1. The Inevitability of Change – A Logistical History Lesson
First Published in MHD Magazine May 2009 as
The Courage of the Logistician
Is it any wonder that, with the global economy doing back flips that business
leaders look once again toward Logistics and Supply Chain to ensure survival?
Flexibility and cost effective performance has always been the realm of the
logistician. It has been this way down through the ages and will continue until the
end of time. To explain let me take you briefly on a journey back through some of
the origins of logistics.
Back before Mobile phones and Computers, back even before the days of the
industrial revolution. The time I want to take you back to is around 105BC, the
place the Silk Road. The “road” that linked the west to the east for more than 800
years. We speak today of globalization, and some may even think of it as a
radically new idea. Truly there is nothing new under the sun.
The Silk Road, the name given to a group of trade routes that linked East Asia with
In Brief: Europe. The name implies silk trade took place, but many more commodities than
just this were moved. From the raw materials; Gold, ivory, precious stones etc, to
Always take the finished goods; vases, pottery, clothing and jewelry, the trade was abundant.
opportunity to
review your Product is one thing, but we are here to talk process. The processes and issues
operations for facing our counterparts way back when are still present today, they may have had
productivity and slightly different outward appearance but in the end the same core issues were
holistic process present. Scrutiny of operations, Risk management, Specialization and finally
improvement. Flexibility and Courage to adapt, are some of the issues faced both then and now.
Be sure to Scrutiny of Operations
remember the From the outset cost effectiveness was a prerequisite for the silk trade route to
adage, “Penny wise, come into being. Roman commanders, wanted to ensure a fair price was paid for
pound foolish” when the silk, and so they reviewed the route, scrutinized the operations and conditions
seeking out cost and determined that the various carriers were operating with relative efficiency
savings. considering the environmental factors.
Ensure your Logistics is an area which will forever be scrutinized, as long as there is business
operations and your that requires the movement of goods and services, people will always want to know
presence of mind that it is efficient. Get use to it, besides what it mean is that we have the opportunity
are flexible enough to constantly be pushed to achieve our best, the continual pursuit of excellence,
to adapt to the and if that’s not enough other people will help with some of the investigation work.
changing
environment. Risk management
Not long after trade began several risks presented themselves to the logisticians.
Courage in the face Mitigation and minimization were the charter. Environmental risks were already
of adversity will not known and understood, the new risk was that of raiders.
guarantee success,
thought the lack of Again the logistics team carefully considered their alternatives and while some
courage will assistance was provided by the local governments of the day, who had much to
guarantee an loose if the trade route was closed(sounds familiar), the teams determined that
outcome. mobile defense forces would be required. Costs were increased, margins probably
cut a little and risks were managed.
info@operationscontrol.com
Prepared by Jonathan Grigg

2. Again there is nothing new under the sun. Risks will crop up and we will have to
manage them no matter what form they take. And I know what you are thinking;
yes there will be someone there to scrutinize the changes to operations and make
sure that they are still cost effective.
Specialization
The Silk Road covers some very extreme environmental conditions and while
carriers stood to make increased profits the further they were able to move the
products, so to their cost and risk profiles changed. Carriers not so familiar with the
mountain regions risked losses due to the need for specialized knowledge. As such
various carriers specialized in certain sections of the route. By specializing the
carriers were further able to drive efficiency into their part of the supply chain (by
this stage the Roman empire had collapsed so it was reviewed by other interested
parties but reviewed none the less)
Flexibility to adapt
th
In the later part of the 7 century the Silk Road traders had another challenge to
face; this time, technology. The development of sea trade, safer more reliable sea
going vessels, offered an alternative to the land route. Raiding became less of an
issue (until pirates got clued in, this resulting in the use of different risk
management techniques), cost structure changed significantly as there was no
need to feed the vehicles (wind is free, camels cost hey… ) and less intermediary
handling requirements, therefore less fees.
The flexible logistician survived and moved to the sea, leveraging their land based
operations in connection with the new more efficient sea operations; the inflexible
logistician died.
Courage
This move took courage not because the technology was untested, but because
the short term infrastructure costs were so high compared with the historical model.
A paradigm shift was needed and then capital was required to keep the ball rolling.
This sounds much like the current considerations our nation and industry leaders
are working through. What are the most pressing infrastructure challenges that our
economy needs us to address.
I don’t profess to have the answers though I do know this. Being willing to stand
and accept that there is a need for change is one form of courage. And this we
have already seen of our political and industry leaders. It is the next steps that will
determine the future of our industry.
While life offers few guarantees, there are some. The presence of courage doesn’t
guarantee success, the absence of courage does have it’s guarantees.
info@operationscontrol.com
Prepared by Jonathan Grigg