Feature Article
Turning Knowledge into Profits
If your business is like many these days, you’re looking for answers as to how best to differentiate yourself and drive increased margin in these tough economic times. You have probably done the basics, reviewed headcount allocations, project portfolios, cut back on office supplies and other variable spending and yet you remain distant from your goal. Perhaps you need more than simply looking at the basics and taking blunt action to drive the results you seek. Perhaps the answer is to be more precise in your actions rather than making broad choices often with negative collateral damage to your business and its customers. To survive in this climate you must learn to harness the information available, make quick informed decisions, and adjust as needed based on timely and accurate business indicators.
So…how might you get more precise in your decision making? A starting point is the vast store of data available to you from which to characterize and assess your company, product, and service portfolio. Companies often overlook the mountain of data available only to rely on other means such as intuition, Manager’s experience, and responding to mob rule. “Converting raw data into information can be so time-consuming that a number of companies decide at their peril that it is not worth the time and money to analyze the data” (Mark Biggin, PACE).
The opportunity is to develop the analytical capabilities to transform that mountain of data into easily understood packets of powerful and influential information. The objective is to developing the skills to stratify, pareto, and categorize the data into awareness enhancing information from which your business can make real-time, informed business decisions. To adapt and be nimble in today’s market, a business manager must understand their business unit costs and cost drivers, margins by product, line of business, customer and/or customer segmentation. Without information, and the ability to correlate data to activity, the manager is flying blind and headed for a fall. Are you willing to bet your business on intuition?
The staff at ASIL has experience in developing and producing a wide variety of business analytics. We can help you characterize your business information needs and work with you, and your staff, to develop the analytical tools and processes you require. We have a proven track record of pragmatic solutions and welcome the opportunity to serve you and your clients. Call us today and let us help you achieve new areas of profitability and success in this ever changing economy.
Contributed by Warren White
March 2009 Spotlight
We the People
On a recent trip to Washington D.C. with my daughter’s eighth grade class we had an opportunity to visit many of our country’s most precious treasures. As I viewed the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, three words rang out…
"We the People"
As I visited the memorials for all the veterans who gave their lives fighting for our freedom and way of life for the past couple of hundred years, three words rang out …
"We the People"
As I viewed the memorials dedicated to the leaders of our country, the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and Jefferson Memorial, three words rang out…
"We the People"
We have many challenges in our world today. Corporations struggle to refocus and respond to the world’s economic challenges. There are many debates about the potential impact of the current stimulus package. The reality is that money can only come from one place...
"We the People"
It is during this time that true leadership will stand out. It takes courage to make the tough calls. The bottom line is the only way this is going to get any better is by "We the People".
So, ready-reset-go, reassess your strategies and direction to respond to the new market challenges. ASIL can help you build a new future.
Contributed by Peter Pazmany
Industry Trends
Measuring the Carbon Footprint
On January 18, 2007, Sir Terry Leahy addressed a concerned audience in central London. Leahy is the CEO of Tesco, Great Britain's largest supermarket chain and, at over $90 billion in annual revenue, the fourth-largest retailer in the world. But his immediate concern was not corporate revenue or competition. It was, he said, global climate change.
"I am not a scientist," Leahy announced. "But I listen when the scientists say that, if we fail to mitigate climate change, the environmental, social and economic consequences will be stark and severe. This has profound implications for all of us, for our children, and for our children's children. For each one of us this poses a challenge. What role are we to play? Passive or active? Follower or leader? There comes a moment when it is clear what you must do. I am determined that Tesco should be a leader."
Tesco began a search for a "universally accepted and commonly understood measure", the carbon footprint, for its bulging store shelves. Their commitment: examination of each item's complete lifecycle from production through distribution to consumption, followed by appropriate labeling. Someday soon, Leahy promised, customers would compare environmental impact as easily as price or nutrition, and trials this year have included 20 common items from potato chips to orange juice.
Is it regulatory pressure or change of heart? The motivation may differ, but the bottom line is that companies are increasingly becoming committed to having a greener footprint. Given as much as 75 percent of a firm's carbon emissions come from transportation and logistics. Key components include carbon emissions by fuel type, average fuel efficiency by mode of transportation, carbon-freight factors for waterborne and rail transport, and type of packaging.
The more you plan, design, and implement your supply chain strategy with emissions in mind, the easier it is to shrink your carbon footprint, says David Simchi-Levi, a professor of engineering systems at MIT.
"The level of a supply chain's carbon footprint reflects not only potential current and future liabilities in taxes and offset costs but may reflect inherent inefficiencies in its operations," Simchi-Levi says. "Moreover, the ability to quantify and reduce carbon dioxide may allow companies to earn credits that can be traded with less efficient companies." Already the worldwide market value of carbon emission permits exceeds $60 billion.
In October 2007, Wal-Mart, the world's top retailer started rating provider performance on an environmental scorecard. A recent success story from this strategy is Wal-Mart's 3PL provider in Canada. Carbon emissions were reduced by 2,600 tons. In addition, the 3PL provider converted 20 truck generators to electric power, saving about 10,000 gallons of fuel. These two measures yielded more than $2 million in annual cost savings.
Whether a follower or leader, few companies can afford to ignore the numbers.
ASIL, Inc. can help in analyzing your carbon footprint and green your supply chain by offering solutions to meet the challenges of economically reducing that footprint. Give us a call!
Adapted from World Trade magazine
Contributed by Michael Singleton
Our Software Products
Click on the links below to view ASIL, Inc.'s MAX Partnering® self paced software demonstrations:
Self Assessment Sample Questionnaire - This demo will enable you to respond to a small sample of self assessment questions focused on change management and create a Heat Map of your responses to see areas that may need attention. The Driving Complex Change® methodology addresses the six areas of Direction, Ability, Incentive, Resources, Structure, and Action that can impact your effectiveness of change management.
