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in this issue
· Opening Keynote
· Day One Sessions
· Dinner Speaker
· Day Two Sessions
· Discovery Room and CLI/Partner
Presentations
· Thank You Sponsors
· Hold the Date
· Calendar of Events
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Greetings!
Welcome to
the special Annual Leadership Summit edition of the CLI newsletter. During September 27 - 29, 2006, a unique mix of
transportation executives and industry leaders gathered to explore how they
can use innovation to propel their businesses forward. A packed meeting room
at the exclusive Tarrytown House Estate and Conference Center in Tarrytown, NY served as the home
base for the event, which included keynotes, workshops, discovery room
sessions and roundtables.
The program
this year was dedicated to the memory of Joe Paterno,
an employee of over twenty years for CLI who passed away this past spring.
Joe sought to bring innovation to the transportation industry in his lengthy
career with CLI, so it was particularly apt that this year's theme was
"Innovation Drives Change." We believe that Joe would have enjoyed
the program and found the theme to be of great value.
The program
was filled with insights and observations regarding the topic of innovation
and one message came through loud and clear -- the companies that truly
embrace innovation will have a distinct advantage over their competitors. The
speakers, from a wide variety of backgrounds, shared their experiences and
knowledge regarding the topic and how it can be applied to the transportation
industry. Both content and presentation skills received the highest scores
ever from attendees. We would like to thank all of the speakers for their
time and dedication to delivering excellent and thought-provoking
information.
This
by-invitation-only event was oversubscribed and not all of those who wished
to attend could be accommodated. If you do receive an invitation for the 2007
Summit, I urge you to RSVP as soon as
possible. Produced by CLI, the program is free for attendees.
In this
issue, we will give you a taste of the presentations. Should you wish to
receive the presentations or handouts for any of the sessions, please e-mail
Craig Lis at clis@carrierlogistics.com
to inquire about availability.
For those
of you who attended this program, thank you very much. As for the rest of
you, I hope to see you next year.
---Ken
Weinberg
Opening
Keynote 
The CLI
Annual Leadership Summit started off with a bang, with keynote speaker
Stephen Shapiro discussing "The 7Rs of Process Innovation." Stephen
challenged the audience to truly embrace innovation and gave them a guide for
working through the process. Through mind-opening exercises and insightful
real world examples, Stephen was both educational and extremely entertaining.
The perfect
kick-off to the program, Stephen's keynote got participants thinking, not
just about the "theory" of innovation, but how they can implement
and use innovation in their organizations. Some of the strategies that
Stephen suggested were:
- Make everyone accountable
- Replace rigid processes
with clear business objectives
- Challenge employees to
compete
- Link strategy, customers
and capabilities
- Make the innovation process
fun
Stephen has
inspired thousands of people in 27 countries with his speeches on creativity
and innovation. During a 15-year tenure with the
international consulting firm Accenture, he
established and led their Global Process Excellence Practice and developed
innovation training that was delivered to 20,000 consultants. In 2001,
Stephen changed direction and left the management consulting world to write
his first book, 24/7 Innovation (McGraw-Hill), which has been featured
in Investor's Business Daily and the New York Times. Attendees
received an autographed copy of the book.
Click Here for Stephen's Website
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Day One Sessions
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 The Latest in Telephony
Communications is a major expense for transportation companies. From
landlines to wireless to the Internet, the rapidly changing choices and
changes in the world of telecommunications can be confusing. Lou Person,
the next speaker, helped the audience sort out their options.
Lou gave
an overview of the new technologies, including voice over Internet protocol
(VoIP) while at the same time reviewing the
history of telecommunications. Lou, the president of Traxi
Technologies, LLC, has over 20 years of consulting experience in
implementing and overseeing information technology projects in networking
and data communications, e-business and application development. As an
added bonus, Lou set up a VoIP phone line in the
Discovery Room for participants to try out this new technology firsthand.
For
more on the Telephony session please see the October16 edition of Transport
Topics.
