Its no secret that businesses are hurting. Sales have slowed and costs are up. If you manufacture a petroleum-based product and/or ship via anything that uses fuel (and that pretty much includes us all) costs are going through the roof. To survive you must cut operational costs.
Many companies make the mistake of first cutting training budgets. This is a huge mistake. If you want your operation to lag and falter, cutting training will do it faster than anything. This is especially true of travel-based training. Interacting with your peers is one of the best methods of discovering cost-saving methods used in business (and by your competitors). You must keep abreast of industry developments and learn whats effective for increasing production and containing costs. Hunkering down with a bunker mentality, youre going to fail.
As the leading parcel industry supplier of information, we at Parcel aim to make it our business to assist you in staying abreast or better yet, ahead - of your competitors. Well present information and training, online, in print and face-to-face that will assist you in succeeding.
The face-to-face: Weve got a great parcel forum event planned for this fall the 6th Annual Parcel Forum, October 6-8, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency OHare in Chicago. Its a real opportunity for parcel industry professionals who share common bonds to come together and get a first-hand look at cost containment, where the industry is going and, more importantly, how to get there first. This is the only event focused on covering the entire parcel shipment supply chain from Order Entry, Fulfillment, Warehousing, Material Handling, Picking, Packing, Manifesting, Scheduling, Third-Party Logistics, Transportation and Final Delivery. Log on to www.parcelforum.com for details.
We also need your assistance to assist you. Its our annual State of the Industry Survey time again. The results, presented in our September/October and November/December issues, is your view into the Parcel industry your where do we stand look at your operation. The key to keeping the results of this survey the best and most comprehensive in the parcel industry is your input. When we all contribute, we all benefit. So, again, I ask for your input to our (your) Annual State of the Industry Survey. Please contribute by visiting www.parcelindustry.com and completing the survey. Well crunch the numbers and let you know where you and your operation stand. The more input, the better the results.
Please plan to join us, and your peers, at the Forum this October and, as always, thanks for reading PARCEL.
