Information for Members of the Warehousing Education and Research Council

September/OctOber 2012

In this issue...

WERC’s 35th Annual Conference Coverage 1–5

At WERC 9 Member news and events.

INSIGHT 9 Articles by and for Young Logistics Professionals.

WERC Conference 2013 Planning Begins 11 Mark your calendar for WERC’s conference and trade show

CONFERENCE 2012Coverage Continues

Theory of Constraints

T he Theory of Constraints (TOC) might ring some bells with you, although what it is and how it can be applied to the warehouse might seem a bit

mysterious. The term was first made popular by Eli Goldratt in his book “The Goal” and is drawn from concepts such as the Toyota Production System, commonly known as Kanban or Just in Time (JIT).

TOC is a means of reducing in-process inventory (WIP) and balancing the workflow with the goal of significant cost reductions and better throughput. Some of the country’s best run manufacturers have successfully adopted TOC. It’s not a method reserved for manufacturers only, however.

Annette Danek-Akey, vice president of fulfillment at Random House, Inc., spoke at this year’s annual conference on how the company has applied TOC to its operations. With a 1 million sq. ft. DC in Westminster, Md., and over 50,000 book titles to manage, the company has successfully implemented a replenish-ment method consistent with TOC principles.

Danek-Akey gave some basic statistics about the publishing industry to give attendees a picture of how Random House accomplished its transforma-tion. “In the publishing industry, we have a historically high return rate—25 percent,” she explained. “Books come back, we shred them and recycle. We ship a million books each day, so it’s not feasible to resell them.”

A typical sales curve in the company is “L” shaped, according to Danek-Akey, with 200 new product launches every Tuesday. “We are good at pushing

books out,” she said. “Within a couple of weeks, we know if launches are going to sell or not. We need to be able to respond to demand.”

Changes in the Random House sup-ply chain will come from downstream and the company must be ready. In order

Going Undercover in the DC to Gain Vital IntelligenceUndercover investigations and in-place trained operatives provide factual, reliable, accurate insider information.

T here’s a misconception that placing undercover operatives and conducting an undercover investi-

gation in a DC or warehouse facility is often the option of last resort. Quite the contrary.

“One of the major advantages of undercover investi-gations is that there is a wide range of intelligence that can be ascertained that would not be available from any other source,” declares Barry Brandman, president, Danbee Investigations, Midland Park, N.J., one of the country’s largest investigation and security consulting firms. “There’s nothing like the perspective of a ‘worker’ who’s actually there living it, seeing it, breathing it, and interacting with other co-workers, supervisors and management.”

Undercover, done right, is an extremely effective executive tool, and not only to deal with security issues and the more common problems of theft, fraud, collusion, and embezzlement. Undercover investigators also can get to the bottom of other concerns, such as workplace substance abuse, time theft, productivity issues, poor supervision or management, and violation of company policies and procedures.

continued on page 6

In order to get to a place where it could respond as it wanted, the company developed a plan called Dynamic buffer management.

continued on page 2

/ SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 20122

WERCSheet® (USPS # 014998) is published bi-monthly by the Warehousing Education and Research Council, 1100 Jorie Blvd., Ste. 170, Oak Brook, IL 60523-3016. Phone: (630) 990-0001 Fax: (630) 990-0256 E-mail: wercoffice@werc.org Website: www.werc.org

Annual membership dues are $275, including $80.00 for an annual subscription to WERCSheet. Periodicals postage rates paid at Oak Brook, IL (Vol. 35, No. 5)

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to WERCSheet, 1100 Jorie Blvd., Ste. 170, Oak Brook, IL 60523-3016. WERC assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or other materials submitted for review.

Editor: Rita Coleman

Copyright © 2012 by the Warehousing Education and Research Council. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. Internet inquiries: www.werc.org.

Writers: Amanda Loudin and Joseph Mazel

Conference photos: John Case

to get to a place where it could respond as it wanted, the company developed a plan called Dynamic Buffer Management. “We decided to fire inventory instead of people,” said Danek-Akey.

