Elisha Tropper

I have never believed that investing in innovation should ever be viewed through short term reporting lenses. If innovation is an important element to the company's success - and that innovation requires R&D or other investment to consistently achieve it - then the innovation line item should be treated by management as a fixed cost, similar to rent or equipment lease payments. Think about it this way: the companies most in need of innovation are not those minting huge profits, but those battling for market share and revenue. In other words, the companies (and their shareholders) that can least afford to stop investing in innovation for their long term health should not be sacrificing it at the alter of short term profitability.

The core element to any continuous improvement program or mentality is a never-ending vigilance for opportunities. At every level of automation - and at every step along the way - companies need to build in a process/results review, the more frequently(and collaboratively) the better. I've never experienced a properly managed process review that didn't come up with opportunities for improvement every single time. The challenge, in truth, is not just recognizing those opportunities, but putting the thinking, research, planning, and capital behind those opportunities to fully take advantage of them and improve results.

Selecting the right automation system is certainly important - but selecting what elements of the process to automate is perhaps even more important. The key is determining what parts of the process benefit from automation, rather than assuming everything does - and then researching and deciding which system or technologies provide the highest returns and most beneficial process improvements and savings.

To me, contingency planning is probability planning. Meaning, in all probability, something will go wrong. Maybe not on this particular shipment, but at some point, with this vendor, or this freight broker or carrier, etc. something will go wrong. Am I covered in that event? Do I have enough inventory to endure a lengthy delay - and how lengthy? Do I have alternatives - and how quickly can those alternatives be activated? How much room do I have in the margins or budgets to accommodate delays or cancellations? You never want to be asking these questions for the first time only after a problematic situation kicks you in the teeth!

I was once taught that there are two types of problems we can face: Those that we can do nothing about, and those that we can do something about. For those problems where we can do nothing, there is no sense worrying. For those problems where we can do something, then we need to do what we can instead of worrying. That's the lesson that comes to mind here. Everyone along the supply chain - from supplier to customer - can only do something if they have timely information. As a logistics coordinator, your job is to amass information and distribute it to those who, armed with that information, can take action. Not everything has a clean resolution - but even a muddied resolution is usually better than simply hoping it all works out.

Never leave an interview before asking if there is anything further the company would like from you or to know about you. It sounds simplistic, but many interviewers are simply not particularly skilled at conducting interviews, so offering them the opportunity to fill in any blanks that they might have could be very important to how they ultimately evaluate your candidacy.