IDEA LOGISTICS by TransportGistics

IDEA LOGISTICS: Evoking Corporate Intellectual Assets

Executive Summary

Transportation is singularly responsible for moving everything on this planet…, and beyond!

Transportation’s resources have been focused on moving people and goods. In this role and throughout time, its faculties, resources, and attributes have continuously driven the world’s economies and moved people all around the globe. During the intervening years of growth, transportation’s capabilities and processes have repeatedly increased and developed, but remained focused primarily on the movement of people and goods. Today, transportation is successfully meeting the challenges of the global economy and its capabilities and resources are still being principally directed at moving people and goods.

To successfully compete in today’s global and knowledge economies, corporate intellectual resources must be cultivated, mined, and harvested. However, cross cultivation of both like and disparate disciplines, knowledge bases and skill sets, focused in interdepartmental relationships and interdisciplinary resources will produce new and better ideas whose results will create new paradigms and cross new frontiers. A process that can effectively and efficiently stimulate, manage, and control those resources must be founded on a discipline that touches every part of every company and is capable of managing complex relationships.

Performing as the supply chain engine, transportation is materially responsible for driving commerce, industry, and society. As the driving component of logistics, the discipline that manages the flow of raw material through the finishing process, transportation is inherently involved in supply chain performance. Transportation and logistics have an extensive history and a proven ability to move and manage complex relationships simultaneously. Managing the complexities of the supply chain and moving its products and people throughout the world have created a very powerful union between logistics and transportation.

The combined resources of transportation and logistics are well suited for managing the flow of ideas and moving them throughout the corporate landscape.

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“Idea Logistics(sm)” "is the discipline that manages the flow of ideas through concept development, implementation, and deployment". Created and developed by TransportGistics, Inc. (TGI) senior level Convergence Practice Group, idea logistics has been implemented and successfully deployed in a wide range of TGI’s consulting engagements. Focused on harvesting corporate intellectual assets, TransportGistics consulting services, products, and automated transportation management solutions in conjunction with idea logistics continues to strengthen the performance and viability of its customers.

This white paper will discuss “idea logistics” and its role in identifying and harvesting the corporate intellectual assets through the knowledge transfer process.

Idea Logistics Description

To move or transport goods and people, there are various modes of transportation that are employed. The traditional modes are air, motor, water, rail, and express. Ideas also require transportation and their transport mode is “communications”. While every company has a unique operating style and management philosophy, the global view of transportation and logistics demonstrates that these disciplines are properly equipped and very capable of harvesting and moving an idea through the various business disciplines and departments in manner similar to goods moving within a company and through its supply chain.

Continuing with the parallel view, the major phases of the freight lifecycle are: pre-shipment, in-transit, and post shipment. The delivery of well performing ideas that meet the corporate objectives and strategies must travel through the following phases: review, acceptance / rejections, implementation and deployment. The "idea lifecycle" would include a detailed blueprint of all of the touch points within the flow.

For ideas to be effective, all organizations require a disciplined method and process to manage the flow of their ideas.

Background

The rich histories of transportation dates back to the earliest life form and since then its applications have continued to evolve throughout nature and society.

Man’s earliest use of transportation may have manifested itself in his need to move something out of the way or perhaps to block a path or to carry food home. Transportation is perhaps one of mans' oldest sustaining features and is clearly responsible for the growth and development of society, commerce and industry. Its influence is felt at all levels in every society. Nations with rising expectations strive to emulate the transportation conveyances, functions, and systems that already exist in more “advanced” cultures. Economically successful nations rely on transportation as a means to impel their industry and commerce. They continually endeavor to improve those transportation systems that they recognize as being responsible for driving their success. Successful military campaigns have been underwritten by well performing transportation systems and vehicles. Transportation is acknowledged as the primary logistics driver in winning military applications.

To “advance,” man has always attempted to emulate nature and examples of this pervade throughout every society. Whether imitating a bird flying and then observing various natural activities to improve the physical forms of transportation, man has always looked to nature. Transportation in nature has continuously evolved into highly sophisticated systems that are responsible for carrying out exceedingly complex tasks. Examples can be found in the spider and its web; or the bee or the bird carrying out pollination or locating a seed distant from its parent. Likewise, such observation simultaneously identifies the various transportation segments, that is, beginning points, interchanges, and destinations together with the associated relationships of consignor, carrier, and consignee.

Relationships are dependent upon effective communications and communication relies upon transportation as the vehicle to move signals, voice, and data.

Launching Ideas

The primary element of the intellectual asset is an idea. To harvest the intellectual corporate assets, businesses require a process to change an idea into a concept and then move it through the idea lifecycle. Companies are comprised of multiple departments and disciplines. Individual departments and disciplines have been reasonably successful in driving their respective ideas through their particular silos. Without belaboring the benefits of breaking down corporate silos, suffice it to say that evoking the knowledge from the combination of interdisciplinary resources and interdepartmental relationships will achieve the benefits derived from cross cultivated intellectual assets and therefore the resulting ideas will be far more capable than those that may suffer from incestuous or independent thought.

