Many logistics operations are under significant pressure to reduce costs while increasing customer service and managing higher levels of distribution complexity. The TZA report, entitled The Seven Keys to Improving Distribution Productivity, was commissioned to help companies face these logistical challenges head on and improve their performance.
The report identifies the seven main principles that should guide companies seeking to improve distribution productivity and achieve greater efficiency.
"While many companies have significantly reduced operating costs and increased performance through productivity improvement programmes, the majority of the market is still unaware of the potential that exists in their companies to realise substantial performance gains through productivity initiatives," said Evan Danner, president of TZA. "Companies can achieve double-digit productivity gains, at low risk, by applying a proven set of tools and techniques."
TZA says that improved productivity can be achieved through the intelligent application of engineering, labour reporting software, and execution management. The report is available on the TZA website and at the company's booth at next the NAMH 2004 trade show 29 to 31 March 2004 in Cleveland.
TZA is a distributor of productivity solutions, including engineering to develop the best distribution procedures, powerful labour planning and reporting software for both distribution operations and delivery drivers and execution management. The company is one of a growing number of firms applying technology to the food production sector.
This has been partly due to increasing concern about traceability in food processing. Supermarkets, feeling the heat from public concerns over safety, are demanding to know exactly what happens to a product at every stage of production, and legislation will soon be in place that obliges producers to provide detailed accounts of the supply chain.
"If you are a US multinational you know that the European consumer is more vocal and aggressive in demanding full disclosure," said Patrick Miner, sales and marketing vice president for software company Linnet. "The European market is not something that you can be excluded from, so you will strive to meet these stringent safety concerns."
Software-supported vertical information management is emerging as both a solution and a marketing opportunity for the food industry. Vertical information management technologies that connect the farm to the end-users and are capable of managing the products and relationships between agents along the supply chain are becoming increasingly popular.
As the TZA report shows, installing such systems can lead to greater efficiency. This is something that Matthew Holland, MES product manager for Siemens UK is very much aware of. "All these drivers - legislation, consumer concerns, supermarket pressure - mean that if you can put a system in place that will enable you to react better to demands, make your manufacturing process more agile and make you better suited to retailers and consumers, then you will," he told FoodProductionDaily.com last week.