Apr
Why Trusted Advisors are Needed Now More Than Ever
Recent events, market conditions, and the mantra to further strengthen and sustain long-term relationships with clients have compelled trusted advisors to get creative and even more proactive with their manufacturing and distributor clients. The very best trusted advisors are adept at bringing ideas and suggestions to their clients in the spirit of helping improve margins, competitive positioning, business valuation, and customer service. In many cases, that means aligning with subject matter experts outside of their wheelhouse.
As John Mark McDougal, Practice Leader for Accounting and Assurance at LBMC in Nashville says:
“Serving as a trusted advisor is more than a title or a notion. It’s a complete commitment, both professionally and relationally. The need for these types of commitments extends across the entire business from the factory floor and customer service understanding, all the way to industry regulatory matters and being on speed dial for the executive leadership team. Advisors with that type of commitment always drive more value into relationships and thus the business.”
For small and mid-size manufacturers and distributors, one area ripe for with opportunity (and now starting to get serious attention) is logistics. Logistics can play a major role in enabling a company to meet customers’ increasingly demanding needs, put distance between itself and competitors, and profitably expand its operations globally to take advantage of new sourcing options and emerging growth opportunities.
In fact, at most larger organizations, logistics has a voice in the C-suite and at the board level. Many senior executives recognize logistics as a source of real value and competitive advantage rather than as purely an operational function — and, consequently, are becoming much more engaged in discussions about how to achieve logistics excellence.
One such large company that consistently ranks at the top when it comes to logistics excellence is Parker Hannifin. Tom Gentile, VP of Supply Chain for Parker Hannifin, states:
“We feel that best-in-class logistics is a real value driver for our customer’s experience. Partnering with the right carriers, trusted service providers, and technology specialists who have invested heavily in best in class processes and practices is essential to help provide great service for our customers. For example, having a robust Transportation Management System (TMS) that gives us the flexibility and visibility necessary to understand potential opportunities ensures that we are continuously improving in all areas.”
Trusted Advisors Bring Logistics to Leadership’s Attention
In conversations we’ve had in the past year with small and midsize manufacturers and distributors, we learned that board-level discussions typically focus on a number of common themes, all impacted by logistics. These themes include profitable new customer growth, customer quality and retention, sustainable cost reduction opportunities, and the most effective allocation of working and talent capital. In addition, directors now want to understand how logistics strategy and execution will favorably drive improvements to business valuation and competitive positioning while mitigating risk.
Additionally, any company operating in a state of logistics excellence is better able to support the effective execution of merger and acquisition activity while capturing new national, regional, and global opportunities. In fact, many research studies have demonstrated that there is a strong correlation between senior executive involvement and the execution of successful logistics strategy. And, the very best organizations see tremendous value in benchmarking and baselining their cost structures, practices, and strategies on a consistent basis.
As Ron Sansom, the Managing Partner & Global Executive Operating partner with The Riverside Company (a leading-edge private equity investment firm in Cleveland), says:
“Management teams are facing a multitude of significant challenges in today’s business environment. Logistics is at the top of the list, especially for small businesses. A world-class logistics operation can be a competitive advantage while a poorly performing logistics group can put your company at risk. There has never been a better time to re-evaluate the health of your logistics operation.”
For logistics executives, increased attention from the C-suite gives logistics leaders the ability to truly educate and inform senior executives how logistics works and why having a high-performing logistics operation is more critical than ever to the success of the business. It also enables them to illuminate some of the major obstacles to logistics success — including finding and keeping the right talent, putting in place the right metrics, and getting support and buy-in from other areas of the company (especially finance, sales, marketing, IT, and manufacturing). And it gives them a more effective forum for justifying the investments they need to make to overcome these obstacles and continually strengthen the company’s key logistics capabilities.
Remember, too, that a solid understanding of the corporate master operating plan and the corporate objectives will prepare you to overcome any perception that the C-suite may have relating the true value of logistics.
The Bottom Line When It Comes to Trusted Advisors
For many small and mid-size manufacturers, logistics is ripe with opportunities for business improvement across many fronts. And, if you serve as a trusted advisor to these small and mid-size manufacturers, you have the ability to further strengthen your relationships by bringing these opportunities to light on behalf of your clients.
As Ken Haffey, Advisory Services Partner with Marcum LLP, says:
“Brady Partners does an excellent job of assessing the logistics needs of manufacturing organizations, identifying opportunities, and developing comprehensive plans to save money, time, and energy. If you are a manufacturer or distributor dealing with the challenges of maximizing the value of your logistics operations, Brady Partners will drive improved operating margins and customer satisfaction.”
For additional information, contact our team today or call 440-653-0352.