Have we already forgotten the fundamentals of business process improvement? This management concept, heralded in the 1990s as the salvation of smokestack America, admonished us to replace inefficient processes with efficient processes before any attempt at automation. Failure to do so would merely institutionalize inefficiency.
Now, however, we hear more about plans for massive terminal automation projects before challenging the underlying assumptions about terminal operations.
Why do we assume there must be valet service for containers on expensive land accessed via congested roads with expensive labor? Are there other processes along the length of the supply chain that could be similarly challenged?
If we developed a large-scale cargo delivery system that was more efficient, couldn’t we save money for all of the links in the supply chain?
Why do we assume that the only options are dense stacks of containers that require large volumes of expensive labor and expensive equipment for sorting and delivery or low-density cargo storage on large plots of expensive port land using volumes of chassis that ocean carriers no longer provide free-of-charge?
Are there other processes along the length of the supply chain that could be similarly challenged? It worked for manufacturing and the high-tech industry, so why not intently apply similar principles to our own industry?
During 2012, we believe the constraints of the economic crisis will require companies to return to the lessons learned through business process improvement, challenging the cargo delivery systems before undertaking massive automation projects.