The bestLog Project

Today I visited Amsterdam from where I am posting this entry. Earlier I attended a Workshop entitled “Learning Best Practice Across Sectors”. This was the second of three Workshops run by the bestLog project team.

Initiated by the European Commission, bestLog is establishing an exchange platform for the sharing of supply chain management practices across Europe.

The project aims to:

Improve logistics practice
Improve logistics education
Reduce differences in practices across Europe
Set standards for logistics education and practice
Create growth and jobs
Achieve a better match between EC policy and business decisions

The project team is made up of academics, logistics service providers, consulting practitioners and representatives from leading EU companies engaged in the Automotive, Retail, FMCG, Technology, Pharmaceutical and Chemical industries.

The workshop agenda included case studies presented by Baxter Medical, Wincanton and IKEA. Each was followed by an academic briefing that set questions for the three discussion groups (of which I was part) to stimulate debate. The key headings of which were:

Innovations and learning
Transferability
Adaptation and capabilities

The findings will be published on the bestLog (www.bestlog.org) website soon.

The Impact on Supply Chains of Low Cost Manufacturing

The Logistics Directors Forum examines the implications for retailers of sourcing from low cost manufacturing regions.

Click here to view (PDF).

A day in the life of Fraser Allan - CEO of LINLEY

In order to appreciate the challenges of a day in my life at LINLEY, it is probably helpful to understand a little about the business and why I joined.

I joined LINLEY over two years ago now, because of two very important factors. It is a very small business and certainly the smallest I have led, but firstly, it has a profile totally disproportionate to its size and secondly it is positioned right at the top of its field. It doesn’t get any better than this. These two characteristics are incredibly valuable and would be the envy of many much larger brands. Without knowing anything else about the business I was confident that there was huge potential to unlock.

The more I scratched the surface however the more excited I became, as I discovered that underneath this small but perfectly formed brand were actually five different businesses. The business is known world wide for its bespoke furniture which it sells to domestic and international customers, but it also has a full interior design service and a growing commercial interior design business. Last year we completed ten suites in Claridges and have refurbished the restaurants at the Sloane Club and the Goring Hotel. In addition the business has three retail businesses within it which are respectively focussed on furniture, a great range of upholstery and finally gifts, the latter in fact being the largest part of the retail side of the business- ranging from photo frames to jewellery boxes.

Leading the development of such a small business on the one hand should be relatively straight forward with only two stores and 44 associates, but it has actually been extremely challenging. I always say that my role is predominately managing people, associates, shareholders, suppliers and customers. This is the real test and the key issue is to be able to deal with the absolute minutia of detail but at the same time always to think in terms of the overall goal and strategy of the business and take every decision in this context. I have learned that managing a small business makes you very accountable for every decision that you take. You are in a live environment and when you direct someone to do something, by and large it happens very quickly. In a previous role in Laura Ashley I had direct responsibility for 100 people in 6 locations and we had 500 stores in 20 countries, but if you took a decision and then reflected a couple of weeks later, you were usually able to reverse it as it had not yet happened. In a small environment, the pace is much faster and you are very accountable for everything you decide. I have found this to be the greatest challenge in this environment.

At LINLEY this is even more challenging than elsewhere, as everything we do attracts a disproportionate amount of attention and in many cases we have to act very much like a large high profile business. In addition the diversity of what we do and the different dynamics of each business really provides intellectual stimulation.

The key strength of the business is in the wealth of talent here and a young and dynamic environment. Our values are excellence, enthusiasm and people and of all of these, people are always at the forefront of my mind. A day in my life at LINLEY consists of meeting people, directing people, counselling people, talking to people and entertaining people. It’s very rewarding!

© Fraser Allen 2008

World Class New Zealand Summit

On Tuesday 26th February 2008 I attended the inaugural World Class New Zealand Summit in Auckland, New Zealand.

The World Class concept was established to contribute to the New Zealand government’s strategy for increasing the country’s international competitiveness through improved global connectedness.

Its core aspiration is to build an innovative New Zealand by effectively tapping into the knowledge, expertise and networks of world class New Zealanders and friends of New Zealand around the globe.

I was invited to join this select group of 100 individuals through my association with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE). As a European Beachheads Advisory Board Member I help New Zealand companies with break into new markets using my skills, experience and business networks.

The summit which was arranged by NZTE in association with KEA (Kiwi Expatriate Association) operated in a workshop-style ‘think tank’ and brought together 40 of the 100 network members from around the world to examine global trends, their potential impact on New Zealand, and how New Zealand might respond to the opportunities that arise.

