Mike Graves, vice president product management with Pierbridge, a WiseTech Global company, describes the stages of a model that enables shippers to adjust to unexpected ups and downs of demand. 

In the face of strong markets and operational headwinds, shippers and warehouses are forced to adapt. They need to “focus on embracing the change,” Graves says. “You can’t continue to swim upstream.”

To begin, operations should seek to “institutionalize tribal knowledge” — bringing together all of the expertise that resides in traffic managers and other senior individuals. “Get it documented on paper and into your system,” Graves says.

With that knowledge in hand, companies should proceed to implement scalable and adaptable processes that optimize the use of space and other resources, “giving you the flexibility to delight customers.”

A good guide to achieving the goal of the perfect order is a fulfillment and final-mile maturity model, consisting of five stages. Stage 1 is “react and act.” This is where companies are simply “doing enough to get things done.” They may be working with multiple siloed information systems.

Stage 2 is “anticipate and standardize.” Here, companies begin looking at internal improvements they can begin to make, including the elimination of manual processes and initial steps toward integrating systems.

Stage 3 is “connect and automate.” At this point, companies are fully integrating disparate systems and scrapping manual processes.

Stage 4 is “collaborate and expand.” Here, companies begin reaching out to external partners, including suppliers and highly valued customers, acquiring a view of product and orders outside their four walls. 

Stage 5 is “orchestrate and optimize,” whereby shippers enter into strategic relationships with partners that go beyond price and make themselves attractive to carriers.

To determine where they are in the model, shippers should start “with an open and honest evaluation of your current operations against industry best practices,” Graves says. “That allows you to start looking at where you want to get to.”