2020年04月01日

コラム／最適物流の科学　おわりに

最適物流の科学

 

弊社社長の菅が、2017年12月に『最適物流の科学―舞台は3億6106万平方km。

海を駆け巡る「眠らない仕事」』という書籍を出版しました。

 

そこで、本ブログでも、その書籍から抜粋した内容を

毎週1話ずつ、ご紹介していきたいと思います。

 

最終回となる今回は、「おわりに」というテーマでお話しいたします。

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「おわりに①」

 

本書の冒頭で記した通り、私は二二年間で二万八〇〇〇人を超える方々と名刺交換をしてきました。そうした多くの皆さんとの出会いが、私の仕事の糧となってきました。本書を締めくくるにあたって、これまでに出会った皆さんとの間で起きた、印象に残っているエピソードを二つご紹介しましょう。

 

「今日にでもアメリカに飛んで、ロスの港に行って、貨物を動かしてくれ！　それが物流のプロだろ！」―。

 

弊社は北米航路での海上輸送を多く請け負っていますが、トラブルも少なくありません。これはそんな中であるお客様から言われたひと言です。今から一六年前（二〇〇一年）の出来事です。

この時は弊社は、大型貨物を船でアメリカへ運び、さらに内陸部へトラックで輸送するという依頼を受けていました。貨物の輸送は、船積みの段階までは順調に進んでいきました。しかしロサンゼルス港に入ったところで貨物が滞留してしまいます。港が混雑し、なかなか内陸輸送へ接続できません。動きのないまま時間だけが過ぎていき、指定の納期に間に合わせることが困難な状況に陥ってしまいました。その事実をお客様に伝えた時に言われたのが、先の言葉です。

「何て無茶なことを言うんだ」。

口には出さなかったものの、私は率直にそう思いました。その頃は、海外の港の混雑だから仕方がないという認識が一般的でした。事態の打開に向けて物流会社が海外の港に行くという発想がまったくなかったのです。

「私が行っても、状況は変わりません」。

先のお客様の要望に対して、電話で応対したスタッフはそう答えてしまいました。その当時、弊社はまだ北米に現地法人を設立していませんでした。内陸輸送のハンドリングは米系代理店に任せていたこともあり、誰かが日本から現地へ行ったところで状況を変えることはできないという固定観念に囚われていたのです。

結局、そのお客様との信頼関係は壊れてしまいました。もしスタッフがすぐにアメリカへ飛んで、現場を視察していたら、代理店を適切に動かすことができたのではないか。そんなことを思いながら、この時の対応を大いに反省しました。

この出来事を契機に、弊社の社風は変わりました。海外で問題が起きたときは、とにかくすぐに現地へ飛び、トラブルシューティングをするようになったのです。もっとも、アメリカに関しては、このトラブルで悔しい思いをした社員が現地法人を立ち上げて駐在しているので、日本から出向かなくても現場主義は実現されていますが。

すでにお気づきかもしれませんが、これは第三章（Ｐ一二二）でご紹介したエピソードに繫がっています。こうしたお客様からいただいた言葉が弊社の風土を変え、大きく成長させてくれました。

 

 

「おたくの今の営業マンを担当から外してくれ！」―。

 

ある日、私は一人のお客様から呼び出しを受けました。そのお客様は、以前私が担当していた方です。当時はすでに別の社員に担当を引き継いでいました。私が呼び出しに応じてお客様のところへ出向き、真っ先に言われたのがこの言葉です。

いきなりのお叱りに、私は驚かずにいられませんでした。引き継いだ営業マンがきっと粗相をしたのだろうと思い、恐る恐る理由を尋ねました。そこで返ってきた答えはまったく予想外のものでした。

「うちから出している海上貨物のほとんどが、おたくに変わってしまっている。シェアを取りすぎだ」。

私が唖然とする中、お客様は説明を続けました。

「うちのスタッフが、なぜかおたくの営業マンを気に入ってしまっている。他に任せていた分まで切り替えすぎてしまっているんだ」。

 

前代未聞のクレームでした。

結局、その営業マンには、お客様から伺った旨を説明し、担当を外れてもらいました。もちろん「よくやった」と褒めた上でです。「今後も、どのお客様に対しても、それぐらいの気持ちで遠慮なくやれ」と、私は彼を笑顔で称えました。

ハードを持たない弊社にとって、お客様からいただく信頼というソフトは、かけがえのない財産です。この件に関しては多少複雑な思いはあるものの、担当者の間で強い信頼関係を築くことができた好例として強く記憶に残っています。

 

前述の二例を含め、数多くのお客様との出会いの中で、私はさまざまな経験、知識を得ることができました。同時に、業界の内外を見据えるための広い視野を身につける機会にもなりました。

そうした所産が本書を執筆するにあたっての大きな基盤となっています。

こうして生まれた本書の執筆を、私が思い立った理由は二つあります。

 

一つは国際物流、特に海上輸送の実情について、物流関係者のみならず多くの他業界の方々に知ってもらいたかったという動機です。国際物流に関わる会社はたくさんありますが、各会社がどんな業務に携わっているのかを明確に答えられる人は多くないでしょう。また各社のホームページやパンフレットを見ると、多くの会社がさまざまなサービスを請け負うことを謳っており、その差がわかりづらくなっているという現状もあります。

幅広い業務の中で、何が得意分野かすら見分けがつかないケースも少なくありません。そうした状況の中、海外へ貨物を送ろうとしている荷主から「これはどの会社に頼んだらいいの？」という相談を受けることが多くあります。

実際弊社では、自社が得意としてない分野は、競合他社を紹介してます。弊社の営業マンには、不得意な分野の仕事はやみくもに受けるな、売上はどうでもいいから荷主の利益を最優先に考えて、国際物流のプロとして、ベストな他社を紹介しろ、それも「最適物流」だと教育してます。

