Did you know June 28th is National Logistics Day?  On average, the cost of logistics is approximately 8% of everything we purchase. Consumers rarely think about this when looking for cheap delivery. In Distributorland, the logistics folks are often overlooked unless your customer has a complaint. People seldom call up to say what a great job they are doing. So yes, they deserve a day! These behind-the-scenes employees work hard to keep our customers happy, often working extended hours to meet expectations. Those in logistics have also encountered changes at every turn. Just like in sales, the landscape has evolved significantly over the past few years.   Has your department evolved?  Answer the following questions to see if your warehouse/logistics operations are keeping up the pace with changes in the world: 1.   How are items placed in your warehouse?  Are they by location? 2.   What process/tools do you use, like wave picking, to make orde...

Santa in 1881 by Thomas Nast Everyone knows Santa Claus. Red suit, long white beard, familiar laugh and long-time leader of all things North Pole. For some strange reason, most don’t have a clue as to the early days of his career. So let me break it to you, Santa got his start in sales. A long time ago, hundreds of Christmases before occupying the big chair in the corner office up at the North Pole, Santa worked on the selling side of North Pole Distributing. Like many hardworking sales types with hundreds of years under his belt, Santa leveraged all the lessons learned in his territory to move up in his organization. Playing a front and center role in a global distribution organization with customers around the globe, Mr. Claus puts those lessons to work almost every day. It’s difficult for a lowly industry consultant to get an audience with big time executives, but last week I leveraged over six Photo Credit: GM decades worth of being on the nice list to score a ra...

Photo:GM Everyone knows Santa Claus-- red suit, long white beard, familiar belly laugh and long-time leader of all things North Pole.   For some strange reason, most don’t have a clue as to the early days of his career.     So let me break it to you, Santa got his start in sales.   A long time ago, hundreds of Christmases before occupying the big chair in the corner office up at the North Pole, Santa worked on the selling side of North Pole Distributing. Like many hardworking sales types with hundreds of years under his belt, Santa leveraged all the lessons learned out in a territory to move up in his organization.  Playing a front and center role in a global distribution organization with customers around the globe, Mr. Claus puts those lessons to work almost every day.  It’s difficult for a lowly industry consultant to get an audience with big time executives, but last week I leveraged over six decades worth of being on the “nice list” to gra...