INTHEBLACK July/August 2023 - Magazine - Page 37
“Supply chain is about making sure you get product to customers. Anything
that interrupts that is painful, so do things gradually, and always start with
the end in mind.”
DEREK NICOL, ACCOLADE WINES
Even if it is just ‘software as a service’ to
provide one small solution, it will make their
business stronger and more profitable and
reduce costs in other areas,” Hilder explains.
FOCUS ON STRATEGY
SRT Logistics is a transporter of food and
grocery items that turns over about A$100
million annually. The business has 360 staff,
170 semitrailers, three distribution centres in
Tasmania and one in Victoria, and satellite
operations in Sydney and Brisbane.
As a key business in Australia’s supply chain
– servicing Woolworths, IGA, Bega Dairy
and Drinks, and about 400 other customers
every week – its success is all about constant
improvement.
A recent focus for SRT Logistics has been
driver safety.
“We are sending drivers in prime movers
between Melbourne and Sydney, for example,”
Hilder says. “A lot of the driving is done
overnight, so just knowing where the vehicles
are, and deploying onboard telematics so we
can see speed, harsh braking and swerving etc.,
is important.”
SRT Logistics has also recently installed
Seeing Machines in its trucks. These artificial
intelligence systems monitor drivers’ eyes,
looking for signs of fatigue.
If signs of fatigue are present, the machine
shakes the steering wheel and the seat, and
sends a real-time alert to a control centre
that is staffed 24/7, so control centre
employees can get in touch with the driver.
“If businesses like ours can reduce the
number of fatigue-related incidents that
happen on the road, it makes our operations
and the community safer.
“Data analytics and technology are playing
a big part in making businesses more
sustainable by identifying what is not working
and the stuff that is. In doing so, it makes
businesses work smarter,” Hilder says.
For many clients of SRT Logistics, supply
chain technology helps them work more
efficiently by alerting them about when
stock will arrive and where that stock is
at any given time.
“Think about the back of a Woolworths
store and how busy it is when a truck arrives.
When the client knows when the inbound
logistics is going to land, it helps the store
manager to ready the store and make sure the
right people are there to receive the stock.
“For smaller businesses, similar tracking
technology means they can have confidence
that the right product is going to end up
at the right destination on the right day,
and they will have real-time proof of
delivery,” Hilder says.
One process, Hilder says, is to identify what
is not working in your business, then find out
what technology is available to fix that issue.
For example, with the pandemic and flood
disruptions to supply chains, there has been
an increased level of activity in renewing
regional stock holdings, Hilder says. Rather
than the ‘just in time’ minimal stock holdings
that worked five years ago, businesses are
increasing inventory levels.
Rather than doing this with spreadsheets
and guesswork, they are using data analytics
to understand the spread of products and
materials held within their distribution centres
or warehouses and to better predict demand.
“Real-world data enables businesses to
identify what they need and when,” Hilder
says. “It also reveals what is sitting idle and
tying up working capital, giving a much
better idea of which SKUs are trending and
profitable, and which are not.”
LEVERAGE EXISTING TECHNOLOGY
Much of the value of technology and data
comes from the fact that it is so openly available.
If a small or medium business does not have the
data it needs, somebody else will, typically.
Cora Group is an Australian-owned,
integrated freight and logistics management
company. It serves as a good example of
an organisation that uses data and tech to
boost the performance of its client businesses.
Cora Group finance manager Anthony
Mason ASA says the company specialises in
multi-carrier domestic freight consolidation
and consults across the entire supply chain
for each client.
READ
an INTHEBLACK
article on aspects of
business resilience
BORROW
Supply Chain Risk
Management:
Approaches and
Tools for Continuous
Improvement from
the CPA Library
READ
CPA Australia’s
tips for supply
chain resilience
intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 37
