Asia Logistics Wrap

Reposted: Global IT Deployment: The Framework Overview (I)

I have been sitting on this post for some time as I have been on-site at my client's distribution center, busy with several tasks during the day and working the evenings to synch up with the global team or prepare for the following day. Because this post and the next few are the most important in this series, I wanted to make sure I had some time to sit down and carefully lay out the content I have prepared. Admittedly, I am more deliberate with regards to developing my thoughts and don't mind a delay if I can promise a high quality post.

 

In previous posts, I have discussed the obvious need for a global IT roll-out template and the ideal approach to take in designing and utilizing the template. In addition, I referred to the example of Development-in-a-Box (DiB) as reflecting the approach and principles I have described as the most appropriate for launching a template across a variety of borders and cultures (let's think in terms of office-specific cultures as well as country-specific cultures). However, an approach and set of principles next needs a framework or an organizing structure that lends itself to a rapid launch on a global scale.

 

It is common these days in many businesses to think in terms of "modules" in regards to products and processes. Usually, several modules run on the same platform or logic so that users can simply "plug-and-play" as a module is required. For example, a manufacturing company might pull entire modules from several suppliers to plug into the final product. One of my previous employers, Denso, produced an entirely built HVAC module that could be snapped and screwed into vehicles at customers like

Toyota

and GM. Boeing has been utilizing this approach to build the new 787 Dreamliner, albeit with supply chain design issues. My own company,

Manhattan

, takes this approach with SCOPE. As long as the underlying platform--framework--is solid, several modules can be developed in parallel while ensuring they can be successfully and efficiently plugged into the end solution--whether it is an automobile, airplane or software package.

 

My opinion is that the framework for a global IT roll-out template should take on this modular structure but will be rooted in an underlying foundation built on the principles and approach outlined in earlier posts. Simply illustrated, I have created the below diagram to generically outline the framework:

    

In this diagram, the center pentagon is the foundation upon which the modules will plug into. These modules will be driven by a "community of practice" with similar principles and an adherence to the OODA loop concept. This is the most generic form of the template.

To move beyond this, the next step I would like to make is defining the core modules themselves, including the foundation in a more universally usable manner. When doing this, I referred back to the supply chain architectures outlined by Dr. Cavinato and extensively discussed in my post on the FAR Matrix (Flows-Architectures-Resilience Matrix).

Reading

that post would not be a waste of time before reading further. However, to quickly refresh memories, the five supply chain architectures are: physical, financial, informational, relational and innovational. As a result, the illustration above takes on the following evolution:

These modules are pieces of the framework that those from any country can relate to and thus allow this framework to bridge easily across borders and cultures towards synchronizing multiple, decentralized implementation teams.

 

In my next few posts, I will go through each module and further explain their relevance to the global deployment of supply chain technology. I will also discuss the in-module categories where rule-sets could be established in order guide such a deployment, which is typically a longer, strategic initiative. The extended duration of such initiatives naturally means that maintenance of the global design will be strained, and the global team likewise strained. The global IT roll-out template I am putting forth is not only an essential tool in maintaining the core intentions of the global design, but also a tool able to cultivate an environment of innovation, while easing the strain on the global-level project team.

Reposted: Global IT Deployment: Principles to Remember

In my last post I discussed the tone to set in rolling out supply chain technology on a global scale, that the implementation team must have an ingrained sense of the OODA loop in order to develop and build roll-out momentum that is positive and successful. Although the global design that the technology will conform to and the global leadership that initiates the global design must essentially remain consistent, at the regional or local level implementation teams and their traditional methods of operation will vary widely. This is true for both the vendor and client, and I believe an ingrained OODA loop discipline builds bridges to bring these regional or local pieces into synch as a global technology deployment progresses.

In order to create the right tools for a global IT roll-out template, the team developing such a template must take to heart three key principles:

1. Never assume, always verify because...
2. The assumptions you make locally or regionally can kill you globally.
3. The assumptions you make globally can kill you locally or regionally.

Anyone who has worked on global projects likely understands these principles and has probably either met a local manager who assumes the global team has the wrong approach for their country or perhaps a global manager who assumes the local team works by the same practices established in headquarters.

 

It is virtually impossible to avoid making assumptions, but an ingrained sense of the OODA loop allows us to catch ourselves making the most detrimental assumptions. Most importantly, the global implementation team is responsible for doing the due diligence required to sufficiently understand the local or regional environment and be able to bridge the local or regional implementation teams to the global template. At this point, the local or regional implementation teams are responsible for maintaining this alignment with the global template and, as a result, the global design and implementation strategy.