Dynamic Buffer ManagementTo implement the project, Random House decided

to make changes at both the store and DC level. “We used a different inventory strategy, so that instead of making to availability, we would say, ‘I want availability at the store,’” Danek-Akey said. “This required making the same changes from the store in the DC.”

This required creating focus—starting with a goal and focusing on it, according to Danek-Akey. “If you want to make change, ask four questions” she said. They are:

1) Why change? 2) What change?3) What to change to?4) How to change?

“We were looking at improving the supply chain to the stores, but we needed to look at what we could do within the four walls,” she explained. One way to go about this was to look at returns. “We call it re-profiling,” Danek-Akey says. “We began moving titles from flow rack to shelf positions.”

Then the company began to look at how it could get rid of returns within the DC’s walls. Using a cloud focus-ing tool to help figure out what the problem is and how to approach it, the company determined that it had a conflict between the need to hold inventory and the

goal to lower it within the DC. “It seems simple when you look at it, but it’s not,” said Danek-Akey.

Looking at warehouse replenishment, Random House questioned why it had internal returns. “The WMS helped us study this and make it better,” said Danek-Akey. “We didn’t have a mechanism to get the quantity to go down. We looked at various quantities and looked at how to change the replenishment system.”

To do this, the company looked at the supply chain. “We considered what would happen if we changed one thing—ordering more frequently; reducing order lead time; shipping orders as quickly as possible, for instance,” Danek-Akey said. “We created an operational definition of what the time from purchase at store to back on shelf would be.”

“Most of us measure the time to pick, pack, and ship. You want to know amount of time. We were missing the amount of time between when orders were placed,” she explained. “If you order daily, for instance, do you order every single SKU every single day? We don’t. This was key for us to learn: Order Lead Time. The rest of time is Supply Lead Time.”

Determining order lead time (OLT) was a big break-through for Random House. “Typically this is seven days for us (every single SKU once/week),” said Danek-Akey. “This was a big moment for us to figure out.”

Random House asked its customers if they order every day and they came back with the fact that they don’t. So the company told their customers to spread the word that they could.

“In the DC, we then needed to find the constraints to supporting daily orders which meant smaller orders,” said Danek-Akey. “We had to find creative ways to keep the cost per unit flat.”

The company made a capital investment and put in a sortation system, which didn’t fix the problem. “We had

continued from page 1

2012 CONFERENCE COVERAGE

/ SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2012 3

an emergency replenishment zone, and we decided to get rid of it and have a goal of zero emergencies. We can’t always do it, but we try,” Danek-Akey explained.

In order to reduce emergencies as much as possible, the company implemented its dynamic buffer manage-ment system, a statistical process control for inventory management. “We divide stock target (buffer) into three zones—green, yellow, red,” she explained. “If we have a sudden increase in demand or spend too much time in red, we increase the buffer, and do the opposite with green.”

Once implemented, the system led to promising results. The company:

Reduced order lead time

Now ships orders as soon as possible (small quantities more often)

Uses RDCs and CDCs as aggregation points

Reduced emergency replenishment from 15 percent to 3 percent.

“We’re still not there, but are 20 percent there,” said Danek-Akey. “We’ve had excellent results within our walls. Now we’re working with our stores and retail partners to implement dynamic buffer management among all our DCs. We’re linking it all together.”

I n a world of JIT delivery and intense focus on reducing inventory, the

licensed apparel division of Adidas Group is swimming against the cur-rent. This is a business full of unique challenges, the largest of which is the fact that large amounts of inventory must be on hand. Joe Cripe, vice pres-ident of operations, told an audience at the conference how the division manages all of its unique challenges by presenting a past, present and future scenario.

The sports license division includes both Reebok and Adidas. Historically, Reebok has been associated with apparel in the NFL, NHL, retail, and Crossfit; Adidas has served the NBA, college products, and the Major Soccer League. This picture is changing, however, as the NFL is no longer part of the Adidas contract.

“This is challenging to us,” he admitted. “Half our sales volume was based on the NFL. But we’re now focusing our energies on the high school and college market, which brings new challenges in the way of smaller orders.”

According to Cripe, the licensing group’s business model is fairly simple. “We do t-shirts,” he said. “We buy blank shirts from an upstream supply chain vendor and store them in our DC in Indianapolis.”

