ilhistle-stop lecturers lot on productivity
Page 21
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
MICH PRODUCTIVITY FEVER!" That's what a team of merican physical distribution management consultants were gin; some of Britain's senior distribution managers last week.
The consultants, from the inerican-based A. T. Kearney )mpany, were holding a ,ree,stop lecture tour in this )urrtry, sponsored by the entre for Physical DistribuAl Management. In a 1,000-company survey the USA, Kearney were ;tattled" to find how unaare companies were about .strtbution productivity. earney's vice-president mes Morehouse said that a per cent increase in proct vity by applying basic nciples was a "very conserthe claim." Initial results m a similar survey in this untry show that equally big creases in productivity are ssible here.
Mt Morehouse pointed out at a manager must work at ntrolling productivity in tr bution since so much of e process is out of sight — e Jriver on the road and d ng and unloading at other emises.
Productivity, as defined by a ney, means much more ar. just the drivers' and rehousemen's work rate, d as a formula, productivity uals outputs divided by int$.
Is/leasuring the various facrs helps concentrate effort, onitor progress and high light problems, and setting goals is a must. These goals should be realistic figures and preferably not financial. For instance, don't tell the traffic manager he should cut the annual diesel bill by £1,000 — tell him that those particular vehicles should achieve 8mpg.
Every aspect of the warehousing, inventory planning, transport and administration in the distribution process should have similar targets set. Furthermore, says Kearney, progress towards these goals should be monitored in such a form as the easily understood graph and put where everyone in the company can see it.
Taking these sort of steps can increase distribution productivity by 10 per cent at least, claims Kearney — worth £2,500m to Britain as a whole. Mr Morehouse urged the managers not to use union problems as an excuse not to do anything. He reminded them: "Productivity does not mean working harder — it means working smarter," Kearney's ideas are contained in a book entitled Measuring productivity in physical distribution, available through the CPDM, .Management House. Parker Street, London WC2B 5PT.