Driven to Innovate
I just returned from a quick trip out to the NC mountains. On my way back, I passed a tractor-trailer with a transport company's logo on the side, along with the slogan "We Do It Right the First Time".
It struck me as an odd phrase. Doing things right the first time was a huge push in manufacturing in the '80s and '90s, when the Total Quality Management movement was in full swing.
There are pretty much only three ways to goof up a shipment: get the right stuff there late, get the right stuff there on time but broken, or get the wrong stuff there. My initial thought was that if there was an endemic goof up problem throughout the logistics industry, it would be news, but the right stuff almost always shows up at the right place at the right time. Why would you make this your slogan?
So I set off to do a little research on this apparent silliness.
What I got was (another) eye opener on innovation. The short answer to the question is "customer service". Here's the story:
The truck is owned by Benton Express, a regional carrier in Atlanta, GA serving the LTL (Less than Truck Load) delivery needs of businesses throughout the Southeast. Some quick facts:
- It is a family-owned company, founded in 1934 and run by the third generation.
- They have over 600 employees, about 300 trucks and twice as many trailers, and revenues of about $50 million.
- They started out delivering movie reels to theaters. The only option up to that point was for theater owners to go to the rail station for pickup and delivery. A rail strike cemented their hold on the market -- when the strike was over, the theaters wanted to continue doing business with Benton.
- Deregulation of the trucking industry in the '80s opened the door for then to move into general commerce.
- Clete Cordero, VP of Business Improvement, said this in an interview on eTrucker.com: “You rarely see a trucking company go out of business because of lack of freight. It’s usually too much freight, too cheap.”
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