By: Frank McGuigan, Chief Executive Officer, Transplace

As many of you may already know, we recently announced that Tom Sanderson has transitioned to the role of executive chairman and will serve on Transplace’s board of directors, and that I have moved into the role of CEO. I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to continue as a leader of our company and build upon the rich heritage that has made Transplace a dominating player in transportation management and 3PL services.

Having had the opportunity to lead Transplace’s North American sales and operations for the last several years, along with the opportunity to work alongside Tom, this is a natural transition for us as a company. I want you to be confident that throughout this change, no matter what, our mission and core values will continue to be the standard in which we will all strive.

Over the past eight years, Transplace has experienced record growth and made significant investments in its people and technology. We’ve also expanded our geographic presence in the U.S., Mexico and Canada – allowing us to better provide exceptional logistics and trade compliance services to our growing customer base throughout North America. These investments and our ongoing commitment to supply chain excellence will enable us to deliver even greater value to our customers.

This legacy of success has as much to do with the dedicated people handling day-to-day operations, in all functions across North America, as it does the executive team. We are where we are as a company, because of our outstanding people and their commitment to providing outstanding service to our customers every single day. Our customers can rest easy knowing that the people who truly make Transplace what it is are all still in place and will continue to deliver the exceptional service that they have come to expect.

Ongoing, we will work together as one Transplace and as a cohesive, purposeful team, with an extreme focus on our customers, our people and our shareholders. We will challenge ourselves to improve in all facets of our business through metrics, measurements and our continuous improvement tools, so that we can add value each and every day to both our business and that of our customers. We will strive to anticipate and act upon problems before they happen, leveraging the collective information and expertise across the entire enterprise for a truly differentiated customer experience.

I am excited and honored to further support our mission to thrill our customers, and the entire Transplace team will continue to work toward delivering innovative logistics solutions and outstanding service today and into the future.

The post Letter from the CEO: Executive Team Changes, Future Success and Putting the Customer First appeared first on Uber Freight.

However, data management does not come without challenges.  In the realm of supply chain data management, there are a few common issues that seem to transcend industries, business models, or network scopes. These include:

1. Lack of necessary resources allocated to technology and people
2. Lack of appropriate and adequate systems
3. Lack of coordination between varied network technology systems

Lack of Necessary Technology and People

Many organizations lack the technology and people that good data management requires. Organizations that internalize the technology they use tend to be environments that are restrictive on an organization’s ability to adapt to evolving data management capabilities, or to ensure the sustainability of their systems as their organization grows.

Organizations can often come to rely on a scenario in which a handful of people within the organization have the continued functionality of their organization’s systems resting on their shoulders. Their responsibilities could range from data input, coding, and problem-solving to an almost exclusive understanding of the legacy system and how it operates. This can become a real obstacle for any growth or optimization efforts, and it is also a huge risk for the organization.

Lack of Appropriate and Adequate Systems

Software and systems deficiencies that hinder an organization’s ability to correctly understand its supply chain activity usually fall into one of two categories.

1. Legacy systems, usually on premises, that are designed around a specific network/operating model that has since changed
2. Manual processes for functions that have yet to be automated (freight tendering, FA&P)

Lack of Coordination Between Network Technology Systems

Whether it is due to acquisition or the inconsistent deployment of technologies across an enterprise, it is not uncommon for an organization to have disparate systems managing similar functions in different parts of the organization. Unfortunately, this disparity is a significant obstacle to leveraging scale and planning supply chain activity, while considering the broader organization. Lack of resources and technology know-how exacerbate this problem.

As supply chains become more complex and the role of data becomes more important than ever, proper data management is no longer a “nice-to-have” — it’s a requirement. Building data management skills begins with an honest assessment of where your organization’s strengths and weaknesses lie, and where the gaps exist that prevent you from thinking about your supply chain strategically.

Where does your organization need to focus its attention to take your data management to the next level?

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