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A Message from Gerry Hillier
General Manager of Logistica International Ltd
Dear Friends:
I’d like to take this opportunity to
introduce the first issue of Logistica’s quarterly newsletter, an effort we’re sure will keep you in the loop with all
the developments, issues, and innovations taking place at our facilities, as well as updates on key industry trends
and news.
Since our start up in November 2006,
our mandate has been to meet and exceed the specific needs of your company and to achieve results — to provide you with
the important services and qualities that reflect our philosophy for excellence. Yes, we do have a philosophy, and you
can read about it on the home page of our recently-launched website at
www.logisticaintl.com.
But before we get into the meat and
potatoes of our debut issue, I think it’s important that our readers get to know a little bit about Logistica’s principals
and key players. You will be quite impressed with their diverse industry experience that in my opinion makes Logistica
an up-and-coming leader in the warehousing and 3PL industry.
For those of you who were not able to
attend Logistica’s first annual Client Appreciation event at the Woodbine Club in November 2007 – which was a huge success
by the way and a heck of a lot of fun – you can view some photos on our website at
www.logisticaintl.com under “Resources – News & Events” or click on this link:
www.logisticaintl.com/resources.asp?SID=12&SCID=13.
Claude Boiron
(Vice President)
Claude Boiron is a licensed Realtor,
specializing in commercial and industrial buildings. As a partner in several companies and co-author of Commercial Real
Estate Investing in Canada (published by Wiley, 2007), Claude brings fresh and innovative thinking to Logistica and
is currently developing new procedures and technologies to facilitate the company’s growth. Claude oversees Logistica’s
strategic planning, and business development.
Gerry Hillier
(Manager)
Gerry has over 25 years of experience
in logistics, warehousing, and transportation. He has honed his skills in many positions over the years:
- Operations Supervisor: 200,000 sq.ft. with up to 55 employees per shift. Approximately
600 staff in entire warehousing/distribution operation at that time.
- Terminal/Facility Manager: LTL and TL Carrier, fleet of 40+ city tractors in the
GTA, and 200+ highway units. Also managed 30-door cross-dock facility and 11,000 sq.ft. administrative building
Head Office.
- Distribution Manager: Managed 2 warehouse operations totalling 265,000 sq.ft. with
40+ employees and a 10-truck delivery Fleet.
- Warehouse/Facility Manager: Start-up warehousing operation. 100,000 sq.ft. Food
Grade facility. Grew business from scratch and had 2 functional facilities in two years.
During his career, Gerry has continued
to educate himself to better serve his customers. In 1999, he gained his Logistician Designation at the prestigious
Schulich School of Business, at York University.
Known in the industry for his “straight-up
approach” management style and for his strong client relationships, he is often referred to as “Coach” by peers, colleagues,
and customers because of his demonstrated ability to turn “NOTHING” into “SOMETHING” through mentoring, coaching, and
leading by example.
Meagan Lepp
(Operations Manager)
Meagan Lepp has over five years experience
in the warehouse/transport industry, commencing her career right out of school as an Operations Assistant Administrator
with a Transport company. With her attention to detail and sharp operational skills, she quickly progressed to the role
of Assistant Warehouse Supervisor in a 100,000 square foot food grade facility. As the Operations Manager at Logistica,
Meagan manages a 50,000 square foot facility, while maintaining customer relations. She also co-ordinates daily dock
planning and movement, oversees all documentation, billing, and invoicing, and is forklift certified.
Max Maccari
(Marketing Support, Coach Marketing)
Max joined Logistica in 2007 to assist
with many of the company’s marketing initiatives and strategies. With over eight years of specialized marketing experience
in various industries, Max’s goal is to assist the Logistica team with targeted and pro-active solutions to solidify
the day-to-day operational and management mandates.
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Document Flow and Control Within Your Supply Chain
Process
by Gerry Hillier
One of the most common causes for the
improper flow of product in any supply chain – and especially in 3PL – is the paperwork flow. While we all would like
to think we can move product here and there and in and out with ease and without issue, the reality is that without
proper documentation accompanying the freight as it moves within the supply chain, the process as we know it comes to
a halt!
The reasons for such delays are numerous
and comparable to the iceberg metaphor – there’s a lot more under the water (behind the scenes) than meets the eye.
Freight that arrives at any location without detailed packing slips or like documentation can and will cause off loading
delays such as carrier delays at point of receiving, dock space erosion, added administrative intervention and follow
up – all of which are adding cost to the movement of the goods. Most important, it delays the valuable goods from reaching
its final resting place within the supply chain.
