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In the footwear industry efficiency is seen as a driver to keep down costs and to help ensure quality customer service. However it is recent concerns over the environmental impacts of unnecessary journeys, extra drop offs and excessively wasteful elements within the logistics industry and the supply chain process as a whole that might finally prove to be the catalyst for improvement.
Specifically, how the supply chain impacts upon the environment is currently very high up the agenda. Undoubtedly, some elements within the transportation sector are tactically hedging their bets - issuing concessionary noises whilst hesitantly waiting to see which way the prevalent regulatory winds are going to go, but it can equally be asserted that others within the industry are showing signs of being much more proactive.
One such example is a Yorkshire logistics company Advanced who, in tandem with a client keen to improve their own specific supply issues, have devised a management system that aims to drive efficiency through the simple act of refining the management process and reducing vehicle movements. This in turn lessens the environmental impact whilst simultaneously improving the delivery performance of its client to its retail customers.
The web enabled system known as ATMS (Advanced Transport Management System) works by allowing customers to organise their own groupage online. A practical example of this means that a customer can use the ATMS to flag up examples when there have been several deliveries planned in one area over several days (which given the scrappy nature of many legacy systems used by retailers and third party logistics firms happens, unnoticed, much more than one might imagine). Via ATMS the customer can quickly ascertain if one drop is convenient for their client and efficiently make the necessary amendments. This is supplemented with the standard tools of transport management functionality including real time delivery information along with Proof of Delivery which is automatically emailed. The result is a reduced cost. And less trucks on the road.
The benefits of such an approach seem clear, as Mike Danby, Chief Executive at Advanced explains, "We specialise in fashion and I'm immensely proud that ATMS offers brands a way to gain economies of scale on their transport costs as they operate in a very competitive market."
It also opens up some very interesting potential regarding ‘competitive collaboration,' a concept that is a topic of some debate in current economic circles. The simple and effective idea being that different small companies, such as independent producers of footwear, who lack the infrastructure to have their own transport operations, can collaborate via ATMS in order to reduce the amount of extraneous shipments and save costs en masse. This is a notion which especially within the footwear niche could, in this period of potential economic downturn, help ensure best practice supply chain management and usher in financial benefits that this brings.
Matthew Ludlam, Head of Communications at Advanced agrees, "The future is likely to see ever greater competition and an increasing focus on practical measures to cut carbon." The argument being that collaboration would be a great step toward making these practical measures a reality. "The big question," continues Ludlam, "is whether the benefits of such a system will be enough to overcome the natural resistance to working alongside other companies operating in the same sector."
It is early days yet and ATMS is still in its infancy but in the 12 months that it has been operational the client utilising the system is providing some excellent and encouraging feedback. It maybe a sign that innovation, time and future regulatory pressures may yet signal a sea change in the industry.
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