Your Clients Will Like You Green

“Top companies are creating score cards for going green and stewarding the environment,” says Ed Rucels, a specialist in packaging at a conference on fuel and transportation with Jacoline Loewen and DTA.

“Today, green awareness means winning and keeping clients is no longer just
about saving money. If you can demonstrate how you are can help be part of
reducing the carbon footprint, you will have a loyal and grateful client.”

Packaging seems to be an obvious place to start but in large companies, it is a major part of the supply chain. The package does not belong to one department and can be a complex process to change. Wal-Mart reduced packaging and achieved a $3.4B savings in the first year that they introduced the program.
Case Level Optimization
Currently, many companies are shipping a great deal of air. A few quick checks to see how to reduce carbon imprint are:

• Know Your Fill Rate: When asked in surveys, managers will say they are shopping with a 80% fill rate, often it is more around 60%. That is a great deal of money to ship 40% with a zero value.
• Check your Packaging: To mitigate damage, the thick corrugated box is used to save the product. You do not need a big, fat box to protect the product. Instead, you can rework your SKUs and there are experts who can help with this process.
• Reduce Pallets in Play: There are more pallets out in the system than required which allows for easy decisions rather than a smarter approach to reducing costs. If you bring down the pallets, you can force savings.
• Spacing on Each Pallet: There are underutilized spaces on the pallets. This is valuable real estate, with every centimetre worth money. By watching for underutilized pallet real estate, employees can look for ways to stop shipping empty air.

With these programs, you will develop a good strategy for shipping. You will ratchet up the density of shipping, reduce your damage and find savings for yourself and clients. As a result of focus on case level optimization, Ed Rucel says his clients have achieved up to 40% savings on transport, storage and handling. This adds up to a great deal of carbon reduction and a greener happier customer.
Edmund Rucels, Regional VP Supply Chain Optimizers. Edmund’s management experience during the startup and rapid growth of Northern Telecom and Sears Canada has made him the expert on delivering real time solutions for the logistics professionals wanting to drive down costs through better shipping practices.

Jacoline Loewen raises capital for growth companies with Loewen & Partners and she is the author of Money Magnet: How to Attract Investors to Your Business.
http://www.loewenpartners.com/

http://www.moneymagnetbook.ca/

Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way

“Indecision and silence is the most dangerous risk a business owner could take”, says Charles Loewen, CEO and President of a fourth generation family business. Loewen Windows is a company where seeming opposites exist in harmony; delicate beauty and a steely toughness; pride in craft tempered by an abiding humility. This family business has remained faithful to its roots, but has also grown to embrace new technologies and ideas from places as diverse as Europe, Japan, and North America.

Loewen Windows went through expansion and contraction in the Japanese market during the Ninties.

Charles Loewen, CEO of Loewen Windows is speaking at a joint Ivey Business School and Loewen & Partners CEO Roundtable event.

If you are interested in attending, here are the details:

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

10:30 am – 3:00 pm

The National Club

303 Bay Street, Toronto

Bay Street & Adelaide, Downtown Toronto

Map Location & Parking
Cost $148.00 + GST
To Register (Please note, business owners and CEOs only):
Please email: akobeleva@loewenpartners.com or call 416 961 0740 and ask for Anastassia

Have We Dodged The Bullet?

It was not long ago that some experts were predicting a $200 price for oil but with it down far below predictions, Dr. Warren Jestin of ScotiaCapital warned, speaking at a conference on fuel price held by DTA, “Don’t get fooled by the drop in fuel prices. It will go back up.” Have we dodged the bullet here in Canada? Although Canada is night and day to the USA with our banking system, we are still impacted. USA’s “borrow to buy” model is not in Canada and that sub prime idea proves that not all innovation is good.
“Step back and understand the fundamentals,” advised Dr. Warren Jestin, ScotiaCapital.
Warren Justin, Chief Economist of ScotiaCapital. Warren joined Scotiabank some 25 years ago and is a popular public speaker and media commentator on economic issues in Canada and abroad. His expertise both about Canadian and global economic issues is extensive and his team's research work is leading edge.
Dr Jestin believes Canadian Banks are in good shape
For the last fifteen years the USA has used the “borrow to buy” model which was most prevalent in housing. There was a record number of Americans owning their own home but the model could not be sustained. Consequently, the USA is deleveraging and with eighteen months of housing inventory to clear, this will take years.
The core message is that the growth rate of China is above 10% and even if it slows with the global problems, it will drop to 8% which is still a very attractive opportunity for investment money, compared to the USA growth rate of 1% to 3%. Inevitably, there will be a shift in where foreign investment flows and this will affect our economy.
Fuel Prices Will Return to Highs
As for fuel prices, Dr. Warren Jestin advises to treating the Canadian dollar as if it were on par with the US dollar even if it drops below, since commodity prices will rise up again. By the end of next year, expect fuel prices to also move back up as commodity prices increase again. Supply conditions for oil could be affected by OPEC and whether it decides to cut back production. Oil is being used less as companies become more productive. "Ultimately," John Loewen , CEO of Loewen & Partners, says, "China will determine the price of oil and it is on a growth trajectory."