Timely document flow is crucial in all
aspects of our industry and often can be the single most overlooked area in all that we do, even though documentation
regulations clearly state the need for detailed documents to accompany the movement of all goods, regardless of the
means of transport.
Do yourself a favor: regardless of your
position or spot within your supply chain process, step back and revisit your process to achieve a smoother and more
seamless paperwork flow. It will make a difference to all of us.
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Real Estate Experts Predict the Future
by Claude Boiron
One of Logistica’s auxiliary strengths
comes from its principals.
Pierre and Claude Boiron are Commercial
Realtors, as well as being the authors of Commercial Real Estate Investing
in Canada: The Complete Reference for Real Estate Investors and Professionals. Their knowledge and abilities
in Real Estate enable Logistica the flexibility of finding suitable space faster than our competitors. Additionally,
the day your business grows to the point where you occupy a considerable amount of space in one of our facilities, we
may look at opening a new facility with you as our main account there. In that case, we would painstakingly search out
the most conveniently located facility that is best suited to your type of product.
An added benefit from the You-Logistica
relationship is that we already have a working understanding of each other and confidence in what the other can provide.
If you are ever looking to lease, buy, or sell office space, warehouse space, or even buy an investment property, Logistica
will be happy to refer you to Pierre and Claude, who will treat you with the care and professionalism you are accustomed
to with Logistica.
Over the last several years, we have
talked on and off again about a Real Estate bubble in Ontario, especially in the GTA. Due to these repeated “cautions,”
I can understand if you think that all the “talk” you hear today is just another fearful chain reaction. Truthfully,
it’s a little different this time. Many more factors are at play now: The United States keeps digging a deeper economic
hole for itself (most recently with the Federal Reserve’s emergency rate cut), Canada’s high dollar, and a softening
of the Real Estate market as of late. Many people don’t realize that the United States may already be in a recession,
as a result of many factors, including the ensuing devastation due to rampant subprime lending practices. Combine this
with the new Toronto Land Transfer Tax and you undoubtedly have an impact on how many people can afford to buy a home
in Canada’s largest city – in fact, you have a near guarantee that our economy (that includes Real Estate) will not
keep chugging along so well forever.
Our prediction is that the Real Estate
market will continue to soften, with a correction occurring in early 2009 at the latest. Keep in mind that, traditionally,
a Canadian Real Estate crisis follows the United States by one to one-and-a-half years. This softening could be periodically
hastened by unexpected events. An example is the plummeting of Stock Exchanges worldwide on January 20th and 21st 2008.
We believe that those who are used to
bucking the trend, and who will be ready to buy when everyone wants to sell, will be quite happy over the next few years.
If you ever have any questions regarding
Real Estate, please contact Pierre and Claude through their website
www.realestatementor.ca. This is also the site where you can read about their book, and download excerpts from it.
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Logistics and Supply Chain Management Key Performance
Indicators Analysis: A Canada/United States Perspective
A Special Report by Industry Canada, October
2006
Below you will find the executive summary
to this special report published by Industry Canada. To read the full, 36-page report in PDF format, visit our website
at:
www.logisticaintl.com/content/IC_Log_Spec_Report.pdf
Executive Summary
As competition becomes more global,
innovation is moving from a firm-to-firm level to a supply chain versus supply chain perspective. In order to compete
against low cost countries (such as China), Canadian firms must develop supply chain agility in a Just-In- Time (JIT)
and mass customisation mode.
Measurement of logistics and supply
chain management (SCM) key performance indicators (KPI) is an essential part of the agile supply chain concept. It is
estimated that 37 percent of North American (NA) firms that have put in place logistics and SCM KPI corporate wide measurement
applications have achieved a decrease of 15 percent or more in shipment delays compared to only 7 percent of firms that
do not measure those KPI consistently.
While inventory turns is the main KPI
for evaluating supply chain agility, logistics cost KPI allow firms to evaluate the efficiency of their logistics and
SCM operations. The combination of supply chain agility and efficient SCM practices is key to long term competitiveness
and prosperity of Canadian firms in a global supply chain (GSC) context.
In terms of productivity and competitiveness
KPI, Canada is not as efficient as the U.S. in most inventory turns KPI sub groups, and in all key sectors in terms
of total logistics cost. For the Manufacturing, Wholesale and Retail sectors, the average logistics cost gap with the
U.S. is 11 percent.