The themes explored were:

Sustainability
Success Culture
Global Connectedness
People and Skills
New Zealand’s potential Competitive Advantages

I elected to participate in the Sustainability and Global Connectedness workshops hosted by Professor Mike Pratt and Dr David Skilling respectively.

The key outputs from the workshops were later presented to government minister Phil Goff. Who then responded with an address to the members before the day was closed by Stephen Tindall from KEA.

It was an extremely interesting and valuable day and I look forward to the next iteration of the workshops to be held in New York on the 8th May 2008.

© Mark West 2008

Ventura opens its doors

On the 24th January 2008 my colleague Paul Brennan and I attended a Consultants Open Day at Ventura Network Distribution, Dearne Valley, Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

The reason for the day was for Ventura to showcase its fully automated state of the art warehouse and to introduce us to its extensive portfolio of warehousing and transportation services aimed at small to medium sized chain store retailers.

You may say nothing unique there then just another third party logistics provider promoting their services. Not quite, the difference is that Ventura is wholly owned by Next plc, the high street retailer and it is now providing warehousing and transportation services not only to its own parent company but to small and medium size chain store retailers.

So why offer your high street competitors your finely honed services?
Arron Kendall, Development Manager explained that it was a natural development step. We have finely tuned the network to handle a range of diverse products at very competitive cost per unit throughput rates and believe that supported with our expertise this is a unique product offering to the sector.

Next has certainly supported this statement by investing £50m+ on new depots, £10m on a replacement fleet and £6.4m on a new hanging garment sorter at south Elmsall, West Yorkshire.

We saw for ourselves what an investment of this size buys. The warehouses at Dearne Valley covering £1m square feet had a fully automated carton and pallet store, takeaway conveyors for cartons, totes and waste packaging and robotic pallet builders.

Ventura services include; retail warehousing and distribution to stores, efulfilment and home delivery to customers by a range of one and two man services, returns product management and disposal of waste packaging from stores and customers.

The likes of TNT Retail, DTS Clipper and DHL now have a new competitor to watch, one that know the retail sector very well.

Unique, it may not be, EUK a subsidiary of Woolworths provide logistics and buying and merchandising to other retailers. That being said it is certainly audacious!

© Mark West 2008

A day in the life of a Non-Executive Director

A non executive director’s (NED’s) day varies considerably. Many days include no contact with the company whatsoever. Others can be very full on. Recently, such a day involved catching the 06.24am train to London in order to make a 09.00 board meeting which was followed by the company’s AGM and buffet lunch with the shareholders. Such events are generally not attended by the institutions holding most of the shares (they send in their proxy votes in advance) but by an assortment of mainly elderly private shareholders who have often had a long association with the company. They might have worked for the company or one of its former businesses or enthusiastic supporters of its technology or simply want a day out.

The day referred to went smoothly and as well as reviewing the first quarter’s performance and approving an interim report for release to the London Stock Exchange, the board heard about a number of new executive appointments and discussed potential acquisitions. As always the focus of discussion is around how whatever is being considered fits in with the company’s strategy, which is itself reviewed every year at a two day special strategy meeting of the board and senior executives.

The AGM was attended by about a dozen shareholders other than the board members and senior staff members and advisers. The meeting was given a presentation on the business and results by the chief executive. There were half a dozen questions from the floor which were relevant to the business and answered mostly by the chairman or the chief executive. My role was limited to proposing three of the eleven resolutions put to the meeting.

After lunch with the shareholders I had an appointment with a bank to discuss my CV and what sort of director level appointments at some of their investee companies might be suitable for me.

After that, I spent an hour on the phone negotiating a shareholders’ agreement in relation to another company of which I am a director and shareholder.

The evening entailed attending a dinner for analysts and fund managers along with the other board members and senior executives and I was back home (in London) by 11.45pm. A long but enjoyable day involving talking to a lot of interesting people and unusually mostly focused on one company.

© Eric Tracey 2008

The Marrakech Express

“Interim Management”, “Purchasing and Supply Chain Professionals”, “Project and Change Management” these all make quite an impressive list of subjects covered by the PPS website and Blog. But the one most closely related to this entry is probably “The Hyper-Creative Personality”.

I am a 17 year old ICT student, who first came across this website when my Dad asked me to search for the PPS Management logo. Why? Who? What? Then I realised that this had something to do with our local friends Mark West and Lisa Derbyshire. Mark is the founder of PPS and they were our prime sponsor on the Mad Cap Cycle Trek that my Dad and I undertook at the end of October this year (2007).