Innovation
Through Shared Services
Referencing his work with Ryder, the logistics and transportation company,
speaker Jeff Keller offered insight into the power of innovation. Principal
of Keller Services, Jeff related how companies can create shared services
that address problems while creating new business opportunities, as he
experienced at Ryder.
Jeff
defined shared services as the convergence and streamlining of an
organization's functions to ensure they deliver the organization the
services required of them as effectively and efficiently as possible. Jeff
gave concrete examples of how LTL companies can benefit from the economies
of scale by using shared services. A frank and honest review of the current
challenges facing LTL companies gave weight to the thought that they need
to innovate or perish.
Jeff
drove home the importance of truly listening to the customer to give focus
to your innovative thinking. Citing numerous examples and offering several
ideas on how to benefit from shared services, Jeff opened attendees' eyes
to exciting possibilities.
Innovation
Workshop
Keynote Stephen Shapiro returned after lunch to run a workshop he called SpeedInnovating (a take-off of Speed Dating). Teams of
attendees brainstormed on the problem of driver shortages. Along the way,
Stephen shared his "Tips for Phrasing," explaining that how you
phrase or word the problem will help you more clearly define the issue and
make it easier to find an innovative solution. He reviewed some creativity
basics as well as supplied a series of questions to stimulate new ideas.
The
workshop was a lively and interactive session and a terrific way for
participants who hadn't previously met to get to know each other. Plus the
workshop gave attendees a hands-on approach to using innovation and
creativity to tackle key issues.
Featured
Speaker: Jack Pickard, CEO, FedEx Custom Critical
"Innovation: The Corporate Fountain of Youth" was the title of
featured speaker, Jack Pickard's presentation. The president and CEO of
FedEx Custom Critical shared examples of how innovation keeps companies
young, fresh and profitable. Drawing on his experience at FedEx, Jack
shared the keys to successfully creating an innovative corporate culture,
including the importance of strategic thinking and planning.
Citing
research found in Michel Robert's book, Strategy Pure & Simple II,
Jack pointed out that "80 percent of CEOs cited their companies are
strategically uncertain and operationally competent." Jack shared his
own experiences and challenges defining FedEx Custom Critical's
mission and strategy. Speaking candidly, Jack noted that, while the process
may not always be easy, it is imperative for organizations to embrace
innovation.
Jack's
session was a conference highlight as attendees had the chance to learn
from "one of their own" the importance of creating an innovative
culture within their organizations. You could say that Jack believes it is
not just important but critical.
RFID
Update
Drew McCarthy, principal product manager, Progress Software, shared his
insight and expertise on RFID (radio frequency identification). Starting
off by explaining why RFID is important, Drew moved next to explaining the
basic technology of this tool and its advantages over traditional bar
codes.
Drew took
the group through the many vertical industries that will reap the benefits
of RFIP including healthcare, food and beverage and government. He closed
the session with a case study that gave participants a terrific example of
how RFID is being used right now as an inventory control tool. And
certainly gave them an idea of its potential in the future.
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Dinner Speaker
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 After a jam-packed day, attendees relaxed
at a cocktail reception in the stately Library Room in the Biddle Mansion. A private
gourmet dinner in the Garden Room followed with a special presentation by
Jeff Fidacaro, vice president of Airfreight,
Surface, and Marine Transportation Research for Merrill Lynch.
Jeff gave
attendees an excellent "view from Wall Street," and he discussed
trends that he is seeing in the industry. Jeff also shared Merrill Lynch's industry forecast and offered some predictions
on future areas of growth. He capped his presentation with a lengthy
Q&A in which he exhibited his vast knowledge of the industry.
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Day Two Sessions
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 Pictured at left, the roundtable sessions
were an interactive way for attendees to swap ideas on a variety of topics.