 

Since problems will most certainly arise if this alignment is not in place by the time the roll-out project is kicked-off locally or regionally, the global team must be proactive in providing the information and tools necessary weeks in advance of any local or regional interaction with the client. Likewise, the local or regional leadership must never make assumptions regarding the project prior to synch-up with the global team. I can confidently say from experience that failure to do the above will result in issues that, although not necessarily irreversable, will negatively impact the roll-out and the teams' views of each other in advancing forward.

 

The pieces I will talk about in future posts--rule sets and implementation tools--are the pieces that both govern the development of an OODA loop-driven mindset and allow implementation teams around the globe to successfully work from a global IT roll-out template. But it is important to remember that going into a global roll-out with the wrong set of principles will make rules and tools meaningless.

Reposted: Establishing a Global IT Deployment Rule Set

When working on a project of this nature for the first time, where a multinational company is deploying a supply chain technology solution across its sites around the globe, hindsight is always 20/20. It is easy to say, in reflection, what should have happened to make everything run smoothly. The harder work involves turning lessons learned into new methodologies that can be utilized in future activities so as to not repeat the same mistakes.

 

The process of recognizing mistakes, developing lessons learned, designing new methodologies and putting these methodologies into action provides an ongoing evolution of rule sets upon which to base a successful deployment of supply chain technology across borders. There are plenty of precendents to model this process against; specifically, there is significant research and discussion on the OODA Loop.

 

This concept was developed and formulated by Colonel John Boyd. In a paper online, Fred Thompson describes this concept in simple terms as follows:

 

The first of these steps is observation. Rivals start by observing their positions, the environment, and their opponents. Next, on the basis of observation, each orients itself to the situation and then decides on a course of action. Finally, each puts the decision into effect; that is, it acts. It checks to see if its action has changed the situation, and the series of steps or cycle starts anew (see Figure 1).

This process is neither sequential nor finite--it is a dynamic process that has been elaborated upon by many authors, from different perspectives:

• Article series by tdaxp
• Post by Phatic Communion(Curtis Gale Weeks)
• Presentation "Certain to Win" by Chet Richards Download certain-to-win.ppt

In this blog, I don't like to dive deep into theories beyond making reference to them in detailing their applications and use in real-life scenarios that will make sense to, for example, technology implementation managers. The key here is that the OODA concept can act as the foundational approach to a global IT deployment; it should be ingrained so deeply in the minds of the implementation team that it drives subconsciously the continuous improvement and adaptability of strategy and tactics throughout every phase of a project--sales to support, support to upgrades, upgrades to support and so on. This is essential to all ongoing workstreams, such as procurement of hardware, hiring of human resources, building of infrastructure, etc., throughout the entire deployment, and more importantly, across borders. Where this foundation has been absent, problems and issues will certainly abound.

 

The more implementation managers ingrain this process into an implementation team, the better quality of rule sets the team will produce towards establishing a dynamic and workable global template. Such a template would not lock an implementation team into a fixed set of practices--rather, it would contain an always evolving set of best practices geared towards enhancing OODA Loop and empowering the full talents and capabilities of the implementation team.

My hope is to use future posts in order to capture the tools and methodologies that could be built into a global template for the deployment of supply chain technology across borders.

Reposted: Rolling, Rolling, Rolling...Keep that IT Rolling!

I am currently acting as project manager/local design lead for the Japan phase of a clients' global roll-out of WMOS, Manhattan's world leading software package for warehouse management. Being the third site of the total roll-out, I feel the whole implementation is like a cattle drive across the American plains. You start off with a decent sized herd, get it disciplined and moving at the right pace. But along the way you are tasked with integrating smaller herds of all sorts, and it strains your ranch hands as you try to keep the new pieces together with the old. You try to use any standard methods you established at the beginning, but there are inevitable gaps along the way. Some locals don't care for you too much; pitfalls are just around the corner ready to throw a monkeywrench into your operation. In the end, it's the team and their experience that keeps the herd together, moving toward its destination. I am basically a ranch hand helping integrate a new herd in my area, but going onto my next task after the whole herd moves on to new country...

Over the next few days, weeks, or months I plan to share some ground-level perspective on the execution of a global IT roll-out and my goal is to utilize these captured thoughts towards the creation of an ideal global, roll-out framework that can be used for any client. Because I still have much to learn in this regards, I look forward to pulling references from various sources to synthesize and further develop such a model.

