New Year’s Greetings
We at Sync Logistics wish you a Happy New Year!
■ Our outlook for 2025
This July, our company will celebrate its 12th year since its establishment. The number of helpful and dependable employees in our company has been increasing each year, and with the new challenges we are taking on in new business areas, I feel our company is growing steadily.
On the other hand, new issues have emerged from our expansion. An issue that I feel strongly about is the small number of employees who can decode key performance indicators (KPIs), identify problems in our work processes, and produce solutions to such problems.
A KPI is a measure or barometer that evaluates the progress of each work process vis-a-vis business goals such as sales and profits. I myself have established various KPIs and use them in improving work operations and making business decisions.
■ What do KPIs imply?
For example, the “yard occupancy rate” is a KPI that shows a yard’s operational status. It refers to the ratio of the yard’s capacity to the number of vehicles stored in the yard. If a yard can hold 100 cars but only 80 cars are parked, the yard’s occupancy rate is 80%. If that number drops to 60 cars, the occupancy rate is 60%. Conversely, if the number rises to 90 cars, the rate will change to 90%.
There are various factors that influence fluctuations in the yard occupancy rate.
Factors that increase the occupancy rate (examples)
- The number of vehicles entering the yard is high (an increase in the shipper’s stock, increased demand in specific regions, etc.)
- The number of vehicles exiting the yard is low (delays in a ship’s schedule, delays in shipping preparations and vanning, etc.)
Factors that decrease the occupancy rate (examples)
- The number of vehicles entering the yard is low (a decline in market demand, a sales slump due to regulations in specific regions, a rise in used car prices, etc.)
- The number of vehicles exiting the yard is high (faster loading onto the ship, more ship bookings, etc.)
If the yard occupancy rate continues to be high or low, we must identify which process to use and swiftly conduct approaches and countermeasures.
■ Decoding KPIs and gleaning measures to take
Since our company’s establishment, I have worked in all departments, from sales to planning and even shipping so when I see KPIs, it’s easy for me to surmise what is happening based on my work experience. However, because we have adopted a function-based approach in terms of our company’s organization and because work is sometimes divided, the number of employees who find it difficult to visualize the overall flow of our services and understand the synergies at play is increasing..
Consequently, our goal this year is to have all employees understand the overall processes of our services and our KPIs.
We have at least 100 processes, and we will shine a light on each process’s task details, the overall flow, synergies, as well as approaches and countermeasures in order to make them visible. By documenting and sharing these, we should be able to understand what influences each KPI and how they fluctuate. I will create a task force comprising chosen staff members, and immediately get to work.
I believe this initiative will allow our employees to offer even more valuable proposals and services through KPIs. As we have done in the past, we will keep on moving this year and do our utmost to be able to contribute to your business.
We look forward to your continued patronage this year.
Thank you for your time.