Design Your Freight Program

It goes without saying that the manufacturing and retail industries are slowing and this is a challenge to the status quo. A well designed freight program can add good value.

“Many companies are asking ‘What can we do well here in North America? Credit is tight and how can we make better use of the dollars we do have?’” said Dan Goodwill, a specialist in Logistics at an event with DTA and Jacoline Loewen, author of Money Magnet and a partner in raising capital. Don Goodwill advises, “A good place to start where there are opportunities for cost savings and logistics offers many hidden opportunities.”
Have a Score Card
§ On time service
§ Billing accuracy
§ Refusal rates – is your order profitable to them?
§ Claims and exceptions
Goodwill suggests that the key is to actively look for paradigm shifts. In other words - change from one way of thinking to another.

Places to Start to Look for Change

1. Examine your inland freight costs – it’s a missed opportunity. Look at alternative logistic venders and change your requirements. Could you live with longer lead time of five days instead of two and go for a lower price? Revisit your economies of serving your own market and see where you can be flexible.
2. Check your assumptions about the cheapest and best ways. There was a time when if comparing box cars and trucks and you were doing a bid - the truck rates were better than the car load. This has shifted.
3. How can you leverage your freight smarter? For example, are there ways you can make life easier for your carrier? Are you asking them to arrive at four in the afternoon and then sit there waiting, charging up your fee?
4. Look to your customers’ needs. For example, Shoppers Drug Mart has inbound freight from many vendors and wants to leverage that freight cost as it is a good opportunity to save money. Instead of 3,000 incoming vendors, it wants to go down to 1,000. How can you help your customers simplify, streamline and save money?
5. Understand your true costs. You can benchmark fuel surcharges and figure out the rate between Calgary and Montreal.

Dan Goodwill, President Dan Goodwill & Associates. Dan was the previous President of Yellow Canada, President of Clarke Logistics, General Manager of TNT Railfast and Vice President Sales & Marketing TNT Overland Express. His broad experience makes him a knowledgeable public speaker on cost savings programs and profit generation.

Private Equity Key to Strategic Expansion

Having recently partnered with Bermingham Construction, a Hamilton-based manufacturing company and winner of the 2008 E&Y Manufacturing Entrepreneur of the Year award, C.A. Bancorp was a key component in its successful transition to global markets. Mark MacDonald, Managing Director, Private Investments, will discuss the process of working with a private equity firm for the first time. C.A. Bancorp is an alternative asset manager that specializes in small and mid-cap opportunities. C.A. Bancorp seeks to help private companies innovate by investing expertise and intensive analysis of macroeconomic themes, industry trends, and market dynamics.

Having a partner like C.A. Bancorp helped the family owned business move from stagnation to dynamic growth to markets far more dynamic than the mature North American marketplace. It takes guts to allow in partners but do you want to be rich or be in control?" asks Jacoline Loewen, author of Money Magnet and partner with Loewen & Partners.

Join the Discussion with Mark:

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

10:30 am – 3:00 pm

The National Club

303 Bay Street, Toronto

Bay Street & Adelaide, Downtown Toronto

Map Location & Parking
Cost
$148.00 + GST
To Register (Please note, business owners and CEOs only):
Please email: akobeleva@loewenpartners.com or call 416 961 0740 and ask for Anastassia