J&J's Deep Bench (page 2)

-- Logistics Management, 10/1/2005

Page 2 of 3
The GTO's members come from diverse backgrounds in the company's customer service, planning, and distribution organizations. "We have people ranging from four weeks to 37 years of experience," says Harry. To round out the staff's experience and give them an opportunity to learn all facets of transportation, they rotate through various functional areas—for example, from import/export management to compliance services or LTL management.

"That's the beauty of the GTO," says Harry. "Members have the opportunity for rotational moves that will enable them to grow their transportation expertise. They make a contribution, and they carry the transportation gospel with them throughout the company. They're always listening for opportunities to say, 'Hey, maybe our team can add some value here.'"

Developing Talent

The experiences of Al Davis, Suzanne Beall, and Bianca Alarcón provide three examples of how the GTO has leveraged diverse backgrounds and transportation knowledge to develop its deep bench.

Davis, the GTO's operations business leader, is known for keeping his ear to the ground and always being on the lookout for cost-saving opportunities. Davis joined the team after 32 years with Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc., one of the largest companies within Johnson & Johnson. While with Ortho-McNeil, he was in charge of its inbound logistics program. "It was my job to look at where the freight spend was being generated and to find opportunities to improve on-time performance and cost," Davis says.

One of Davis' contacts at Ortho-McNeil eventually went to work for Johnson & Johnson's Pharmaceutical Research and Development (PRD) company. When faced with a transportation issue at the PRD, the contact gave Davis a call—a decision that led to significant improvements in several areas. "I was invited into the PRD to take a look at the ongoing costs for a number of their clinical trials worldwide," Davis recalls. "We found some immediate cost savings, but we also found ways to reduce delays by improving customs compliance, so I suggested we bring in our compliance expert as well."

Davis and a group of GTO support members got down to work, with impressive results. "We started tracking each project that we worked on with them, and the savings rolled up in the millions of dollars, based on the hundreds of new clinical drug trials that support new-product development worldwide," says Davis, who now "owns" the relationship with PRD.

While Davis joined the GTO as a wily transportation veteran, Suzanne Beall gained experience by working her way up through the ranks. Beall majored in business logistics at Penn State University and joined Johnson & Johnson after graduation. She spent her first six months in the customer relations department, moved on to become an analyst in the collaborative demand management group, and two years later joined the GTO as a senior analyst. She was later promoted to team leader, then became a manager last June. She now leads the Supplier Sourcing and Performance Team.

Beall has a passion for spreading the GTO gospel. "We went on a 'road show' in 2003 and 2004 to build awareness of the hours-of-services changes with our distribution partners," she says. "We explained the regulations in a language that could be understood and keyed in on the impact of dock time for drivers, whether it was loading or unloading."

Beall and the GTO team taught the group the benefits of drop trailers and driver-friendly unloading methods. "We made sure our distribution people and retailers understood the impact of keeping the driver detained," says Beall. "And as a result, we saw conversions to drop trailers at our retailers and we got a lot of additional drop-lot space at our own facilities." Continued ...

Previous 1 2 3 Next