The operations manager is one of the few management representatives to physically take part in the running of the distribution center or transportation terminal. It's not at all uncommon to see this person on the floor with sleeves rolled up, personally seeing to it that a shipment leaves on schedule or that inventory is completed in time for a deadline. When it comes down to it, the operations manager takes full responsibility for a breakdown in the tightly scheduled distribution function.
Operations management consists of two areas: (1) supervision of and taking part in the day-to-day activities in the distribution center or warehouse itself and (2) the planning and anticipation of future activity of the entire distribution function.
A successful day at a warehouse or distribution center requires coordination of various schedules; each must complement the others to optimize efficiency. Types of schedules include: (1) labor, both daily man-hour schedules to assure that the center is precisely staffed, and individual order assignment, to provide adequate personnel for specific orders, (2) equipment scheduling to assign the correct type and amount of equipment to various orders, that is, special safety equipment for hazardous materials, equipment for the movement of volatile or fragile merchandise, specially designed storage material for unique products, (3) dock scheduling, to assure that an order is placed in the correct loading area, (4) shipping schedules to ensure that one order is shipped out to allow space for incoming goods to be stored and to provide for stock rotation, and (5) storage schedules to prevent incompatible goods from being stored together.
As important as accurate scheduling and planning are, they comprise only part of the operations managers' responsibilities, which are (1) to manage their staff, (2) to deal with labor and union matters, (3) to assure proper maintenance of the facility and equipment, including computer systems, which are constantly becoming more complex, (4) to deal with carriers and customers, and (5) to be eternally concerned with cutting costs wherever possible.
In the long term, consideration must be given to future equipment and facility needs such as expanding, leasing, purchasing, updating, or contracting private or public warehouse space. New products often mean devising new storage and handling techniques to assure customer satisfaction. Trends in the industry mean precautions must be taken to account for possible shortages, surpluses due to price breaks, and shutdowns due to labor disputes. Furthermore, after the operations managers have concluded what actions should be taken, they must try to convince upper-level management that their proposal is worthwhile, not an easy task in any field.
Experience in operations provides background for movement in corporate level positions, but many managers currently working in distribution centers and warehouses wouldn't leave their hectic, fast-paced, nitty-gritty environments for any kind of fancy desk or title. Says one such operations manager, "It just gets in your blood."
Q - How did you get into physical distribution?
A - I had no idea that I would ever get into it; I just happened into it. It was a relocation process when I was about twenty-three years old. 1 just took a job loading and unloading trucks. That was fifteen years ago. It's done pretty well for me.
I actually started in manufacturing. When an opening occurred here, I had several years' experience and three promotions in manufacturing. The position became available, and I transferred down here. Two years later I got promoted to superintendent of warehousing and distribution services. I came in as a general foreman in the warehouse. I have been in warehousing for five years now.
When I took the job in the warehouse I had no intention whatsoever of staying. My reasoning was, college or no college, I was meant for better things than heaving boxes at a $1.60 an hour. I had just married, my wife was eight months pregnant, and I was as poor as a church mouse. At that time I worked close to sixty hours a week regular duty and all sorts of overtime above that. There wasn't time to get out and look for a job. Little by little they added responsibilities to my position, and in about two years I made the transition from loading trucks all the way up to the spot where I am now. The title of vice-president only came two years ago.
Q - Why did you pick physical distribution?
A - In the Marine Corps' infantry, I learned right off that it was important that we got our C rations on time. There seemed to be a lot of growth opportunities in PD. But most important was the impact that the function seemed to have on the corporation. Activities involved a wide range of functions; we were involved in the distribution of advertising materials, promotional materials, corporate information, and annual reports. New product launches and versions of interesting products would come through our department, and we would get involved in new projects at an early stage, because we were expected to help with sales projections. Obviously you are involved in the allocation of those products when it comes time for marketing them and working with the various marketing organizations to support their selling efforts. I think the impact that distribution had at all levels of the corporation interested me.
Today and in the future a wide range of subjects must be mastered to be effective in managing warehousing. In the past, warehousing was fairly simple-put as much mass as possible in the least room. Today there is a maze of government regulations involving everything from OSHA to EPA. The manager of warehousing must be knowledgeable in traffic and transportation and have a strong mathematical and statistical background. Structural engineering is a benefit.
