The Shortest Distance Between Two Points

There is a maxim in geometry: The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. This principle carries over into sports such as auto racing and downhill skiing, where the shortest distance between two points may not be a straight line, but rather what is referred to as “the line.” The line is not the shortest path, but rather the most efficient path between start and finish. In sports, this efficiency results in victory. In business, this efficiency results in lower costs and greater profits.

To fully understand “the line,” you have to understand the terrain. Most importantly, you have to know where the finish line is and take the best path to it. The race is determined not by how you start, but how you finish.

Your business has a line. It starts with a trigger action from the client, such as a request for quote or placement of an order, and ends when you receive payment and post the cash. In between are multiple steps that define your business, and your efficiency in these steps determines how successful you are. The tie that binds it all together is a clear understanding of your business practices as implemented in your software solution. You get to the finish line much faster traveling at the speed of electrons rather than the speeds of people, machinery, and trucking.

The tie that binds it all together is a clear understanding of your business practices as implemented in your software solution.

Today almost all plants have ERP systems and processes in place to move orders through the plants efficiently, but at the tail end of your business process you lose much of your order visibility. Warehouses are blind corners, and freight and delivery functions are basically done out of eyesight—making it nearly impossible to follow “the line” efficiently.

Technology today no longer has to be tethered. Mobile solutions extend your “plant” right into your customer’s facility. With electronic delivery tickets and GPS tracking, you can follow your drivers to the dock door, and the receiving receipt, once signed, automatically generates a signal to print and deliver an invoice in real time.

Analytic tools can be used to measure “the line” for every order and every delivery. Small gains in loading patterns, delivery routes, and delivery times can reap small advantages that total up to a tidy sum over time.

In today’s world, nothing is permanent. Analyzing patterns, time frames, and histories using analytics tools can help you stay on “the line” to continued success.

John Clark is director of analytics at Amtech Software. He can be reached at jclark@amtechsoftware.com.