Innovation Challenge – An Ideation Workshop

This one-day workshop is designed for organizations to drive innovative ideas through multifunctional collaboration. It focuses on the “Ideation” process through a fast-paced, hands-on, minds-on innovation challenge. The Ideation provides powerful and practical tools for thinking creatively and critically, solving complex, open-ended challenges and problems, and managing changes that will become a way of life.

At the end of the workshop, the participants will:

  • Gain insights of effective Ideation process and tools;
  • Create fresh new ideas and put them to work immediately;
  • Learn to work effectively in a multifunctional team;
  • Acquire creative thinking skills that can be used in your life.

Below video gives you an overview of the engaged and interactive Ideation workshop through Innovation Challenge.

Video: Innovation Challenge – An Ideation Workshop

Radiocast: Business Plan Competition, Entrepreneurship

Today, I had the first time experience to go live on the air as a radio talk guest! At our campus radio station Ram Nation Radio, we got to discuss the significance for students to participate New York State Business Plan Competition (NYSBPC) and entrepreneurship activities. It was a truly fun experience. Watch and listen to our radiocast at RAM National Radio!

A Semantic Sense & Respond Approach to IT-enabled Buyer-Supplier Relationship Management: An Action Research Study

Figure 4 of the paper: Generalised process for semantic sense-and-respond modelling

This is a paper from our action research course with Dr. Lars Mathiassen back in 2010! Mala Kaul, currently Assistant Professor at University of Nevada, Reno, and I conducted the class project together. We are glad it is accepted for publication at International Journal of Business Information Systems. We don’t see a lot of studies using action research as the research method because it is a challenging approach to meet the needs of both theoretical and managerial contribution. However, it is a great approach if we see ourselves as an engaged scholar to bridge the cap between the academic and practice. Regardless, it is great to see our class project turing into a journal paper!

Abstract

As a reflection of the strategic importance of buyer-supplier relationships in supply chains, information sharing and knowledge exchange have been found to positively impact coordination, transparency, and perception of trust between buyers and sellers. However, our knowledge about IT as an enabler in buyer-seller relationships is limited. Against this backdrop, we examine how a large retailer, BuildSmart, adapted and leveraged a portal to help listen to the voice of their suppliers. Through a collaborative action research project, we developed a semantic sense-and respond approach to design and implement mechanisms that allowed BuildSmart to continuously sense how suppliers experienced their portal and how to generally improve their supplier relationships. As a result, we present a conceptual model for managing IT-enabled buyer-supplier relationships and demonstrate how conceptual modeling can be combined with sense-and-respond thinking to support IT-enabled process management.

Keywords

Collaborative Action Research, Supplier Relationship Management, Sense and Respond, Supplier Portal, Conceptual Model, Buyer-Seller Relations, Semantic Approach

China, Becoming an Innovation Super Power?

Credit: http://www.aboutastra.org/latest_news/05-16-2011-china-innovation.asp

Recently, there have been a lot of discussion about China becoming the next innovation super power. A recent HBR blog “Get Ready for China’s Innovation Juggernaut” alerts the readers that China is making huge strides to transform themselves as an innovative nation.  It uses examples that more than 100 million registered private enterprises in China; the Chinese firm Huawei was third among all companies in number of patents filed last year; and media conversation these days centers on when, not whether, China will produce a success story like Steve Jobs’. For the first time in 2009, four Chinese companies are listed in the 50 Most Innovative Companies ranking by Bloomberg Businessweek, while American companies on the list decreased from 35 in 2007 to 22 in 2009. All signs are pointing to the fact that China is going to become next innovation power house.

On the other hand, there are doubts existing about Chinese innovation capability. An earlier NPR report Plagiarism Plague Hinders China’s Scientific Ambition pointed out that 31 percent of papers with unreasonable copying and plagiarism. Blame lies in part with traditional Chinese culture, as many scientists believe, which values rote memorization and repetition and holds that copying a teacher’s work is a way of learning.