Building
a Sustainable Innovation Capability
Friday
morning began with an eye-opening session led by Brian Christian, former
vice president of Global Product Development at Whirlpool and now the
founder of DASO Consulting. Brian's content meshed perfectly with the
sessions from the previous day, as he pointed out the importance of
innovation as well as proposed an action plan to create a truly innovative
organization. His four steps to innovation success are:
- Build the case
- Broaden the participation
- Sharpen the focus
- Transform the
organization
Brian
invited a special guest to speak during his presentation. Tom Wright, the
director of Fixtures Supply Chain for the Kohler Company, who has over two
decades of Supply Chain Management experience, provided the "voice of
the customer." Tom didn't mince his words and warned the group that he
had "a very tough message."
"Every
morning," Tom said, "I wake up and ask myself how we can reduce
our dependency on LTL. I feel that the carriers are not engaged in my
business. All they talk about is what lanes they need filled. I'm looking
for a solution provider and all I'm getting is a rate negotiator."
Tom urged
the attendees to walk in their customers' shoes and to "become the
shipper" so that true partnerships can be formed where shippers and
LTL carriers work together to solve problems and create innovative
solutions. Tom's tough words were quite thought-provoking for the group and
a lively Q&A ensued.
Innovation
in Healthcare
Tom Kempa, vice president, Healthcare Strategies
for CIGNA Healthcare, gave an excellent presentation on how innovative
approaches can help lower ever-increasing healthcare costs. Tom shared a
case study of a transportation company that approached CIGNA. Their
healthcare costs were skyrocketing and they needed a way to control costs.
Through some innovative thinking and revolutionary actions they were able
to save $8 million in one year.
In
addition to this example, Tom shared the five "Learning Points"
that were a result of this partnership and how they can be applied to
participants' own organization to create savings. He also showed how
innovation can be applied in areas that one normally may not consider.
Results
from the LTL Industry-Wide Customer Value Benchmarking Report
Bart Thedinger, president of MASTIOGALE discussed
the latest results of the company's groundbreaking LTL survey work. In a
follow up session to last year's Summit program focused on sales and
marketing, Bart provided an update to the 1st Annual Survey. MASTIOGALE
conducts telephone interviews with LTL customers and speaks with the
individual who makes the decision on which LTL carrier(s) to use. These decision
makers then rate their carrier(s) on approximately 20 attributes important
to customer satisfaction, loyalty and the value they perceive their LTL
carriers provide. In this way, MASTIOGALE determines which carriers are
providing the best value in the eyes of the customer.
Attendees
learned how their organizations matched up. Bart had priceless information
for participants. This study is vital because by taking an industry-wide
approach the benchmarks are current and carriers will know if their performance
is better, average or worse than any other LTL carrier.
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Discovery Room
and CLI/Partner Presentations
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The Discovery Room, where attendees can see and experience the
latest innovative technology and products, was once again a popular spot.
Participants had the chance to see the latest CLI developments that were
discussed by Ben Wiesen, senior consultant, CLI, earlier in the afternoon,
including Map Density, the latest version of the Web Module, enhancements
to the Dock Management System and the new mouse-driven version of FACTS®
financials.
Attendees
also had the opportunity to meet with CLI "best in breed"
partners including Royal 4 Systems (warehousing solutions), Transportation
Costing Group (activity-based costing), EasyAsk
(search and information retrieval), SwitchQuick
(switching innovation), TMT Software (fleet maintenance), and SMC3
(rating). CLI would like to thank these partners for participating. Links
to their websites can be accessed at the end of this newsletter.
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Thank You
Sponsors
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 We'd like to thank several partners who
helped sponsor this year's event.
TCG (Transportation Costing Group) once
again sponsored the hors d'oeuvres at the opening reception Wednesday
evening. SMC3 sponsored the wine at the
opening dinner and Progress Software
Corporation partially sponsored the keynote speaker, Stephen Shapiro.
Thank you
all for your support of this event.
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Hold the Date
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Please save the dates of September
26 - 28, 2007 for next year's event. If you have any thoughts as to
next year's theme or potential speakers, please e-mail me at kweinberg@carrierlogistics.com.
The program
will once again be held at the Tarrytown House Estate in Tarrytown, NY.
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Calendar of
Events
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Quick Links
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