From there, the team decorates garments and sends them out. “We wholesale to retailers, they keystone it and

sell it,” he explained. “We have to pay a royalty to license agreements. This gives us the right to stay in business.”

With all the customization that the group must fulfill, inventory must be kept at high lev-els. “We have 15 million t-shirts in our DC,” Cripe said. “We have inventory turns of only about 2.5 because we can’t afford to miss an order. We are in a position to never say no.”

Where does this leave the division? In a nut-shell, according to Cripe:

Servicing two brands, multiple leagues and multiple masters

Creating market relevant SKUs\Creating innovative products

continued on page 4

Customization at the Top of its Game

this is a business full of unique challenges,

the largest of which is the fact that large

amounts of inventory must be on hand.

/ SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 20124

Dedicated sales and customer service to support multiple channels

Global sourcing

High volume/high SKU business model

Chase and quick turn business model on certain commodities

Design: graphic, uniform, sideline, more

Team services

“We used to have an average run size of 500 and now we’re down to about 170,” Cripe said. “We’re changing our business and trying to change models based on this, including equipment, staffing, skills, etc. We now have a more consistent demand throughout the year, which is actually helpful.”

Cripe explained how some of the various areas of the division work. Team services, for instance, take product that is manufactured and then package it to customize for team managers, often including special instructions to equipment managers.

While losing the NFL contract was certainly a blow to Adidas, “the good news is that now we don’t have to pay a 25% royalty,” said Cripe. “But smaller brands are more expensive to make.”

The DC employs a team of 1,300 people spread out among three different buildings of 600,000, 300,000, and 150,000 sq. ft., all of which it needs, said Cripe. The divi-sion distributes through a variety of channels. “We do e-commerce, sporting goods stores, mass marketers, specialty licensing—we’re very spread out,” Cripe said.

There are 40,000 pick slots in the building and 260,000 SKUs on hand. “About 5 percent generate over 50 percent of our business,” said Cripe. “But because we have license agreements, we have to carry all the varia-tions.”

Cripe said that the division has had to look at its value propositions and decide where to concentrate. “It’s hard to say you want to be good at everything,” he pointed out. “But we have narrowed it down to some particular areas.”

These include the following goals:

To provide world-class service and speed to the teams.

To provide best in industry quality and performance products to teams and athletes

To provide best in industry distribution through innovative channel development , systems, technology and improved processes

To be market competitive on price while maintaining a profitable business model.

2012 CONFERENCE COVERAGE

On Demand Packaging

continued from page 3

In all likelihood, the demand for customization will only get higher for Adidas in the future. “All the leagues are trying to make seasons last longer,” explained Cripe. “The NFL, for instance, now makes a big event out of its draft. You can find this kind of thinking in all of the leagues. For us, that just means more customization.”

And while more customization means more chal-lenges for the division, they are challenges it is prepared to meet. “We have a huge network of printers around the nation to help when big events occur,” Cripe said. “We won’t say no to an order and we’ll do whatever it takes to get them out in a timely fashion.”

P art of the WERC conference this year included lunch-time WIRE sessions, where companies gave

30-minute presentations on new, innovative products. Among those presentations was one by Packsize, a pro-vider of on-demand packaging solutions,

What is on-demand packaging? A way for compa-nies to meet their corrugated box packaging needs without having to purchase boxes in advance. The demand for such a service has been driven by many factors, including the following:

Corrugated packaging continues to have broad appeal among packaging users

There were 394.8 billion square feet of corrugated produced by U.S. paperboard mills in 2006

Companies are interested in minimizing their environmental impact via their packaging practices

On-demand packaging can provide a cost-effective alternative

Another advantage of on-demand versus traditional packaging is the time involved. When you purchase boxes in advance, you must locate them and move them to the area needed when it comes time to assemble and ship. You must also factor in time to plan inventory lev-els, address stockouts, and manage regular visits by a corrugated vendor.

Brandon Brooks, vice president of marketing for Packsize, pointed out that in a perfect world, box inven-tories would be designed to buffer against spikes and lulls in demand. “In reality,” he said, “the reorder points and run sizes are driven by forecasting data that is intrin-sically flawed, so stockouts and obsolete inventory become unavoidable.”

/ SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2012 5

Where on-demand packaging becomes a total value perspective, according to Brooks, is in the following way:

It optimizes processes and packaging material use

It achieves a smaller packaging footprint, lower labor cots, less waste, and increased product protection

It results in a 20- to 35-percent savings over conven-tional packaging supply chains.

Continuous corrugated When you institute an on-demand packaging

system packaging becomes a commoditized form— continuous corrugated. “Technology-enabled box production becomes part of the material flow,” explained Brooks. “The pick list that conventionally helps find the box is used to make the smallest possible box, in less time and with unlimited options for quantity, size and style.”

How does the system work? It is designed to be a one-piece flow application that integrates the on-demand system directly into the packaging process. It can be designed for mixed-model lines with task times as short as eight seconds. The on-demand system can be set up within a few feet of the pack line. The system makes boxes, one at a time, as the product progresses down the line toward the pack station. The system itself doesn’t require much space—it can be as little as 86

square feet.The system inte-

grates data from the production system using the factory ticket barcode or other inputs so that the most current box style and size is made according to the bill of material. “The packag-ing method can be continuously

upgraded and improvements implemented immediately without disposing of obsolete inventory,” said Brooks.

When the box making is incorporated into the pack-aging process, it eliminates any guesswork. “There is very little material handling, other than the replenishing of corrugated at the machine,” said Brooks. “Designing and implementing the system focuses attention on the pro-cess details, wasted movement is stripped away, and best practices are identified and standardized.”

Less airBrooks added that on-demand packaging also

reduces the amount of “air” that is shipped, a number that is generally considered to be as high as 65 percent. “The system makes the precise box as needed, so the fit is perfect and damage is better avoided,” he said. “And since the on-demand system uses only a few widths of continuous corrugated, the raw material part numbers are dramatically reduced as well.”

When looking at a system like this, companies must of course factor in the capital investment. Brooks said that on-demand packaging helps eliminate many of the costs associated with JIT and vendor-managed inventory programs in the price per square foot of packaging. The return on investment from an on-demand packaging system can run in the range of 20 to 35 percent less than conventional packaging supply chains, according to Packsize.

Ultimately, an on-demand packaging system will give customers a customized fit, meeting the customer’s unique requirements, according to Brooks. “The return on investment can be infinite,” he said.

“the pick list … is used to make the smallest possible

box, in less time and with unlimited

options for quantity, size and style.”

Brandon Brooks

/ SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 20126

The intelligence received from the undercover oper-ative’s reports is timely and comprehensive. Investigators routinely call in everyday and issue daily reports. “Some-times our clients suspect they have a problem, but more often than not the issues that are raised are surprising to them,” he explains. “They either didn’t realize that the sit-uation was that extensive or didn’t know they were having the specific problem that was exposed by the undercover investigation.”

Brandman assures, “Regular undercover operative reports give corporate and DC executives an enor-mous amount of operational intelligence about what’s going on in their company. They also are valuable in enabling us, together with the client, to jointly develop and execute a strategy that will correct or resolve the issues uncovered.”

Forget TV portrayals of undercover operations

Professional undercover operatives do not typically come in and ask a lot of leading questions, or try to be

everyone’s best friend, nor do they surreptitiously sneak around the facility in areas they have no reason for being. “That’s not how it’s done in real life,” says Brandman.

Undercover takes time because there’s no substitute for the operative to naturally and gradually build relation-ships with co-workers and other on-the-job associates. “You can’t rush these relation-ships otherwise the co-workers will become suspicious and not be comfortable with that oper-ative,” Brandman maintains.

The longer that the opera-tive is in place the more effective he/she becomes. “Their cover becomes stronger over time, and the operative

can be more easily moved and transferred to different departments, shifts, and tasks without arousing suspi-cions,” he explains. “They can walk into their new areas and responsibilities with instant credibility.”

That’s when the information, the content and its value are going to be richer because the operative has a broader base of knowledge, or understanding of the company and its operations. “The undercover operative knows more

people, is more familiar with the work environment, and maintains a cover that is ‘rock solid,” he maintains.