No one can deny the fact that Chinese government is pushing innovation with strong incentive policies. From WIPO data source, China is the only major country with increased Intellectual Property (IP) application in last two years when other countries experienced IP application decreasing because of financial crisis. We can argue that IP application only means quantity, not quality. However, we also see China has a dramatic increase in IP granted. Below graph illustrates Top 10 countries of IP granted according to WIPO data from 1995 to 2009.

Top 10 Countries with IP Granted (Source: WIPO)

Japan has been the leader of IP granted, followed by the United States. Korea surpassed Germany becoming the number third since 2004. However, China passed Korea in 2009 while Korea experiences a significant drop in IP granted since 2007. According to the NPR report, China is forecast to become the world’s leading innovator in 2011, overtaking the United States and Japan in number of patent filings.

There is no doubt that China is very good in enhancing current technology. However, the question lies whether China can create “disruptive” technologies or services, which can lead the market and build the brands, such as Apple, Facebook and twitter. Government policy motivates the number of IP application or grants, but perhaps majority of those innovation are incremental improvement and development, instead of breakthrough creations which can drive much more value for the business and the society.

Thus, come back to my question: will China become next innovation super power? To my knowledge, Chinese are still learning how to be more creative and more innovative. If China wants to become the most innovative nation, the government policy should drive a scientific culture which emphasizes quality, instead of quantity, with an innovative environment embracing patience, persistence and precision.

Reduce Supply Chain Carbon Footprint

A green supply chain is like a mystery. The idea always conjures images of a higher cost and investment to the business. However, is that really the case? Will companies need to spend more to be green? How can green initiatives drive financial and social benefits? I hope my short article can answer these questions. In my last article, I discussed the approach to collect data in the supply chain to quantify carbon emissions. Once we can quantify and start measuring the carbon footprint of the company’s supply chain, we can find ways to reduce it and measure their improvement.

Before I start discussing the possible solutions, I would like also to express my opinion for the recent trend of using “green” as a reason to call for nationalization or deglobalization. The trend suggests that manufacturers should be moved back to the U.S. to shorten the supply chain distance thus reducing the carbon footprint. I agree that a short supply chain close to production or the end consumers can be beneficial in some cases, such as the JIT practice. However, according to IEA, International Energy Agency, international shipping accounts for approximately 2.7% of world CO2 emissions, which is small relative to the benefits brought by global trade.  Hence it’s not the reason to prevent globalization and international trade. I’m a strong believer of “competitive advantage”, which is the way to promote global welfare and technological development. “Green” initiatives should focus on innovation and waste reduction, in either technology or process. “Green” shouldn’t be used for a political reason and incur more costs for the whole society. According to the North American Supply Chain Carbon & Sustainability report, moving production closer to home is 12% of all environmental initiatives. Practically, companies will be interested in the green initiatives only when they are able to achieve a lower financial cost and a better customer satisfaction at the same time. That is true that companies can develop products more environmentally friendly and some consumers are willing to pay a premium for the green contents, such as for a Toyota Prius. However, the majority of consumers are not ready to pay more for green, especially for commodities. Hence, to enhance a company’s competitiveness, the approaches to reduce the carbon footprint of the supply chain should also aim to drive cost efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Just like the total cost analysis for supply chain, there are many trade-off decisions to be made in green supply chain optimization, and the goal is to maximize carbon emissions reduction. I’d like to suggest the environmental initiatives from supply chain functions’ point of view, represented in the below matrix.

green initiatives

As we can see, many of those initiatives are day-to-day initiatives and process improvement activities to drive operational efficiency, increase recycling, reduce waste, and enhance communication and visibility in the supply chain. Hence, the outcome of the green initiatives not only improve operational effectiveness of balancing costs and service, but also reduce the carbon footprint from movements, spaces and materials in the supply chain. A “green” KPI or measurement enables companies to associate the positive financial results to the carbon footprint reduction. Once the mystery of “green” is discovered, the cost of green initiatives won’t become an implementation barrier and companies can benefit from quick financial and social return from those initiatives. As a result, the “green” strategy is not just a social responsibility. It becomes the “sustainable” and “desirable” strategy for any company.