Today, the ever changing global economy presents new challenges and market opportunities. To meet these challenges and opportunities, and avoid the pitfalls of implementing or rejecting an idea before a clear corporate need or objective is defined; a structured approach that can effectively and efficiently shepherd an idea through its entire lifecycle is required.

An idea, like freight needs to be properly routed so that it can arrive at its destination in a timely fashion and in the best possible condition. The flow of ideas through an organization reasonably parallels the movement of freight as more fully described in today’s freight paradigm. The freight lifecycle maps the movement of freight through all of its activity beginning with its identity and concluding with its consumption. Likewise, ideas that respect corporate values and meet the strategic objectives should move amongst the various corporate departments and across multiple disciplines. With characteristics similar to the freight lifecycle, the idea lifecycle would, among its many responsibilities be responsible for mapping its respective activity.

Transportation Practices and Idea Logistics

Ideas are expressed for many reasons; one of the primary reasons may be “need”. Understanding the need can be the beginning of the idea development process and the initial concept would be explored and related to the environment. If deemed appropriate, “The “Idea Logistics Team” would then:

Develop a high level idea assessment and appraisal—similar to an operations assessment and appraisal.

Targeting the disciplines and departments that would best support the idea is another important step in the process. Transportation is a highly effective vehicle for identifying the disciplines and interdepartmental relationships. A successful method of approach for identification can be found in TransportGistics’ white paper, “Collaboration”. In that white paper, we demonstrate the importance of transportation documents such as the Bill of Lading. Transportation documents carry data and that data can be tracked to those departments that initiated and appended the Bill of Lading. Likewise, the data will reveal the interdepartmental and interdisciplinary relationships.

Next, the Idea Logistics Team would socialize the idea amongst the relevant departments and disciplines in order to make sure that the idea can meet the corporate objectives and strategies as well as determining if it is capable of embracing other appropriate corporate mandates. It is through this process that the “idea lifecycle” would be defined, documented, and mapped. The various “touch points” would also have been identified at that time.

Organizing the touch points into a logical and orderly scheme will allow the routing principles of transportation to be applied for idea routing through and amongst the departments and disciplines.

Invoking the tracing, and tracking attributes of transportation will create the process for timeline management and performance monitoring.

The lifecycle process would be managed by “Idea logistics”; logistics would administer the flow of the idea through concept development, implementation, and deployment.

All of the above activities would be managed by the logistics management principles, practices and processes. They would be applied and function in the same manner as in supply chain management.

Because every company has a unique operating style and its own philosophy the above steps can only serve as examples. However, adapting the traditional logistics concepts, practices, and processes utilized in managing the supply chain together with the transportation practices, principles and functions will serve as a basis upon which an idea logistics program can be developed.

Conclusion

Transportation is a base element of life. In nature it is responsible for propagation and sustenance; its influence on society and industry are monumental. In commerce, industry, and society its long history and proven capabilities have been devoted almost exclusively to the movement of goods and people. Since its inception, transportation has continually met its primary obligations; its principles and fundamentals have evolved primarily in connection with transportation’s traditional role. Performing as the logistics engine, it still continues to grow within its original state. Remaining in the background, transportation silently carries out its obligations and for that reason transportation’s resources, capabilities, faculties, and practices may not have been called upon to provide its benefits to other areas of importance.

Transportation is an extremely rich and robust discipline, when combined with logistics the pair makes a formidable resource whose capabilities can be focused on a wide range of situations. While this white paper has offered transportation and logistics as a method, process, and resource to manage and control the flow of ideas through an organization, its resources and capabilities can offer commerce, industry, and society limitless process improvement.

About TransportGistics, Inc.

TransportGistics is a global, multi-product and services company that provides market leading, simple, incremental solutions for transportation management and logistics functions within the supply chain.

TransportGistics commitment to education is portrayed through its advancement of professional logistics and transportation programs. Its white paper site presents important and timely transportation and logistics subjects each month, and is regularly visited by more than 125,000 clients and readers representing companies in the private and public sectors, universities and governments, worldwide. TransportGistics is a founding partner at the Center of Excellence in Wireless Internet and Information Technology at the State University of New York-Stony Brook.

Continuation

Please consider this white paper as a continuum in this subject area, succeeding white papers will address common issues and address them with common solutions. We encourage our readers to direct any specific questions or comments to papers@transportgistics.com.

Disclaimer

The information presented herein represents the opinion of the author, but not necessarily the opinion of TransportGistics, Inc. This white paper is not presented as a legal position or as a recommendation.

“Idea Logistics", "Freight Lifecycle Management”, “Convergence” and “Today’s Freight Paradigm” are sales marks of TransportGistics, Inc.

All content copyright by TransportGistics, Inc. All rights are reserved. The authors of the articles retain the copyright to their articles. No material may be reproduced electronically or in print without the express written permission from the individual authors and/or TransportGistics, Inc. (papers@transportgistics.com)