Caution still must be exercised The worst thing an executive can do is to get the

operative’s preliminary reports and to immediately try to respond with some action(s) because he wants to fix the problems and to quickly punish the people responsible. This is counterproductive and will only hinder or delay the results that are desired.

“Our advice to the client is if you can’t detach your-self and respond strategically, then undercover is not for you because your response is going to be counterpro-ductive,” according to Brandman. “You may resolve a couple of minor issues, but you’re never going to iden-tify the most significant problems taking place inside your organization.” In addition, people inside the facility are going to know in no time that there is an inside source of information, and they’ll identify that individual in short order.

When it comes to undercover investigations, execu-tives must “play against their nature” and come to an understanding that it’s in their interest and their compa-ny’s best interest to put their Type A personality mode aside. The alternative Brandman suggests is for the exec-utive to take himself out of the loop, to assign another executive to receive the investigator’s reports and then to only receive/review updates periodically.

Another issue of concern that Brandman addresses is about the “hiring” and placement of the undercover operative. Ideally, the operative should come on board when the company is in a hiring mode. “When a com-pany is laying off staff is not the ideal time to be adding an undercover investigator, it’ll arouse suspicion,” he explains. “Don’t force an operative on the payroll if there’s not a position there.”

Going Undercover continued from page 1

S T R A T E G I E S

“regular undercover operative reports give

corporate and Dc executives an enormous

amount of operational intelligence about what’s

going on in their company. they also are

valuable in enabling us, together with the client,

to jointly develop and execute a strategy that

will correct or resolve the issues uncovered.”

Barry Brandman

/ SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2012 7

An undercover investigation can provide manage-ment with a wealth of information about their operations, personnel, third party providers, among other issues and concerns, advises Barry Brandman, president, Danbee Investigations, Midland Park, NJ. The following examples describe three different situations and provide some insights into the value of undercover initiatives.

caSe 1: High turnover, low productivity

Corporate executives were concerned about one of their distribution centers that historically had problems with high turnover and low productivity. They sent a corpo-rate audit team to the site for a week to observe and evaluate the situation. Their findings and results were inconclusive.

Wanting a “definitive answer,” an executive decided on an undercover approach, requesting that three oper-atives, one per shift, be placed in the facility. Due to the circumstances and history of the facility, corporate, tak-ing the recommendation of Danbee, decided not to share this information with anyone at the DC.

“We began to get a glimpse of the problem in the early stages of the investigation,” Brandman offered. “In essence, there were serious and numerous flaws in the facility’s recruitment and retention processes, among other issues that came to light.” For example, even though there was an immediate need for 30 new hires, there was a several week lag between the time the undercover operatives replied to an online ad, and

when they received a response from the facility’s HR director. And this only occurred after sending follow-up emails requesting, actually insisting, on an interview appointment.

Again, after the interview, which by the way was pos-itive, there was another lengthy delay. The undercover “applicant” finally heard back from HR after placing sev-eral calls asking, “Are you interested in having me?” Similar experiences were related by the other two opera-tives. But there’s more.

On the first day of employment, the shift managers kept the new hires waiting (for up to two hours in one case) before recognizing them and giving them a brief orientation and five minute training session, which was not designed to help the new employee achieve the company’s selection quota after the third day on the job. Obviously, being overwhelmed and frustrated, with little chance for success, new employees would either resign or not return to work after the first or sec-ond day on the job.

Corporate did have a comprehensive orientation and training program in place which specified that new employees be mentored during the first four hours on each of their first three days on the job. It was success-fully implemented and practiced at its other DCs, but not here.

In addition, and as a bonus, an undercover operative discovered another issue related to a department super-visor on the night shift who was verbally abusive to certain members of his team while also favoring others. Senior management at the DC knew of the supervisor’s reputation but didn’t see it as a major problem.

Three Undercover Investigations from Danbee’s

continued on page 8

However, there are techniques that can be used. For example, by creating a new position, or if someone with a specific skill set voluntarily leaves, then the company can move forward with the addition of a qualified operative.