Inventory Turns
In terms of supply chain agility KPI,
Canada’s 2005 raw material inventory turns ratio was still below the United States level of 1992, although it increased
20.77 percent during the 1992-2005 period. Canada has a productivity gap of 35 percent in that specific KPI.
For the same period, the finished goods
inventory turns ratio increased 23.91 percent in Canada. Both countries started at about the same level in 1992, and
the U.S. is currently only about 4.3 percent behind Canada in terms of finished goods inventory turns.
The wholesale and retail sectors also
have a supply chain agility gap. Their respective inventory turns remained 17 to 41 percent behind their U.S. counterparts.
In regards to productivity growth, the
fact that the retail and wholesale inventory turns were levelled or growing for the 1992-2005 period means that in the
whole supply chain the inventory was not solely transferred from the manufacturers to the wholesaler or from the wholesalers
to the retailers; there was a real productivity growth in inventory management in Canada and in the U.S. for that specific
period.
Logistics Costs
Canadian Manufacturing, Wholesale and
Retail sectors have logistics costs 2 percent, 22 percent and 16 percent higher respectively than in the U.S. Comparing
the manufacturing sector for Canada and the U.S. shows that costs related to logistics outsourcing are higher in the
U.S. than in Canada and that in the retail sector, costs associated with logistics outsourcing are higher in the U.S..
In the case of the wholesale sector, internal logistics costs are slightly lower in Canada as a percentage of total
logistics costs.
There is not much difference between
Canada and the U.S. with respect to internal logistics costs in the wholesale and retail sectors. Nevertheless, Canada
has an internal logistics cost in manufacturing that is higher than that of the U.S.
Canada’s inventory carrying costs are
slightly higher for manufacturing and wholesale (11 percent and 17 percent respectively). However, inventory carrying
costs for retail in Canada are 31 percent higher than in the US.
Technology
In order for firms to achieve the benefits
of their respective logistics and SCM business drivers, the adoption of logistics and SCM technology across supply chains
is a key component for developing efficient collaboration networks.
It is estimated that North American
Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) that will deploy logistics and SCM collaboration applications will enjoy a
5 percent to 25 percent decrease in logistics costs and a 15 percent to 40 percent increase in quality and time-to-market
over competitors that fail to make these investments through 2010.
As an example, 90 percent of NA companies
that embrace leading edge logistics and SCM collaboration applications achieve an increase of at least 15 percent of
order fill rate accuracy compared to only 40 percent of low technology adopters.
SCM technology adoption is still at
an infancy stage in Canada. Close to 54 percent of Canadian firms still have no SCM solutions in place and do not plan
to implement a solution shortly.
Although the logistics and SCM technology
investment level has been low in Canada, all key sectors are starting to respond to the increase in complexity of logistics
and SCM by starting to dramatically increase their investment into value added distribution centers and freight terminal
infrastructure. Canadian Manufacturing and retail annual investments in warehousing and freight terminals increased
by more than 200 percent from 2001 to 2003.
In order to benefit from the productivity
of logistics and SCM, individual firms must develop their own personal roadmap. It would consist of documenting the
long-term perspective into specific action items linked to deliverables, performance indicators objectives, return on
investment and a project time frame.
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Logistica’s Gift Card Program
Send Us a Quote, Get a Free Gift Card!
You want to give me a quote AND give
me a gift?
That’s right!
At Logistica, we value your trust and
interest in our services so much that we will give you a $50 gift card each time we give you a quote.
The only catch is that you need to supply
us with enough quality information about your needs so that we can quote you properly. You can choose a gift card from
most large companies, such as the LCBO, Home Depot, Cara Restaurants (Milestones, Montana’s, Kelsey’s, etc.), and many
more.
There is no limit to how many gift cards
you can receive, but they will be limited to one per project. Don’t believe us? Give it a try!
Fill out our quote request form on our
website (www.logisticaintl.com),
or call Gerry Hillier at 416-767-1700.
This is a limited time promotion, but
we may extend it indefinitely based on your level of interest.
Watch for the Logistica Referral Program
featured in the next newsletter issue. Even better than our Gift Card Program, the Referral Program rewards you just
for letting us know that someone might be in need of our services. If that person becomes a client of Logistica’s, you
can choose from a number of promotional gifts including sporting event tickets, travel vouchers, larger gift cards,
and much more.
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