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U.S Pallet Industry美国托盘业现状

This article is written for Pallet Handbook, which is edited by Dr. Qingyi Wu and published in China. 此文为吴清一教授编辑出版的《托盘手册》所著

美国托盘应用的历史

自20世纪40年代以来,托盘就成为现代物资管理的一部分,人们在工厂、仓库或零售店里常常能见到各种材料和形状的托盘,为人所熟悉却不被重视,不起眼但又不可缺。人们将单件的产品堆放在托盘上,用叉车搬运或装卸整个托盘的产品。托盘就这样默默的负载着成千上万的物品在全世界各个角落周转。托盘单元化的使用在很大程度上方便了货运存储和转运,显著提高了物流效率,使托盘成为全球供应链管理中的必不可少重要部分。

在托盘货物单元化之前也有其他一体化运输方式,但托盘和叉车的配合使用却注定主导着现代物资管理方式的进程。今天,托盘被普遍应地应用在配送物流环境中,其发展是和始于19世纪末叉车的应用和发展相辅相成的。在20世纪初,托盘逐渐为人所知。木托盘的前身只是个可以固定在甲板上简单的木条板,当时木箱子,柳条箱,木桶和铁桶已被广泛地应用在规整零散货物,保护,存储和运输。而早期应用托盘是和超低叉车在美国工厂的现身是分不开的。叉车最初发明于1887,先有手动超低叉车,而后在1909年发展为全钢铁低叉车。在1915年,高位叉车首次现身。随着后来的不断改进,高位叉车可以将货品抬到好几尺高。而之后叉车继续发展可前后左右前后倾斜货物,因而带动了双向托盘在同时期问世。到1926年,现代化叉车终于成型,可以轻巧灵活的卸载放在任何高度的货品。此时,托盘就不仅仅只是用在工厂里搬运货物。使用托盘可以堆叠货物,因此大量地节约了仓库内的存储空间,戏剧化地大幅度提高了仓库和工厂装卸、仓储、运输的效率。

另外,托盘和叉车的使用同时方便了货物在火车、卡车和船运等其他运输模式中的周转。在1931年,装卸一辆装有13000箱罐头的卡车需要3天。但装卸有托盘单元化的同样货量却只要四个小时。

在1920-30期间,单元化科技萌芽浮现却生不逢时。由于正逢美国经济大萧条,高失业率、缺乏投资资本和其他一些因素,使托盘使用没有得到应有重视。但随着美国加入第二次世界大战,物资管理改革在一夜间成为最迫切的事。托盘单元化最有效的帮助美军的物流需要。托盘单元使用只需要少数人就能够实现大宗货物有效搬运,这样更多的劳力可用在军务上;托盘作业同时提高仓储使用效率和吞吐量,减少对仓储空间扩张的不必要需求。所以托盘被广泛使用在欧洲大陆和太平洋战场上。到二战结束时,托盘操作给物资管理带来的效率和收益已在全世界得到广泛认可。

当前美国托盘应用和流通的方式

随着战后美国物流业的发展,托盘更是广泛使用在各行各业供应链的所有环节中。从供应链上游原材料供应商的物资管理到供应链下游成品的配送,在生产、仓储和运输中,人们可以随时看到托盘的身影,托盘为降低生产成本和提高物流效率起着巨大的作用。据美国《托盘》杂志的最新报道,美国托盘需求量预计将于多于1%的增长率继续增长,到2012年需求量将达15亿个(总值168亿美金)。木质托盘将继续占美国托盘市场的主导,预计在2012年占总量的80%。但塑料托盘需求也开始以每年2.4%的增长速度速增,同年总量将达到1.13亿。