You’re in control“There’s great value in having this type of intelli-

gence at your fingertips all the time,” maintains Brandman. “It also can help avoid or dramatically lower risk whether it involves a workplace accident or

fatality, theft of proprietary and confidential information, inventory theft, loss of customers, and damage to a com-pany’s reputation. These are risks that all companies want to avoid.”

Brandman concludes: “Undercover is about provid-ing senior executives with a level of intelligence that enables them to have greater control over their busi-nesses, and to make smarter decisions based on insight and fact, which gives them a huge strategic advantage.”

2012 Copyright © WERC. All rights reserved. Barry Brandman, Danbee Investigations, www.danbeeinvestigations.com

/ SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 20128

Based on the undercover investigators’ reports about the above and several other problems that were uncovered, four DC senior executives were removed. “Once the new management team made the necessary corrections they were able to resolve the staffing issues,” says Brandman.

Turnover has been reduced by more than 70 per-cent, absenteeism has fallen dramatically, and worker productivity has improved significantly. Additionally, the DC is saving about $200,000/ year in recruiting and train-ing expenses. And, by the way, the undercover operatives are still in place on the job, making sure the improve-ments remain on track.

caSe 2: Questionable cycle counts and inventory shrinkage

DC management noticed a trend over three years of increasing levels of inventory shrinkage, despite regu-lar and periodic cycle counts and a physical inventory check twice a year. At first they believed it was related to its new WMS software, which they addressed for over a year. While they did find some “bugs,” it still didn’t explain the shortages.

Suspecting pilferage, the facility installed metal detectors at the exits and hired a couple of extra security guards. There was no change, and shrinkage continued to grow. Management thought they had the necessary precautions/systems in place to prevent collusive theft on the shipping dock. For example, they had dedicated checkers who would inspect product in a staging area before it was loaded onto a truck. A second safety net was the 10 percent random quality control check of the outbound shipments each shift, and the third was the requirement that everything that was placed onto a truck had to have a computerized pressure-sensitive label affixed to it.

Two undercover operatives were placed inside the facility which was a combination manufacturing opera-tion and DC. The investigation started to get traction when the DC operative was on break and noticed an individual when paying for his meal pull out a roll of large denomination bills. Naturally, others at the table also noticed and began to joke about it.

Later that day that same individual said to the opera-tive, “We’ve been working together for four months and I

consider you a buddy, so I’m going to show you how to make some money here, but you can’t tell anybody because we all can get fired and could go to jail.”

Brandman said, “That’s when the investigator knew that he had cracked the shell on this case and began to learn how the individual and his associates had circum-vented the three controls that were in place.” Client confidentiality prevented Brandman from going into greater detail. However, bottom line: the investigation led to the apprehension of five truck drivers and three inside people, two of whom were checkers.

caSe 3: Suspected workplace substance abuse

DC management had grown very concerned over the high rate of workplace accidents that were taking place and suspected that it might be related to possible work-place substance abuse. However, random drug tests did not uncover any positive results. After consulting with their insurance carrier, management decided to conduct an undercover investigation.

An undercover operative was placed inside the DC and soon determined that there in fact was a widespread cocaine problem in the facility. Also, the employees were not only buying the drug from one of their co-workers, but that the employee also was a major cocaine dealer on the outside.

A third finding by the undercover employee, how-ever, caught management completely off-guard: the employee-dealer was dating an individual in the HR department and she was tipping off everyone when there was to be a scheduled random drug test. She often had three to five days advance notice, enough time for the users to go “cold turkey” and rid their systems of any traces of the drug.

The HR clerk was terminated for cause for other rea-sons and without any mention of her role in the drug testing situation. With her out of the loop, the next three random drug tests did catch several positive results. The random drug tests are continuing.

“The role of the HR clerk in warning about the upcoming random testing never would have come to light had it not been for the inside intelligence from the undercover investigator,” concludes Brandman.

Going Undercover continued from page 7

/ SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2012 9

WERCSheet would like to introduce a new feature. INSIGHT will present articles written for and by members who are new-to-the-profession and interested in sharing their point of view.

