by Rick LeBlanc
The title of this piece, a twist on Harry Truman's classic quote
about not standing the heat, is a call by business writer John Maxwell
for leaders to act proactively and make a difference. But often there
are barriers to continuous improvement. One such hurdle is success
itself.
Harry S. Truman
For reusable packaging programs as in life, good can be the enemy of
great. Change is easier when the situation is dire. On the proverbial
burning oil rig, workers are highly motivated to jump off. But
when things are good, the urgency typically isn't felt, and as a result,
we miss opportunities to improve our reusable packaging systems and
push them to the next level.
I have heard some reusable packaging and pallet sales people lament
that some customers have budgeted a number for their annual spend, and
as long as the number is within a range of tolerance, there is no
motivation to change. Leaders are more interested in chasing more
compelling low hanging fruit. Once again, being good enough is
justification to not pursue a change that could reduce the annual spend
or provide other benefits such as improved ergonomics or facilitating
paradigm bending lean manufacturing of logistics practices.
Sometimes when a reusables program is good, it is just a few small
things that can propel it to greatness. It isn't that much different
than baseball. If a hitter hits 5 times out of 20 at bats, he is batting
.250 and is doing okay. If he hits just once more, he is batting .300
and is a batting leader. Once more again and he has a smoking hot .350
average. We are just talking the difference of 2 hits. To draw the same
analogy to reusables, say a program is in trouble with a huge 50 or 60%
annual shrink rate. If the reusables turn every month, that means that for
every 20 going outbound, only 19 return. That equates to a 12 unit loss
annually for every 20 inventoried, or a 60% annual replacement. But if
that can be improved by just 1 unit on each return, then you have a 100%
return rate and a world class program. Tell your trading partner and
transportation provider that is exactly what you need to happen.
Sometimes a little can be a lot. If you already have a good reusables
program it might not take a leap to make it great if you can turn up
the heat just a little. Take a look around for some potential wins.
Remember that at 212 degrees, water boils. At 211, it is just hot water.