Borders Frequented by Trade Seldom Need Soldiers

The title of this post was, from what I have read, an often spoken phrase of Dr. William Lytle Schurz, the second president at Thunderbird. It is also mentioned by the current president, Dr. Angel Cabrera, in reference to the Thunderbird mission and "spirit":

Thunderbird has a clear sense of purpose, nicely articulated by the School's second president, William Schurz, when he said: "Borders frequented by trade seldom need soldiers." Our goal is to educate global leaders who contribute with their business and their actions to building a more prosperous, livable, peaceful world. Thunderbird’s mission—educating global leaders who create sustainable prosperity worldwide—is a reflection of the greater purpose of business as a force of good around the world. It's also a vision of global management as an honorable profession that requires technical competence, professional skill and a non-negotiable commitment to ethical professional practice.

As an alumnus of Thunderbird, I strongly believe in the above, but this post's intention is not only to engage in showcasing the school and Dr. Schurz. The above came to mind when reading Thomas Barnett's latest column "Fewer wars, more consumers, thanks to globalization." In particular, the opening comments basically validate Schurz's understanding forged many years ago:

"Two new reports about our world reiterate the overwhelmingly positive impact of globalization upon our planet, making it more peaceful and more just.

"The "Human Security Brief 2007," compiled by Canada's Simon Fraser University, details the continuing overall decline in global conflict that began with globalization's rapid expansion around the planet in recent years, to include the complete absence of classic state-on-state war since 2003.

"As a result, total deaths from conflicts are now lower than the world has ever seen. For anyone looking for a new world order after the Cold War, this is it: far fewer wars and much less death from them."

This also illustrates how prescient the founder of Thunderbird was when looking back at the history of the School. Interestingly, the School was an Air Force training base and the founder saw the need from his military experience for a new generation of global managers:

Thunderbird School of Global Management is the oldest and largest graduate management school in the United States focused solely on preparing international business leaders. It was founded in 1946 following World War II by Lieutenant General Barton Kyle Yount, the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Training Command.

A pioneer and visionary of his time, General Yount saw a growing demand for international executive talent and had a dream to create the first school of business to focus exclusively on international management. That dream was realized April 8, 1946, when the School received its charter and General Yount became the school's first president. The school was founded as a nonprofit organization known as the American Institute for Foreign Trade. Classes began Oct. 1, 1946, and its first class graduated June 14, 1947. The school has since graduated more than 35,000 students who live and work in more than 140 countries.

The graduate school was built on the site of Thunderbird Field, a historic airbase established to train American, Canadian, British and Chinese pilots during World War II. The remnants of that earlier time can still be seen on the modern campus in a number of landmark buildings, including the airfield control tower, barracks and airplane hangars.

The school's unique curriculum is based on the principle that to do business on a global scale, executives must know not only the intricacies of business, but also understand the customs of other countries and be able to communicate in different cultures.

Essentially, globalization has strengthened the level of interdependency across the world, and entities that share a greater degree of interdependence also face a greater degree of risk in initiating negative conflicts that would degrade the overall prosperity of the entities involved. By entities, I refer to nations, states, organizations, corporations, communities, individuals, etc.

Global managers who excel at creating, managing, and enhancing these interdependencies through successful and innovative best practices, in my opinion, have been and will continue contributing to a more peaceful and just world. I am proud to say that Thunderbird grads are consistently on the front lines of this effort.

Update: Clement, from the Growth Matters blog, has referred to perhaps Schurz's original inspiration (pure speculation) for the phrase above--French economist, Claude Frederic Bastiat (1801 to 1850). Some further searches online led me to this nice summary of Bastiat's quote and philosophy:

The slogan, "if goods don t cross borders, armies will," is often attributed to Bastiat because he so forcefully made the case that free trade was perhaps the surest route to peace as well as prosperity. He understood that throughout history, tariffs had been a major cause of war. Protectionism, after all, is an attempt by governments to inflict on their own citizens in peacetime the same kinds of harm their enemies attempt (with naval blockades) during wars.

Disruptive MHE Technologies for Distribution Centers

Via the Growth Matters blog, I stumbled upon an IEEE Spectrum article on a new, robotic MHE that has entered the market since 2005, "Three Engineers, Hundreds of Robots, One Warehouse." 

Because I work on Manhattan's WMOS product for warehouse management, the article is quite interesting and has me wondering how our product could be integrated with such a system. From my experience simply as a consultant, I can see immediately where this system could add value:

1. A facility where most picking is already packaged goods--for example, goods already boxed/packaged for easy picking and/or multi-product packing.
2. A facility where ceiling height demands shorter racking solutions.
3. Relatively smaller footprint facilities in densely populated areas that require shorter ceiling height, shorter racking and multiple stories (and thus elevator-facilitated movement).
4. New facilities that can design from scratch or that already utilize a small number of MHE.

These are just some initial conditions that come to mind. Interestingly, there is no mention in the article of the impact on other activies such as product putaway at inbound, replenishment and cycle count (regular counting of product). I am sure these have been addressed at some point given the size of their customers.