以下为《托盘》杂志所统计的美国不同种类托盘使用和需求量

(单位,百万)
%年增长率
种类 2002 2007 2012 2002-2007 2007-2012
总和 1360.0 1385.0 1460.0 0.4 1.1
木质 1108.0 1105.0 1160.0 -0.1 1.0
波状硬纸 139.2 152.5 157.3 1.8 0.6
塑料 103.4 117.0 113.5 2.5 2.4
金属 9.4 10.5 11.2 2.2 1.3

目前托盘流通的有两种主要方式:

1. 购买

购买托盘为流通中简单的单线模式。用户用较高的价格购买托盘使用。但在托盘破损后,用户需负责托盘销毁或请回收公司处理。以往用户可以将破损托盘在垃圾场销毁。随着各州加强环保措施时加强了垃圾场废物的管理,托盘垃圾场销毁变得越来越繁琐,给不少业主带来不必要的麻烦。

2. 租赁

租赁为后期发展起的托盘流通模式,也称为循环回收模式。用户可用较低的价格租赁托盘。托盘在送达最终用户下载货品后,托盘租赁公司负责将空托盘回收,在维修破损托盘后再次将托盘租赁。如托盘不能维修,租赁公司也负责将托盘磨碎进行科学合理废物处理。使用租赁运营方式采用较低租金付费方式不仅节约了用户在托盘使用上的物流费用,而且其回收循环利用的模式也成为持续再生能源的经典商务模式。

北美托盘标准化状况

在北美托盘市场中,同样也存在托盘不标准化的情况,尤其不同行业使用着多种规格的托盘。而国际贸易商品流通更让其它国家不同的规格托盘随着物品进出美国,给美国托盘标准化带来了一定困扰。但最普遍使用的是副食品生产联合会(Grocery Manufacturers’ Association – GMA)的托盘规格,目前占美国所有木托盘新产量的40% 。国际ISO标准也将GMA托盘规格划为其6个托盘标准尺寸之一。

以下为美国目前所有托盘规格及其使用行业

厘米尺寸(×) 英寸尺寸 (×)) 产量排序 使用行业
1219 × 1016 48 × 40 1 副食品, 大量其他行业
1067 ×1067 42 × 42 2 电信, 油漆
1219 × 1219 48 × 48 3 汽油桶制造
1016 × 1219 40 × 48 4 军方,水泥制造
1219 × 1067 48 × 42 5 化学,饮品
1016 × 1016 40 × 40 6 乳制品
1219 × 1143 48 × 45 7 汽车
1118 × 1118 44 × 44 8 汽油桶制造, 化学
914 × 914 36 × 36 9 饮品
1219 × 914 48 × 36 10 饮品,建筑瓦片, 纸品
889 × 1156 35 × 45.5 不详 军方
1219 × 508 48 × 20 不详 零售

美国木托盘回收产业

不但美国各州加强环保措施, 而且随着市场的发展,美国企业对环境保护和能源再生意识也不断加强。“绿色供应链”成为目前美国业界的一个热门话题。公司在寻求降低供应链成本的同时也努力降低温室效应和提高能源再生。不久前,美国沃尔玛公司就将“绿色供应链”作为其战略发展方针,要求其在中国和巴西的供应商通过提高工效来提高能源利用率。托盘,作为供应链中必不可少的一部分,其回收、维修、-再利用的租赁模式正好满足公司将低成本和实现环保的双重目标。由于进入市场的屏障较低,美国托盘回收产业在近十年内蓬勃发展。托盘回收成为托盘业中高利润部分,因而许多新托盘生产厂家也加入托盘回收业务。据统计,目前美国大大小小的木托盘回收公司有千余家。

