For those who work in any of the links of the supply chain, the concepts of time, costs and efficiency are the north of all the work that is done.

It seems trivial, but not being clear that we always work closely touching these three concepts can mean that we are not considered suitable in our area of work.

Beyond the fact that in any work we do we must always seek to work optimally, in the processes of a Supply Chain it becomes more relevant because usually everything that is necessary for proper functioning involves considerable costs.   Any opportunity that allows us to reduce costs and times and that makes us more efficient must be studied and taken advantage of and that is where experience, knowledge of technological advances and work methodologies help us.

The proposals for new work methodologies give us the opportunity to see our processes with a different approach, that is, the study of a new approach to how to do things can make us realize opportunities that we have in our processes and that can make us change the ways of doing things.  without the need to apply new technologies, that is, only by making changes in the way people do things.

The methods order us, they allow us to define the processes and document them in such a way that it is clear what to do in each situation, so when the processes of a company are certified, the rest of us have the feeling that their products are of quality, not so much because they are the best products on the market in their field,  but because their products are what they say they are and the customer receives the quality that is sold.

New technologies obviously favor processes, but care must be taken in the choice.  Sometimes, you choose a technology that is not enough to meet the expectations of improving your business, sometimes because it is chosen for low costs and other times because you choose very expensive technologies that do not really end up favoring your ways of working. Having the latest technology does not necessarily make you more efficient, it can even make you have to divert very high resources to maintain it without a palpable benefit.

The choice is an issue that must be studied first from the evaluation of the processes, the costs (both of the acquisition of the technology and of maintenance) and then from the point of view of the return on investment.  In some cases, with simple technologies, the process can be optimal, avoiding very expensive investments.

Experience can help detect opportunities for improvement that bring a reduction in costs and time in our processes.  This experience in the right person can make small changes save on small things, for example, in a company that can dispatch about 800 trucks per day, the reduction of time of a few minutes in a process that involves the loading of trucks, can save a few poops dollars per truck, which projected to a year can imply a significant amount of money that can be used in something else.

In short, at all times we are looking at our processes thinking about time, cost and efficiency and we are constantly being measured for that. Being aware of new work methodologies and new technologies is part of our work and will be what will allow us to have the knowledge to propose solutions that point to best practices within the Supply Chain.