inbound
USC San Diego team
takes the case
DHL CEO tries life on the streets
PHOTO COUR TESY OF DHL
You have to feel for DHL courier Rudy Stanke. Instead of driving his
usual route in his usual truck, today he’s navigating the streets of South
Boston in an unfamiliar vehicle: the company’s new demo hybrid delivery truck. And he is doing it with the CEO riding shotgun … while being
tailed by an SUV carrying members of the press.
DHL was holding its own version of the Discovery Channel TV show
“Undercover Boss,” where the boss goes undercover at his or her own
company to see what life is like on the front lines. Only with DHL, the
couriers had been clued in beforehand, and it was the customers who
received a surprise delivery. And it wasn’t just the CEO but all of the
members of DHL’s U.S. management board who were riding with drivers
in the Greater Boston area.
Although it’s unusual for DHL’s full board to be out in the field at one
time, it’s not uncommon for senior management to go out on the road.
The company sees the ride-alongs as essential for keeping top managers
connected with its couriers, who CEO Ian Clough calls the company’s
most important assets. “They meet more customers in one day than the
management team or any other part of our organization,” Clough (pic-
tured, left, with Stanke) told reporters. “We recognize that most of our
leads for new business come from them.”
In addition to giving managers a better sense of what obstacles couri-
ers might face (Is the scanning technology functioning as intended? Do
drivers have the right-sized trucks for their routes?), the ride-alongs are
intended to boost morale following DHL’s 2009 exit from the U.S. pack-
age market to focus on international trade. But this morning it’s hard to
sense what effect the visit is having on Stanke’s morale. “I’m a private
guy,” he says, looking slightly uncomfortable with all the attention.
But an hour into the day, Stanke has relaxed, and he and Clough are
making full use of the opportunity the trip provides to solicit direct feedback from customers. In a high-end rug shop, Clough asks a well-coiffed
woman signing for a package if she would consider using DHL for her
outbound shipments. She pauses. “You might not want to hear this,” she
says. But after some reassurances from Clough, she reveals that she had
previously used DHL but switched to FedEx, mostly due to price. Clough
does get her to agree to a visit from a DHL sales rep, and he and Stanke
leave the shop satisfied they have a solid sales lead in hand.
Learning the principles of supply
chain management in an academic
setting is one thing. Applying what
you’ve learned to a real-life problem is
another thing altogether. Students
from over 100 colleges across the
country recently got a chance to test
their problem-solving skills as part of
the RedPrairie Supply Chain
Challenge. Organized as part of the
annual Avnet Tech Games technology
competition, the contest required student teams to manage a virtual supply
chain involving manufacturing, distribution, and forecasting from start
to finish.
The RedPrairie Supply Chain
Challenge was based on a customized
Web-based version of the Littlefield
Technologies game from Responsive
Technologies. Students were challenged to manage a make-to-order
factory and make forecasting, capacity,
inventory, and pricing decisions.
Contestants were judged on their ability to maximize profits by managing
the assets (inventory, equipment, and
cash) within the factory.
The winning four-person team
hailed from the University of
California - San Diego’s Rady School
of Management. The keys to their success, the team members said, were
effective automation, efficient manufacturing, lean inventory levels, and
precise calculation.
The Avnet Tech Games, hosted each
April at the University of Advancing
Technology in Tempe, Ariz., is an
annual competition that gives students an opportunity to apply what
they learn in school to real-world scenarios and compete for scholarships.
The Games include an onsite competition—a one-day event open to
Arizona college students—as well as
the virtual games, which are open to
college students nationwide.