以下为2000年美国木托盘行业统计,目前尚未有最新数据统计,但可以估计随着回收意识的加强和利润的吸引,必然有更多的托盘厂家加入回收业务。

全美木托盘生产厂家和回收公司总计 3031
新托盘厂家 44%
托盘和回收公司 47%
托盘回收公司 9%

木托盘占美国托盘市场的主导是有一定原因的:木托盘牢固耐用防滑,对冷冻食品产业自然是首选;木托盘生产和维修都较简单,所以耗能总量少;由于木材是自然资源,在回收时也很容易将木板打碎成为其他产品原料再次利用。托盘木原料多来自南美和美加东部,都来源于生长迅速的树木。伐木公司在一边砍伐的同时也一边种植,以确保森林资源的再生。所以木材在目前还是被公认为最为环保的托盘材料。于此同时,木托盘的循环使用模式更成为减少森林砍伐的最佳口号。

世界最大的托盘租赁公司—CHEP

企业简介及发展史

目前世界上最大的托盘租赁公司为CHEP(集保公司)。CHEP为澳大利亚公司Brambles所控股。由于美国托盘市场的重要性和战略意义,CHEP全球总部设在美国佛罗里达州奥兰多市。

CHEP的发展史和二战也是分不开的。在1941到1945年间。为了在二战间提供高效的国防供应,澳大利亚政府设立盟军物资管理协会(the Allied Materials Handling Standing Committee -AMHSC)。1945年二战结束后,美国人在他们的澳洲军事基地留下了大量物资管理器材,其中包括木托盘。有了这些先进资产管理为良好基础,再加上英联邦澳大利亚政府极大拥护商业管理机构来支持战后国家建设,我们所知的英联邦器材管理集资公司(the Commonwealth Handling Equipment Pool, or CHEP)就这样成立。1949年CHEP公司私有化,1958年Brambles买下CHEP,从此CHEP开始起飞速增长,继而发展成现今世界上最大的托盘租赁和共享系统公司,而CHEP的蓝色托盘也这样在负载着重要产品在全世界周转。目前其业务已达到46个国家,在2008一年间配送、回收、回收托盘次数达3亿,成为行业内的领导者。而其蓝色也成为托盘行业的“绿色环保”代表色。

经营范围与规模

至1990年CHEP踏入美国后,其美州业务就成为Brambles的最大收入来源,占其全球总收入44亿美金的36%。CHEP目前大概占有美国主要副产品零售业50%的市场份额,大约占全美托盘市场的40%。在美国各处常不经意就看到蓝色托盘在商店里、在仓库边、或在高速公路上,可见其极大的市场份额。目前CHEP在北美网络拥有百余家庞大的托盘维修回收和配送中心,目前其北美共享网络内的托盘库存多达1亿,足以满足大顾客任何时候的紧急需求。

CHEP1992年在市场上推出四方位叉车48 × 40木托盘,掀起当时托盘市场上一场变革,也是目前CHEP在北美生产及回收的主要产品。其主要客户为各大零售商、各著名日用产品、农产品生产厂商等等。沃尔玛、宝洁、联合利华、可口可乐等国际知名公司都用着蓝色托盘运输人们生活中的熟悉并不可缺少食品和日常用品。人们常常不知CHEP其名,但一旦提到“蓝色托盘”都会恍然说:哦,我在COSTO店里看到。

图为在仓储式连锁店COSTO店内使用CHEP托盘摆放产品。可以想像,连锁店就是这样一托盘一托盘地将产品快捷地从配送中心运送到各个分店,托盘大大地提高整个供应链运作的效率。

Product displayed on pallets in Costco store
Product displayed on pallets in Costco store

经营方式

在北美,CHEP归属于物流服务公司,其公司宗旨是为用户的供应链产生价值。就像个传统的租车公司将车在原地出租后,却在其他地方将车回收。租赁和回收托盘也是同样道理。其租赁和回收托盘的方式不仅为其他公司节约大量在供应链上的费用,更免去用户处理托盘的烦恼。

CHEP的托盘共享可用以下图表简单表示:

