Global Logistics
Today’s business world is one built of intertwining transcontinental relationships. The ability to manage assets and ensure their proper delivery and receipt in such a business environment is known as Global Logistics. Navigating the hurdles of intricate supply chains — that is, the process of getting your products from where they are produced to where they are bought and consumed — has become complicated and muddled as industries branch off into more and more specialized and geographically disparate markets.
We at TraDove aim to fix this.
Supply Chain Hurdles in Global B2B
At this time in the global B2B marketplace, the logistical challenges faced by supply chain managers have been evolving so rapidly that new challenges present themselves with each passing year. True, conveniences are brought about by improvements in communications technology and international shipping. However, these are often offset by the complexities inherent in the geographic diversification such improvements encourage.
What was once a one-to-one exchange on the supply chain may now been augmented by new improvements into a supply chain shipping goods to five additional locales. While the supply chain improvements do assist in this task, these are still additional steps which must each be overseen and double-checked by their supply chain manager.
Meanwhile, internal issues between employees in the same company can add further complications to the equation. For example, communication can fall short between these supply chain managers and the executives they report to. Oftentimes this is for reasons as simple as differing metrics in their language. Supply chain managers will report their progress in technical or logistical metrics: number of trucks, hourly productivity, etc.
While intended to give complete transparency to the reader, these technical measurements will mean little to the executive reading the reports. Those in the executive role need a clear idea of the total cost of the supply chain from start to finish, not the step-by-step components that factor into the bigger picture metric.
Both these situations, whether external or within the company require something more than adequate communication. Direct and clear channels of communication are needed to resolve such issues and clear up misunderstandings that could ultimately cause significant revenue lost in an otherwise preventable manner.
Using Social Networks to Build Business Relationships
Social networks are often overlooked by the business world as either a recreational space or a means for B2C sales and advertising. This view fails to see their potential utility if employed correctly by businesses. If utilized with the dedicated intent of B2B, social networks might rectify this massive communication imbalance in the B2B space. Not only that, but they can build relationships, solidify all manners of supply chain discourse, and ultimately lead to a level of transparency never before seen in the business world.
Unfortunately, most businesses’ assessment that social networks are only useful as B2C advertising venues, and maybe a place to gather a community of their customers, is spot-on. This is especially true for juggernauts such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, who command the largest worldwide marketshare of the social networking space. They are not suitable for actually operating a business. Even a social network like LinkedIn, while businesss-oriented, doesn’t provide the tools needed for actually running the logistical operations of a business.
TraDove, A New Kind of Business Social Network
However, think of the possibilities of someone taking those same features and implementing them into a platform designed and dedicated specifically for operating a business, both the in-house and out-of-house matters. Instead of sending a company-wide email, a bulletin goes out to all employees participating in the network. Specific roles within the company’s profile are designated on the network, allowing representatives from other companies to find the proper salesperson, purchasing manager, etc. And, the sales managers can list their products for their buyer counterparts to find.
TraDove is such a network, and, when utilized as envisioned, will have the direct and immediate potential to knock out all those supply chain hurdles. By building up relationships on this network, both between those within one’s own company and in the companies who source or buy its products, we break down all these barriers that arise with each new supply chain development, and establish the clear communication needed to ensure a stable, sustainable and prosperous business built not only on well-organized and transparent transactions, but also one that embraces those relationships.
Originally published on TraDove.com