My Grandmother died in February this year of the evil disease of Alzheimer’s and my father and I wanted to remember her in a very special way. So we organised a 500km cycle ride in Morocco, riding north from the northern edge of the Sahara Dessert over the High Atlas Mountains into the imperial city of Marrakech. This was a 5 day cycle ride covering 100kms per day and carrying everything we needed with us to stay under the African stars and to feed and water ourselves. The main aim was to raise awareness and funds for the Alzheimer’s Society but at the same time it was a wonderful experience and a great thing to do as father and son.

When Mark and Lisa heard what we were planning, they were very supportive, encouraging and asking us all the right questions! What back up did we have? What type of bikes did we have? Had we been there before? It was then I realised that perhaps my Dad had not taken care of everything!

Anyway to cut a long story short, I got out of school for a week (RESULT), we completed the trek successfully and raised an enormous amount of money for Alzheimer’s. It was a fabulous experience, hard work covering up to 100kms each day with some days up hill for 8 hours! Therefore it was very important that both my Dad and I had trained hard in the months before and despite the rough nights spent sleeping in the cold and under the stars we battled through each day knowing how important it was to complete the trip. And it was well worthwhile.

But without the PPS sponsorship and the help, support guidance and loan of some brilliant bikes from Mark and Lisa we would almost certainly either not have gone, or still be pedaling up the mountains! A sincere thank you from the Bates Family and the Alzheimer’s Society.

In fact we felt so good about it all we are now even daring to plan next years MAD CAP VENTURE. Do you remember the chap who took elephants over the Alps? Well if he did it I am sure My Dad and I can succeed in raising more money as we cycle in his path! - We might even try it in the snow! .... Mark and Lisa can we borrow your bikes again? Or do you want to join us!??

More detail of this year’s event can be found at their charity web site: www.justgiving.com/Bates_Family_Cycle_Trek


© Seb Bates 2007

No mountain too high - for charity

Peter Bates from Rode Somerset, is - in his words - an ‘energetic but ageing Lieutenant Colonel’ in the Army and father of four, whose military and civilian lives have taken their toll on his body! Always a keen runner, he has been given strict orders by the military physiotherapists not to run (possibly ever again), due to 'stupid' - not their medical term - Achilles tendons.

With his regular half marathons and other charity runs no longer an option, he is terrified of growing too big and too serious, or having to give up drinking beer and eating cake (both of which he feels rather accomplished at - but doing that for charity tends to be a messy affair). So he began cycling. Some may think this a little dull, so to stem the boredom, and force him to keep training, he set himself a yearly Mad Cap Cycle Challenge, in aid of charity. This year (27 October – 2 November 2007 – half term) was to be his first and he decided it was to be in Morocco. He planned a 500km cycle trek across desert and mountains this with Sebastian his eldest (17Yr Old) son.

The trek that Peter and Seb planned, meant that father and son flew out with their bikes and other equipment to Marrakech, met up with 4 other friends and jumped on to a mini bus to take them South and down to the Sahara Desert. They then had 5 days to cycle out of the desert, over the High Atlas Mountains and back down into Marrakech. Sleeping rough, close to the route and carrying everything they needed with them including food, water and sleeping equipment. It was a 500 km route (100km per day) reaching heights of 4,000m above sea level. …. But … the views were well worth it, and the money raised for charity drove them on! (Also they could not afford any delays as Seb had to be back in UK time for school!!)

Peter’s main concern was never the heat, the distance, the hostile terrain, slipping off mountain tracks, the snakes, scorpions or the mad challenge, but keeping up with his son and ending up having to ask him to carry all the kit! But they both coped really well, achieved the trek in the time planned. In addition they managed to raise a serious amount of money and awareness for Alzheimer’s society, a charity close to their hearts as Peter’s mother died of this evil disease earlier this year.

More detail of the event: www.justgiving.com/Bates_Family_Cycle_Trek

The charity trek could never have been as successful without the support of so many individuals and for corporate sponsorship that helped cover the costs of flights and the provision of some equipment. The prime sponsor was Peoples Process Solutions Ltd who supported Peter and Sebastian in so many ways for which they are massively grateful. They are particularly grateful to Mark West for taking such a great interest and for being so encouraging.

Next year Peter and Seb are looking for another Mad Cap challenge. Someone mentioned Hannibal's route over the Alps? …. But didn’t he do that in the snow? …. OK then… next winter. PPS – are you coming!?

Let’s make sure the bikes have the right tyres on!

© Peter Bates 2007