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- Controlling the "Uncontrollable"
- One of the unique and very challenging aspects of the Ready-Mix business are all the “uncontrollable” mechanisms of producing and delivering concrete to their customers. Many of these “uncontrollables” are centered around delivery of the product and the ability to maintain service to all their customers on a given day. Many of these challenges center around the fact that once the truck leaves the yard, success that day solely depends on driver and customer performance.
Scheduling and real-time GPS tools has allowed for more effective management of these aspects but in the end, time lost even in a meticulously scheduled order because of poor delivery and discharge of the product, results in lost time that can’t be reclaimed and ultimately, poorer service to the rest of the customers.
This has and will always be the age-old problem in the industry that will never be solved as long as “uncontrollable” variables like these exist outside of dispatch control. The good news is that while solving these “uncontrollables” will never be perfect, there are things a producer can prepare themselves for better handling of these problems when they do arise.
It all centers around clearly identifying the “controllable” aspects of your delivery business and then making sure these best practices are clearly embedded in the operational culture of your dispatch department. These “controllables” are based upon procedural processes, control mechanisms, human performance management and customer communications.
Sitting down with your dispatch team and reviewing what these “controllables” are and making sure they are in place, understood and in practice will assure that when delivery challenges do arise, they are well prepared to handle them calmly and professionally. Being well prepared for any challenge always consists of having a solid handle of what you actually CAN control which then lends itself the ability to react positively to what you can’t control.
In “Making It Happen,” a playbook/Manual for Dispatch Success, these “controllable’s” are discusses in length with a step-by-step process for creating and implementing them into your dispatch environment.