World Trade - August 2008 - (Page 36)

SUPPLY CHAIN horizon are undoubtedly incentive model precisely weighing heavily on the on that principle. “We use air cargo sector. But surincident reporting and cusprisingly, some companies tomer satisfaction surveys, are thriving, especially the conducted by neutral thirdsmall- and medium-sized party professionals, to tie-in forwarders. employee compensation “The forwarder who directly to overall customer ﬁnds a niche and markets satisfaction. In addition to it extensively will always customer satisfaction, our be successful because his supervisory staff is also response times are often compensated on the meabetter than the integrators,” surement of employee satsays Fried. “The integraisfaction.” tors will always have their As an example of how place, there’s no doubt the company was able to about it. But what about customize a solution for a the shipper who can’t fit customer, Bellin explains, into the integrator’s model? “One of our customers I believe the smaller forbuilds surgical instruwarder is always going ments and they require us to win when it comes to to deliver the instruments “When we ﬁrst meet with a responsiveness, no matter directly to a waiting team of what, because he treasures surgeons. The instrument potential customer, we go in his client. For example, is then retrieved the next with a notepad and pencil, when I was a forwarder, day and staged in one of I delivered on Christmas our warehouses for the next not a presentation.” Day. If a customer wanted demonstration surgery. We certain packing and palletirealized that a simple track— Jay Bellin, managing director, zation, I would customize ing system was not going Mainfreight San Francisco. my service for them. When to give them a competitive it comes to integrators, advantage. Instead, we cusit’s transportation for the masses. But, there are a lot of tomized our Web-based interface and gave them a virtual companies that think outside the box and they need a for- command center management tool, with complete visibility warder to do that as well.” to hundreds of instruments staged in warehouses across the Jay Bellin, managing director of Mainfreight San globe.” Furthermore, in an effort to satisfy their distributors, Francisco (www.mainfreightsfo.com), formally Target Mainfreight San Francisco also added an incident manageLogistics, couldn’t agree more. Not only does customi- ment system, which allows their customer’s sales represenzation play a key role in the company’s success, equally tative to document any positive or negative issue associated important is the focus on customer service, which for with the delivery or transportation of their instrument. The many companies exists more in theory than in practice. tickets are reviewed to identify trends and feed into their “When we ﬁrst meet with a potential customer, we go continuous improvement model. in with a notepad and pencil,” says Bellin, “not a presen“Another customer requires delivery of their vending tation.” One of the forwarder’s core values is exceeding machines to supermarkets and other retail locations. Our customer expectations. According to Bellin, the formula drivers deliver the machines with tools in hand. They is comprised of meeting timing requirements, provid- mount, install and/or assemble on-site, while every step ing ease of use and error-free service, and lastly, creat- is documented in our Web-based interface.” Once again, ing high value for the price that’s paid. A willingness to they customized the online tracking system and included customize a service, remain highly ﬂexible and execute a retail store management tab where their customer serrapidly goes with the territory. vice personnel and their customer’s planners collaborate “We’re extremely sensitive to our customers’ market online, setting up installs and removals, days, weeks and conditions and we tailor our services to create a supply months ahead of the actual movement. chain that provides them with a competitive advantage,” Although the current market conditions are making he emphasizes. At the same time, Bellin points out that it tougher for the air cargo industry in general, those employee satisfaction is tied into customer satisfaction. such as Mainfreight San Francisco who understand “We built a great Order & Inventory Management the value of providing a personal touch, customized system, but it’s our highly motivated employees that are solutions, and rapid response will continue to excel no driven to direct the tools to exceed our customers’ expec- matter the challenges. WT tations.” Bellin says that the company recognizes the direct For reprints of this article, please contact Cindy Williams link between employee satisfaction and customer satisfacat williamsc@bnpmedia.com or 610-436-4220 ext. 8516. tion and they have built their compensation and ﬁnancial 36 WORLD TRADE AUGUST 2008 http://www.mainfreightsfo.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Trade - August 2008

World Trade - August 2008 Contents Weathering the Storm Helping the World’s Poorest Nations Benefit from Global Trade Supply Chain Watch Tradewinds World Trade’s Top U.S. Trading Partners LTL Shipping ‘On the Fly’ Air Cargo Flies a New Heading Getting More from China Sourcing Why 3PLs Need a Seat at the C-TPAT Table Performance-based Supply Chains Drive Total Lifecycle Value SmartWay Navigates Sustainable Transportation Around the World in 80 Days—Hours—Minutes

World Trade - August 2008

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