit sessions, “Logistics Technology Disruptors,” drew a large audience, and a later session focused on transportation technology. Technology frequently came up in AGG’s interviews with two dozen summit attendees. They talked about electronic data interchange between logistics companies and their business partners; electronic payments for trucking, freight handling and logistics; technology that predicts the likelihood of parts failures; robotics in distributions centers; wearable technology for warehouse workers; and event data recorders in trucks. Other innovations in the pipeline include drone deliveries and autonomous vehicles.
2.Attracting Qualified Millennial Workers is a Challenge
Bringing qualified young people into the industry is a longstanding problem. Attendees told AGG the industry has an image problem that hurts recruitment. Many millennials view logistics and transportation jobs as dead-end work, when, in fact, it has become much more technology focused. One executive said trucking companies need to be more honest about the rigors of the job and shift from cross-country trips to regional trips to improve the work-life balance for drivers. Another business leader said allowing drivers to make interstate trips at a younger age would help with hiring. Puga Sankara, principal of Smart Gladiator, told AGG that promoting technology that millennials are comfortable using, such as smart-phone apps, will make warehouse work more attractive. Millennials also like the Results Only Work Environment (ROWE), in which employees are paid according to results rather than time spent at the workplace, explained Enrique Alvarez, managing director at Vector Global Logistics.
3. E-commerce is Driving Changes
As more consumers buy online, the expectation is that fulfillment centers will process orders immediately, allowing in some cases same-day delivery. The demand for quick turnaround is influencing investment and hiring decisions. Seasonal warehouse workers increasingly are important, but how do you hire enough of them and get them up to speed quickly? One enticement is wearable technology that young people, in particular, are comfortable using. Wearable technology allows free use of the hands and eliminates the need to walk long distances, thus reducing fulfillment time. E-commerce also is spurring warehouse automation. Warehouses are being built higher to fit tall robotics equipment. Urban warehouses with smaller footprints will become more commonplace to quickly fill orders.
4. It’s Easy to Run Afoul of the Myriad Regulations
Approximately 48 government agencies regulate trade, according to Donna Mullins of Mullins International, a compliance training firm. Of particular concern for companies involved in global trade is U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Trade Facilitation and Enforcement Act, which Mullins called “the iron hammer” in her interview with AGG. Another recent development is the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) system, the portal through which businesses provide data to several government agencies. Businesses have had to adjust their supply chain processes to comply with ACE requirements. At last year’s summit, a panel discussion moderated by AGG partner Michael E. Burke addressed “the upcoming regulatory tidal wave.” The panelists discussed the challenges businesses face because of amendments to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention and the Food Safety Modernization Act.
5. With Boomers Retiring, Consolidation is Continuing
Whether it’s the founder’s plan to retire or a small business’s desire to remain competitive in an increasingly complex industry, M&A activity in the logistics and transportation space is ongoing. Customers are demanding “one-stop shop,” integrated services, which businesses without proper scale cannot provide. Matt Clark, chief financial officer at CFO Advisors, said in his AGG interview that baby boomers who founded their trucking businesses decades ago when trucking was deregulated now want to sell if family members have no interest in taking the reins. At the same time, the founder wants to protect jobs, which might be difficult if the prospective buyer is a private equity fund looking to make the business leaner in order to sell it later. PWC forecasts strong consolidation activity in trucking and shipping in 2017. Globalization, e-commerce and disruptive technology also are driving investments in companies.
Click here to know more.
Puga Sankara
Puga Sankara is the co-founder of Smart Gladiator LLC. Smart Gladiator designs, builds, and delivers market-leading mobile technology for retailers, distributors, and 3PL service providers. SG LoadProof is a patent pending Centralized Enterprise Photo/Video Document System on Cloud for Supply Chain. SG LP is built on the fact that photos & videos are vital docs as important as POs/SOs/Legal Contracts/Fulfillment Orders that reside in ERP/WMS/TMS systems, that serve as compelling, conclusive, unequivocal proof of crucial, critical, vital operations executed in Supply Chain within/across orgs when fulfilling customer orders as well as meeting contractual obligations between orgs as merchandise is transferred between different parties that partake in Supply Chain functions & operations. And these photos/videos data should not be stored in someone’s Smartphone or Email Inbox or in their personal/work Computer, but should be stored in a Centralized Enterprise system, where such data can be pushed into super-fast, stored securely, accessible to all stake holders (CFO/Sales Reps/Customer Support/AR/AP) in an org, as well as facilitates super-fast retrieval/sharing. LP is an Enterprise System of record for Photo/Video docs & is as important as an ERP which is an enterprise system of record for POs, SOs, Legal Contracts between parties etc. that have huge legal ramifications, also as important as a WMS (Warehouse Management System) that hold indispensable shipment & fulfillment data on orders. Like how Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat etc. have evolved into social media platforms/systems that enable individuals to showcase their beauty/pretty clothes/lovely cosmetics/hep coolness etc., LoadProof is an Enterprise system that holds similar photos/videos, but for a different reason, not for show off, but to serve as compelling, conclusive, unequivocal & indisputable system of record and proof that can be presented even in the court of law, when there is a dispute between parties while they execute many facets of the Supply Chain functions & operations. Puga is a supply chain technology professional with more than 25 years of experience in deploying capabilities in the logistics and supply chain domain. His prior roles involved managing complicated mission-critical programs driving revenue numbers, rolling out a multitude of capabilities involving more than a dozen systems, and managing a team of 30 to 50 personnel across multiple disciplines and departments in large corporations such as Hewlett Packard. He has deployed WMS for more than 30 distribution centers in his role as a senior manager with Manhattan Associates. He has also performed process analysis walk-throughs for more than 50 distribution centers for WMS process design and performance analysis review, optimizing processes for better productivity and visibility through the supply chain. Size of these DCs varied from 150,000 to 1.2 million SQFT. Puga Sankara has an MBA from Georgia Tech. He can be reached at [email protected] or visit the company at www.smartgladiator.com. Also follow him at www.pugasankara.com.