A lice did not have a clue where she was going. There was no GPS available on

her trip down the rabbit hole—or through the looking glass for that matter. Because Alice didn’t know where she wanted to go, the Cheshire Cat succinctly pointed out it did not matter which direction she took.

If you do not have a direction, some-thing to guide you and your decisions for your career, then how will you know you’re successful? How will you know if you made a good decision? If we do not have a goal, or rather a vision (or both), for our careers and lives we’ll mean-der through life moving from one thing to another with little satisfaction.

We all should have a vision that guides us—essentially what we want to achieve in our lifetime. Ideally it should be written, easily understood, and measurable.

Companies call this a vision statement. And in our per-sonal and professional lives, we need one too. It’s a simple statement that describes what our future state should look like. It could be “Live Happily until 90,” “Get a tattoo at 95,” “Be a thought leader in the industry by 45,” or “Lead a suc-cessful business I own by 38.” The value of this statement is that it tells you where you’re going and what’s important to you. It should be more than a catchy slogan, but the reason you get out of bed each morning.

Each of the examples above provides a guide, which we can then target to our desired future state and align our goals to. “Live Happily until 90” gives us something measurable. The metric is “Live Happily” and we will define what “Live Happily” means by determining our goals. We have a time period in which to accomplish our goal of “Living Happily.”

Businesses are not the only ones that benefit from developing vision statements. As individuals, having a vision

statement provides us a standard to evalu-ate our decisions and will help us choose the right direction because, unlike Alice, we will know where we are going.

Joe Tillman Senior Researcher Supply Chain Visions joseph_tillman@scvisions.com

INSIGHTFOR YOUNG LOGISTICS PROFESSIONALS

NorthTX WERCouncil 11th Annual Warehousing Resource ConventionJoin your logistics peers on Wednesday, October 10, 2012, 8:00 am– 4:00 pm at the Grapevine Convention Center, 1209 South Main, Grapevine, TX. In one jam-packed day, you’re offered an exhibit hall with 40+ exhibitors , 4 educational  presentation sessions and roundtables, continental breakfast and hot lunch, snacks, a raffle AND great one-on-one time with vendors and peers. Contact Norman Saenz, Jr., NorthTX WERCouncil President, TranSystems Consulting, Senior Vice President, nesaenz@transystems.com, 972.888.2535

Using Metrics to Achieve Results (6-session webcast)Using metrics wisely is critical in today’s logistics world to stay competitive, to meet company goals and to keep associates feeling good about their jobs.

Learn from the experts in 6 webcast instructor-led sessions

Practice what you learn with optional application assignments

WERC Members save $200 off Non-Member price of $595.00. Sessions begin on September 18, 2012 (Tuesday, 1:00 – 2:00 pm CDT). For information contact Ellen Pendola (ependola@werc.org), 630.990.0001

View Select Conference PresentationsGo to www.werc.org home page to access many of the great conference presentations from 2012 at no charge to our members. You can also check out the interviews by Supply Chain Brain® recorded at conference.

Supplier shows support for local WERCouncils Big Ass Fans, a designer and manufacturer of large indus-trial and commercial circulator fans, has become the first sponsor of the WERCouncil Program. This endorsement of the 24 councils will allow headquarters to expand and enhance the communication efforts that promote local participation in WERC. Big Ass Fans sponsorship will help promote the program through July of 2013. Other busi-nesses interested in supporting the WERCouncil Program should contact Chad Pilbeam (cpilbeam@werc.org), 281.746.0449. To learn more about WERCouncils go to www.werc.org/wercouncil.aspx.

At WERCHere are some things to keep you up-to-date on what’s happening at WERC.

/ SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 201210

Industry Leaders Plan WERC Conference 2013The Warehousing Education and Research Council proudly announces the volunteer members who will plan the educational program for the WERC Conference, April 28–May 1, in Dallas, TX, at the Sheraton Hotel.

“WERC relies on volunteers from across our membership to orchestrate a total quality program,” according to Michael Mikitka, CAE, WERC’s chief executive officer. “Once again this year, we have assembled an awesome group of professionals who will help outline the critical issues and line up industry speakers. Their enthusiasm and dedication is a big part of what makes the WERC conference a can’t-miss event.”

