Gentle’s sage advice

By Michael A. Levans, Chief Editor -- Logistics Management, 11/1/2006

The November issue is my favorite on our editorial calendar. In preparation for this month, I get a chance to spend time in thoughtful conversation with the year’s McCullough Award winner, the individual who has been singled out by the members of the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL) and the staff of LM for outstanding achievement and leadership in the logistics and transportation industry.

I can’t think of anyone more deserving than this year’s winner, John Gentle. His smile, which graces our cover this month, is quite familiar to shippers who are active in NITL and other educational events around the country.

For more than 35 years, Gentle proved himself an effective agent of change for his employer, Owens Corning, by revolutionizing communication with the company’s 300-plus carriers. During his tenure as NITL’s Highway Transportation Committee Chairman, he shared his insight and passion for teaching his fundamental principles of logistics and transportation management—guidelines he’s been developing since his formative years in the Army. My conversation with him begins with the article - A Gentleman of Principles.

What I like best about this annual Q&A is that it allows us formulate a set of questions that create a mini-biography of someone who has made a difference. We learn about Gentle’s early experience that led him to logistics; we meet the mentors who shaped his vision of how business should be conducted; we encounter the turning points in his career and the decisions that put him in a position to usher in changes that will reverberate for years to come.

And as Gentle walks us through these experiences, you are certain to take away a few pieces of sound advice that can be immediately applied to your day-to-day operations. You may even find yourself cutting out his 12 guiding principles for logistics success and tacking them onto your office wall. They not only translate into good business, they will most certainly be helpful outside of the office as well.

I am also proud to announce that the McCullough Award won’t be the only annual feature we’ll be delivering every November. LM recently partnered with Gross & Associates, a Woodbridge, N.J.-based consulting firm specializing in materials handling and logistics, to conduct an annual Warehouse and DC Trends Study. The first installment of this brand-new, LM-exclusive research begins with - How does your warehouse stack up?

Like our annual Masters of Logistics study (also, check out our Masters webcast), where we create a snapshot of how shippers are putting their carrier bases to work, our Warehouse and DC Trends Study will offer a 30,000-foot view of how logistics professionals are putting best practices and technology to work in the warehouse. We’re sure you’ll find this and other LM-exclusive research helpful in your quest to meet higher customer expectations while keeping costs in line.