Since I have a friend at Daifuku, the #1 Japan warehouse racking/storage system provider, I will forward this on to get his comments and maybe post those here...I think this type of system would be attractive in Japan's dense, urban markets and declining labor pool.

UPDATE: A google search in my custom news engine reveals several more articles on Kiva.

UPDATE: This Kiva should not be confused with the OTHER Kiva.

Experiencing the Flat World

I am currently reading Thomas Friedman's updated version of The World is Flat for the first time (I had never read the first version either).

It was published in 2005 and the first I heard of it I kind of brushed it off as another trendy business book. But while beginning my trip to Russia in Japan, I picked it up at the airport figuring to give it a chance. Not even 100 pages in, the timing seems perfect looking back at my experience the past three years out of grad school.

Working for the Japanese company from mid-2005 to the end of 2006, I could theme the environment as 'Ignoring the Flat World'. My work environment is 180 degrees opposite at Manhattan Associates, and could be themed 'Embracing the Flat World with No Looking Back'.

So far I have learned that embracing the flat world allows you to do business faster or better or cheaper, or some combination of all three. But with this must come a comfortability with greater degrees of complexity and a faster rate of change. Organizational change management and adaptability in new environments must be stellar, at a business and individual level, regardless of your location or market range. Today, you don't even have to embrace or engage the flat world to feel its effects-it is having an impact on our lives whether some of us understand it or not.

I am grateful to have had both work experiences-the global manager must often deal with both, either at the business or individual level.

Shawn Beilfuss Manhattan Associates-Tokyo -------------------------- Sent using BlackBerry

The Northwest Corner of Northeast Asia

I am now two weeks away from returning to Japan and one month into my experience here in Moscow. Everything here visually tells me I am closer to Europe than Asia-the architecture, people and language-but there is a reason I have included Russia in my links to Northeast Asia news and also why there is a Six Party Talks regarding the North Korea issue. Russia is very much on the borders of China, the Koreas, Japan, and US and thus has due influence in the region despite Moscow's physical distance.

The visual Moscow I see everyday is speckled with the Asian-looking faces of its former republics or Coommunist allies, speaking fluent Russian and seemingly a generation or more distant from their ancestor's home and culture. Of course, if you don't conform and speak Russian in Moscow, you will find even just visiting here relatively difficult. If you want to live here, you need to know the language half-decently or always stick to someone who does. So it is not surprising that, like in the US, that many Asian faces speak Russian fluently and perhaps nothing of their ancestor's tongue.

Of course, my mini-Korean immersion experience skews what I am learning of Russia here. Koreans stick together closely at home and even more so when abroad--to the point that understanding or integrating into the local culture, in this case Russia, be damned.

I can't fault them too much--Russia is a very temporary setting to them, the location of one more project before returning home. For me, however, I am expanding my knowledge and experience of the last corner of Northeast Asia, the far Northwest Corner in fact, in my overall adventure working in this region.

I can only imagine the day when North Korea finally opens to the world and new opportunities for cooperation and development in supply chain and logistics will take place in Northeast Asia.

Shawn Beilfuss Manhattan Associates-Tokyo -------------------------- Sent using BlackBerry

Manhattan Momentum in South Africa

This news been out since the end of June, but with the distraction of being in Russia, I just remembered to come back to it now: "Manhattan Associates Builds Momentum in South Africa with Key Win at Retail Giant Foschini".

This will be the second WMOS project with our partner, Supply Chain Junction, which I really enjoyed working with. It is great to know that the knowledge I helped pass on will be brought to this new project towards strengthening the Manhattan presence, raising supply chain standards, and establishing another benchmark implementation for the country. I am excited for Supply Chain Junction and look forward to being back to South Africa again someday.

I believe I have a similar role here in Russia at the moment and it makes that role even more exciting when understanding the overall impact and context.

Cars in Russia via Finland

When staying in Moscow, it is difficult not to notice the large variety of foreign-made vehicles driving the streets. When there is a Russian car, it is usually quite old.

On the plane to Helsinki I then read an article in the English-written Moscow times that the Russian car market will soon surpass the European car market and a few weeks in Moscow illustrates why. In the heart of Moscow, the concentration of luxury cars from Europe and Japan makers is particularly suprising.

After reaching Finland and traveling to the coastal town of Hanko, I discovered via my friend and saw for my self the port where many of these vehicles are unloaded and transported overland to St. Petersburg. Some people in Hanko are employed just to move cars around parking lots all day.

It's just one aspect of trade between Russia and Finland, but puts the supply chain of vehicles seen everyday in Moscow in more perspective.

Shawn Beilfuss Manhattan Associates-Tokyo -------------------------- Sent using BlackBerry