Purchasing

Mary Walker

The Last to Know
July 31, 2007

I was recently reading a one-on-one interview by Bruce Mantz, executive vice president of Automated Distribution Systems in Modern Materials Handling’s July 2007 issue and found Bruce’s background very interesting.

Bruce has been involved in more than 10 start ups of distribution centers over the years. His comments could relate to any kind of start-up. Any major change within a company could be considered a start-up. If you have been in the work force as long as I have, things, policies, procedures and etc. have changed. As we all know, we must accept change or move out. We are normally not asked what we think in the buyer position, the decisions are made an passed down. It usually is, “This is what has been decided.” You really don’t know who made the decisions or if really top management is aware of the changes.

Bruce’s closing statement, “In the end, a good start-up requires good metrics, excellent communication and the commitment of every one involved in the process.” With the use of email, communication should not be a problem, however every day you read of email overload. As an example in ISM-Dallas, we put out what we call an email blast to our members. It is brief but highlights upcoming events. Members receive this; some delete it and wonder why they don’t know what goes on. This is not just in professional organizations, it happens in business every day. We all know that on an email that copies everyone in the company, you will get a reply. Sending it on your own may never get an answer. Or we so title conscious or just so busy, we limit our responses.

A start-up of any kind requires commitment of everyone involved. I am a believer in trying to get people commitment. People need to be involved prior to the final decision. Kind of like supplier involvement in a new product line can save a company a lot of time. Involving people that do the work and are expected to change can also save time in a start-up process.

Do we all not want to feel we are part of the process? A few simple questions such as, “What do you think?” wins a person over as being part of the team. It does not hurt to ask some questions, it does not mean you can comply, it means you are interested in what a person has to say. It indicates to an employee that their input is worth consideration.

As Bruce said you have to stay aware of the conditions. The management team needs to meet often, depending on the business and any needed adjustments. To execute those adjustments requires communication, lots of it and to the entire team from management to operators. There was a recent article in a magazine where a company passed a major computer change down to middle management to past on down to lower management and their employees. It seems that some of the managers failed to read the email, changes were made and employees were unable to access some computer programs that they used every day.  The work stopped. As the article stated, you have to keep the group together and informed. No one should be working to a different drumbeat per Bruce.

Posted by Mary Walker on July 31, 2007 | Comments (0)