DC Velocity - July 2010

QIs there one single issue or concern that is more pre- dominant in your mind than others? A I know this sounds basic, but our company’s future success will come through growing our revenues profitably. In order to accomplish this, we have to continue to focus on and meet our customers’ needs. In addition, our cost structure must be competitive. We must continue to evolve with our customers and that also brings our IT function into focus.

Q

What have been the most enduring lessons you’ve
learned in getting to this point in your career? And
what impact could those lessons have on young people,
men or women, who are interested in entering the field?
A Throughout my career I have tried to accomplish objectives that are within my control, and I have tried
to make good decisions every time an issue was presented.
I have come across many people who have been focused on
issues outside of their control. This approach does not typ-
ically breed success in an organization. Another core belief
I have is to be positive. I find that most problems have
solutions if you have the right attitude. I believe young
people, both male and female, would benefit from these
principles.

Steve Mulaik

STEVE MULAIK IS A PARTNER IN THE Progress Group, a warehousing and logistics consulting firm headquartered in Atlanta. Over the course of a 20-year career, Mulaik has worked on DC design and productivity improvement projects for such well-known companies as Gap, J. Crew, Victoria’s Secret, Ozburn-Hessey Logistics, Norm Thompson, Williams-Sonoma, and Nike. Having worked on major supply chain projects in the United States and overseas—most recently a 30-month stint in India leading a big DC design project for a food and mass merchandising retailer— Mulaik has first-hand knowledge about building supply chains in the “flat” world of 21st century global commerce.

called for almost 15 million square feet of space. While we were working on the project, the company’s retail division grew from about 200 to 15,000 people in just 16 months’ time. The whole experience will get some mention on my tombstone.

QHow did you end up in your current position at The Progress Group? A I got a degree in computer science from Georgia Tech and worked for the systems consulting arm of a Big 8 accounting firm, and then a logistics consulting firm called SysteCon. Afterward, I took a job as the VP of process improvement at Race Trac, a $1 billion convenience store chain, and was eventually promoted to CIO. This was an invaluable experience because it gave me great insights into the “real world” beyond consulting and it really sensitized me to the value of simple, practical solutions to problems and the need to employ the 80/20 rule whenever designing those solutions. In 1996, I joined The Progress Group.

QWhat’s been your biggest accomplishment to date in India? A I was fortunate to help establish one of India’s very first organized retail ventures, sponsored by India’s wealthiest man, Mukesh Ambani. I led the team that focused on developing facilities to support just about every possible retail concept you can think of, from perishables to apparel to electronics to furniture. The plans we developed

QWhat are the key differences between distribution in India and the United States?

A The biggest difference is the sensitivity to labor efficiency. In India, labor is obviously cheap—a well-paid warehouseman might make $2,000 a year. Consequently, management doesn’t give this resource nearly as much attention as it would in the United States. This has implications far beyond what you’d think.

If you don’t manage the productivity of labor closely, then you’re not managing the quality or service output of your people very well either. They go hand in hand. This difference in management focus has hindered many Indian managers from gaining the experience needed to manage complex but manual U.S.-style operations. Consequently, procedures need to be simpler in India to reflect this challenge and the high employee turnover rates. Do not think you can just drop a U.S.-style operation into India and it will work—it won’t.

The second big difference is obviously the lack of infrastructure. It is getting better, but I doubt that when the smoke clears, the logistics practices that are popular in India will be like those here. I think they will evolve to be more similar to European practices because of the population density, the wide variety of cultures and tastes, and the high costs of land and energy.