Thinking of volunteering for Conference 2013 or have an idea for a presentation? Go to www.werc.org to find the call for presentations and a downloadable form to volunteer.

Conference 2013 Committee

Director, 2013 Annual Conference: Chad Autry, PhD University of Tennessee at Knoxville

Roundtable Chair: Tony Ward Kurt Salmon Associates

Facility Tours Chair: Norman Saenz TranSystems

Director, 2014 Annual Conference: Tim Hotze Panalpina

Facility Tour Committee

Steve R. Boecking Hillwood Properties  

Mike Coronado The Container Store  

Jim Fox GameStop  

Mike Harding Dematic Corp.

Topic Chairs

Facilities: Ananda Banavaty AUTOZONE

Equipment: David L. Phillips Ingersoll Rand / Trane USA

Metrics: Toni Stark Illinois Tool Works Inc.

People: Steve Simmerman TZA

Processes: Annette Danek-Akey Random House

Strategies: Ric Cobb BSN Medical, Inc.

Outsourcing: Mary Ellen Snauwaert Limited Brands Logistics Services

Systems: Stephen W. Sargunaraj UTi Integrated Logistics

Transportation: Terrance L. Pohlen, PhD University of North Texas

Warehousing: Ken Woodlin, JD Walmart Stores, Inc.

DA

LLA

S20

13thanks to the sponsoRs alReady on boaRd foR 2013

/ SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2012 11

D

ALL

AS

2013

“ Very worthwhile interaction with like professionals, invaluable learning experience and motivation through dynamic speakers.

”

“ WERC is the platform within the industry where knowledge exchange and industry-specific education go hand-in-hand in a very friendly and positive atmosphere.”

“ The WIRE 2012 event was well planned and organized and felt very intimate compared to other shows I’ve attended. The social and networking factor was most dominant and I left with the feeling of having acquired new friends.

”

new for 2013 …

64,600 sq.ft. of exhibit space

100+ exhibitors with information to share

Dedicated exhibit hours

Customized sponsorship opportunities

exhibitions Work … here’s Why TA Simmons Market Research Bureau study shows that 91% of respondents

ranked trade shows as “extremely useful” as a source for product purchasing information.

85% of decision makers say attending trade shows saves their company time and money by bringing vendors together under one roof.

91% of attendees say trade shows impact their buying decisions because the competition is in one place, allowing for comparison shopping in real time.

Trade shows cost 38% less than sales calls.

Trade show visitors will tell 6+ people about their experience.

(Source: Merchant Circle)

thanks to the sponsoRs alReady on boaRd foR 2013

Mark your Calendar…

www.amazon.com/fulfillmentcareers

PERIODICALS

PRACTITIONER – No Nonsense Corporate MembershipYou have enough things that are complicated, so we made corporate membership simple. It can’t get any easier.

LEvEL BEnEfiTS

GOLD $12,500

UNLIMITED WERC Annual Memberships UNLIMITED WERC annual conference registrations 2 Invitations to the VIP Reception at conference 1 Invitation to the C-Level Roundtable at conference 10% discount on WERC Warehouse Certification 10% discount on custom metrics report 20 Online e-learning sessions

SILVER$6,000

5 WERC Annual Memberships 5 WERC annual conference registrations 1 Invitation to the VIP Reception at conference 5% discount on WERC Warehouse Certification 5% discount on custom metrics report 5 Online e-learning sessions

BRONZE$3,500

3 WERC Annual Memberships 3 WERC annual conference registrations 1 Online e-learning session

All levels also include: Certificate of Recognition as a Corporate Member Recognition on WERC website Use of special WERC logo All the benefits of membership Member-supplied white paper or case study to WERC library

Investing in your people is a big part of what you do. In the dynamic, high-energy world of logistics, WERC is the association that can help you and your associates stay on top. By enrolling your company in the corporate membership program, you can offer more benefits to more associates. This is a win/win/win.

WERC is the only professional organization focused on logistics management and its role in the supply chain. Through membership in WERC, seasoned practitioners and those new to the industry master best practices and establish valuable professional relationships.

Contact Chad Pilbeam at 281.746.0449 or cpilbeam@werc.org