Management Consulting

Based on experience, Replas recommend the certain issues be addressed, where applicable, before the implementation of a slipsheet program.

  • Top management commitment ‐ slipsheet economics are generally the most important arguments, but other factors such as industry trends and the impact on other programs must also be considered.
  • Sales and marketing impact ‐ in considering the benefits of a slipsheet program to the company, the benefits to the customers must also be addressed.
  • Education ‐ the impact of the change to a slipsheet program needs to be communicated to all stages of the whole distribution process, including vendors, manufacturing, carriers and customers.
  • Transportation department involvement ‐ the transportation department of the company can provide an assessment of the impact on carrier relations, liability issues, rate analysis, and load limitations.
  • Industrial Engineering participation ‐ Distribution Engineering was the catalyst for the slipsheet program in Apple Computers and as such was involved in every facet of the slipsheet program.
  • Manufacturing planning ‐ material processing and handling equipment, and stacking heights may need to be modified.
  • Implementation ‐ the slipsheet program should be implemented with clear milestones and measurement criteria.
  • Follow‐up at each stage ‐ minor glitches which hardly affect existing systems can easily undermine new programs.
  • Auditing of savings ‐ savings, especially major ones, should be reported early to help keep pioneers motivated with faced with new problems.
  • Team spirit ‐ the size of the team will grow with the slipsheet project. Teamwork should be continually fostered through free and open communication between team members.