“Basically all our cooperation with companies starts with a logistics audit. Why? Because before we can propose a specific tool for optimising processes to a client, we need to get to know them perfectly,” says Jan Šlajer. In an interview with his colleague Petr Jalůvka, they present a unique approach to logistics audits directed by DYNAMIC FUTURE.

Where have you done a logistics audit recently?

Jan Šlajer, Managing Director of DYNAMIC FUTURE: Recently, we did an audit for a company producing large air conditioning ducts and for a company in the automotive industry. In the first case we presented the audit results to the Swedish management, in the second case to the Swiss. I must say that the boards of both companies were extremely satisfied. They appreciated that we were looking not only at the logistics processes themselves, but also at the software support and the interconnection of both processes and support. Our goal is in fact to identify the biggest errors they have in them and to make the whole operation of the company more efficient with the help of the proposed measures. The Swiss CEO even said that she could imagine the benefits of such an audit in other plants they have around the world.

Do they do logistics audits differently across our borders?

Jan Šlajer: They certainly do, but I think that the way we use it at DYNAMIC FUTURE is unique at least in Europe. It is based on a methodology developed by the Chamber of Logistics Auditors and works not only with logistics consulting, but with consulting in general that improves and streamlines the operation of entire companies. The methodology of the Chamber of Logistics Auditors is built very simply. It focuses on three areas – strategy, processes and IT support. The timing of change is then decided by finance, time and priorities. Companies get a specific timetable of what to change and how to change it to achieve improvement.

Petr Jalůvka, Managing Director of DYNAMIC FUTURE: Professor Gross said that there is only one logistics. That’s what we’re building on. In the concept of the Chamber of Logistics Auditors, a logistics audit is de facto a systematic subjective evaluation. And the fact that it is subjective, but set in a clearly defined system, I think makes it very unique. I haven’t done any research, but I think it’s highly likely that the methodology or the concept of how we approach a logistics audit in general is unique. We have experience of working with multinational companies, and they see logistics as just a piece of the whole system. For us, however, it is its foundation.

You say that the logistics audit is based on subjective evaluation. How should we understand this?

Petr Jalůvka: We are invited by companies that want to change something. They want to get advice. Logistics audit is not “for somebody”. It’s not a paper in a nice frame that you hang in the boardroom. It’s an audit for you and it goes inside the company. You don’t declare the results anywhere. It is information for your development. Whether you use it or not is up to you. The subjective view of our experts plays a crucial role in it. We are consultants with a quarter of a century of experience. We know what’s new, we know how processes work in hundreds of companies and we can bring best practices to other businesses.

Jan Šlajer: We tell our clients at the very first meeting that we might not discover something completely new. The result is then a combination of what everyone usually already knows and doesn’t want to admit and our observations, which are based on an unbiased view of the company. But we’ll keep it simple and with an external assessment. Because, let’s not kid ourselves, the way it works in most companies is that the external view is perceived differently than the internal view. A whole lot of things that are “known” just don’t make it to the competent places. When we present the final output of a logistics audit to senior management, we often hear: We didn’t know this, we weren’t told this, we have to change this.

What do people in companies where you come to do logistics audits tend to be most surprised about?

Petr Jalůvka: If we say that we want to sit down with the workers who take orders and we want to “track” the order until it is shipped to someone who manages the distribution process. When they tell us: We need to solve a problem in the warehouse, we respond: That’s fine, but it originates somewhere else. A company is simply an organism that breathes with one lung. It is not possible to optimize something locally, add a person, subtract a person, add a shelf, add a machine or software. That doesn’t solve anything globally. The problem may be well hidden in the process. And we can solve it cheaper, easier and faster.

A logistics audit really evaluates a company across the board. We look at the operational level, where we address how processes are physically carried out. We also want to look at the strategic level, where it’s key to know where the company is going, what tools it’s using to get there and what its long-term goal is. And then we look at the level that is probably one of the most important today, which is information support for processes. It’s actually a multi-criteria matrix that we’re trying to put together within a month to help not only companies, but more importantly their people, find a way to be more effective in the long term.