BLOGS

• This has always been a contentious issue, in fact my MBA dissertation was on this very topic 12 years ago and I followed it up with an article in 2007 and many comments remained the same - see my comments here. 

'Barriers to innovation'. Some of the main issues I believe are as follows:
1) Operators are too busy concentrating on the operation to be able to spend time thinking about new ways of doing things. There is also the issue that senior managers don't always embrace fully the ideas suggested by shop floor or first line managers/supervisors. This they should and they are usually my first stop during a consultancy project! The number of times I've heard warehouse staff say that they've told their managers how to improve things and yet nothing's happened. However as soon as a 'consultant' suggests it then 9 times out of 10 it gets implemented!! Over familiarity with an operation can be more of a hindrance than a help sometimes.

2) Margins are tight in 3PL these days and therefore it's difficult for 3PLs to invest in thinking time.

3) Innovation requires close communication and trust between the 3PL and the customer - not always easy!