CHEP model in Chinese

CHEP将托盘发送到生产商,生产商使用托盘将物品发送到零售商,零售商可将整托盘产品存贮,当最终托盘上的产品全部售出并堆积了一定量的托盘后,零售商即可通知CHEP的客服中心提取空托盘。CHEP收回空托盘后在维修中心分类检验。有些托盘可能只需要清洁一番即可再次使用,有些托盘需要一定维修换了某些部件后才能使用。而对那些破损严重不能再修的托盘,维修中心将托盘内的钉子取出后将托盘绞碎,而那些木碎片再一次成为有用产品,成为其他产品的原材料或者作为花园里的铺路材料回归自然。CHEP的托盘就这样完成一个生命周期。

CHEP成功占有市场的一个原因就是和沃尔玛的成功合作。沃尔玛作为全世界最大的零售商对其供应商有极大的影响力。沃尔玛要求其供应商尽量使用CHEP托盘来统一其供应链中的托盘运输。可以想象如果沃尔玛美国56000个供应商使用不同尺寸规格不同质量的托盘给4100多家沃尔玛商店供货,必然会剧烈影响装卸、仓储、运输效率。供应商为降低费用使用低质托盘会在运输物品时给沃尔玛带来不必要的货品破损。而供应商在使用租赁托盘降低其货品成本的好处也使沃尔玛直接受益。在沃尔玛成为使用托盘共享的最大收益者时,CHEP也直接受益,渗入沃尔玛众多供应商的供应链。但也可以想像,如果一旦沃尔玛选择其他托盘将对CHEP将会是如何的打击。

领先秘诀:供应链增值

CHEP能成为业内领先的原因和其最先进入租赁回收模式分不开。但CHEP也善于在供应链中发现增值机会并最有效的利用这些机会来节约成本或增加收入。

CHEP庞大的维修中心网络遍及各地,选址宗旨是靠近其生产商或零售商客户来缩短不必要的交通费用。托盘在随着大量用户产品配送到各地的同时,也记录下许多宝贵的货品流通信息,更给CHEP一些有利的资讯可以和运输商和客户合作来最大的优化交通运输费用。以美国市场为例,美国生产基地多位北方而消费地在南方,运输商一辆车满载货物从北到南,而到南方后却少有产品送到北方,所以常常是空车返回。而CHEP正好大大利用这种回头车价位低的机会,将南方的空托盘便宜的送回到北方生产基地使用。CHEP享受到便宜的运输费,而运输商也不空车回头,将原本浪费的资源得到了最好的利用。

几年前,CHEP推出了一项服务叫着“全托盘管理 (Total Pallet Management –TPM)”。CHEP在生产商或供应商的配送中心设立服务点。在TPM直接分类检验所有空托盘。完好的空托盘可以直接发给本地或其它客户再次使用,而需要维修的托盘才送回服务中心维修。这样一来,CHEP免除了将好托盘送回服务中心检验的交通费。而更重要的益处是CHEP在服务时同时接收其他无主托盘(统称为白托盘)。以往客户只将蓝色托盘送回CHEP网点,而在TPM模式下,CHEP将白托盘也回收变卖,更进一步地扩大其收入渠道。不得不说是绝妙的一步好棋。

挑战和前景

12%的高额利润必然会吸引竞争对手使CHEP受到市场竞争的挑战。目前最凶猛的竞争对手为iGPS。iGPS为前CHEP元老所创立,所以其销售模式和方案和CHEP基本一样,只是托盘使用的是塑料托盘。CHEP目前在美国市场上出现一些质量问题,iGPS乘虚而入夺走几个CHEP的长久大客户。同时iGPS对他们的塑料托盘进行整个生命周期的环保分析,宣称其塑料托盘对能源再生的贡献高于木托盘。但由于目前iGPS托盘库存有限,没法像CHEP那样保证供货,所以在追赶CHEP的道路上还有一段距离。托盘租赁市场利润虽高,但初期建立库存的资产投资要求高,所以也阻碍许多竞争对手的市场进入。所以看来CHEP在全球托盘业,特别是在北美,必然还会长时间处在领跑地位。

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallet

Overview of the US Pallet Industry, Marshall S. White, PhD, Unit Load Design Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

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