'The days are getting longer'. You hear it, you read it, but mostly you see it. In the morning it is light significantly earlier than a few weeks ago and sometimes we manage to get home before dark in the evening. After hibernation, nature starts preparing for a new cycle. In logistics, we are not so much into 'hibernation'. We always keep going and have to perform, especially if the customer demands it.
Nature is starting a new cycle and that might be a good reason for us to take a look at whether it is not also time for renewal, not so much to renew, but to improve.
We have to (constantly) look at whether things can be done smarter, more efficiently, whether we can achieve the same results with less cost, less effort, but maybe spring is also a good time to look at how that effort is doing, with us and with our employees.
Our own days should not keep getting longer. A good balance between working and relaxing is not only good for your health, but ultimately benefits productivity. Of course, if the work demands it, there is absolutely no harm in going on longer, working overtime once in a while, but structurally working long days indicates that something is wrong somewhere.
Employees who structurally work (too) long days start performing less well, either because they get sick, become less motivated or simply because of a built-in natural mechanism that says that if you have a long way to go, you have to adjust the pace accordingly. After all, a skater who skates the 10 km does not keep the same pace as in the 100 m sprint.
I leave peaks in operations aside, there will always be those and often the strength of logistics lies precisely in how we (can) deal with them. Let's take a critical look at the 'normal' working day. If things 'run smoothly', everyone performs in a healthy way. Should that not be obvious, we may need to take a critical look at our processes, scheduling and possibly other influencing factors.
Eventually, then, everyone should be able to go home at a 'normal' time in order to enjoy extra 'the days that are getting longer'.
Wishing you good business and a pleasant spring.
Frits de Wind - logistics consultant