そこで数ある国際物流業者の中で、どの事業者に委託するのがよいのか、何を基準に事業者の実力を判断すべきか、という視点から業界の全体像を描いてみました。中でも一般にはあまり知られていないフォワーダーという業態に力点を置いて解説しました。

荷主にとってどの事業者が最適かというところに立脚した点で、これから国際物流に携わろうとしている人たちの教科書的な本として、一般的なビジネス書とは違った視点を提供できたのではないかと思います。

 

もう一つの理由が、国の存亡にかかわる海運業界の現状に一石を投じたかったということです。本書の中で再三述べてきましたが、海運業界は現在、不況という荒波の真っ只中にあります。特に、船会社は非常に厳しい状況に置かれています。行き過ぎた自由競争により、全船会社に赤字が続き、船会社が吸収合併や破綻によってここ数年で半数近くにまで減少した状況は、決して健全とはいえません。荷主も、船会社が赤字に陥るほどの安い運賃は望んでいません。

むしろ、「運賃が上がってもいいから、安定したサービスや豊富な選択肢を維持してほしい」といった声をよく耳にします。実際、貿易会社を経営している私の父も、「運賃が安すぎる。高くてもいいからスペースを安定的に供給してほしい」と常々訴えています。貿易会社にとって、海上運賃はコストに他なりません。本来であれば安値は歓迎されることでしょう。しかし、荷主に懸念を抱かせるレベルまで運賃が下がってしまっているのが現状なのです。

父は同時に、これだけ船会社の数が減ってしまった海運業界の行く末も危惧しています。船会社以外の物流業者も、多角化を進め、業界内で激しい競争を行なっています。得意分野以外にもシェアを広げ、少しでも売上を伸ばそうと各社が闇雲に走り続けているのが海運業界の現状だといえます。

そこでは荷主に対して最適な物流を提供しようという視点は欠けがちです。海運業に携わる各企業が荷主の利益・利便性を第一に考え、共存共栄を目指す姿勢こそが今一番求められているのではないでしょうか。

そして、そういったことが、有事の際の日本の国防にも繫がり、貿易立国（＝海運立国）である日本国民の生命線をも守っていくことになるでしょう。

そうした強い気持ちを抱きながら筆を執ったがゆえに、文中には関係者の皆さんにとって厳しい指摘も含まれているかと思います。中には、個人的な思いが強く出すぎている記述もあるでしょう。

いずれも、物流業者と荷主を、共により良い未来へ導きたいという願いから生じた、一つの見解と捉えていただければ幸いです。

 

In Conclusion

 

As I mentioned at the beginning of this book, I have exchanged business cards with over 28,000 people in 22 years. Encountering such many people has become a source of my career. In concluding this book, let me introduce two unforgettable episodes that happened in the course of my meeting with this many people.

 

“Fly to the United States today, go to the port of LA and move the cargo! A logistics professional could do it!” –

 

We are undertaking a lot of maritime transportation in the North American routes. In this field of work, we come across quite a few troubles. The above is what I was once told by a customer. It happened sixteen years ago (2001).

 

At that time, we received a request to transport a large cargo to the US by ship and then transfer it to the inland by truck. Transportation of this cargo proceeded smoothly until the stage of shipping. When the cargo entered Los Angeles Port, it got stuck there. The harbor became crowded and it was hard to connect to inland transportation. Time passed while no further action was taken. This it became difficult to deliver the cargo within the designated date limit.  That is the The above phrase was uttered to me at that time by my customer.

 

I honestly thought in my mind, “What are you saying saying is so irrational I” Of course I did not utter my thought.

 

In those days, the perception was common that there was nothing we could do from here in Japan when overseas ports were crowded. It did not occur to anybody that somebody of  the international logistics company would go to an overseas port to fix the problem for breaking through the situation.

 

“Even if I go, the situation won’t change.”

 

A staffer carelessly answered by phone in the above way in response to the customer’s desperate request.  At that time, we had not established a local subsidiary in North America yet. Also in those days, I had left inland transportation to American agencies. For these reasons, I was captured by the stereotyped thought that nobody could change the situation even if someone goes to the problem site from Japan.

 

After all, the good relationship with that customer broke down after this incident. I wondered, if the staff quickly flew to the United States and inspected the site, what would have been an outcome, as he could have handled the American agency properly. Thinking about such things, I regretted how we dealt with the case at that time.

 

This incident triggered the change of our corporate culture.

 

When we heard that a problem occurred overseas, we came to jump to the trouble site quickly and started troubleshooting in any way possible. Regarding the United States, however, the staff who we had a regrettable experience of this incident launched an overseas affiliate and is stationed there these days, so hands-on approach have been realized as far as America is concerned, even if no one visits the problem site from Japan.

 

As you may have already noticed, this is connected with the episode introduced in chapter 3. These words from the customers have changed the climate of our company and contributed to our further growth.

 

“Remove your current salesman from his in-charge position!” -.

 

One day, I received a call from one customer. That customer is the one I was once in charge of. At that time another employee was already taking charge of  this customer. The above phrase was uttered by this customer as soon as I went to his company in response to his call.

 

Because I was scolded by him all of a sudden, I was so astonished. I first thought the salesperson who took over my responsibility must have made a mistake. I fearfully asked this customer why he was so upset. His response was completely beyond my expectation.

 

“Most of the maritime transport we are sending out had turned into yours. You took too much share in the marine transport business. ” While I was stunned, the customer continued what he had to say. “Our staff like your salesperson too much. Therefore, he had given too much share to your company, even including  those shares that was entrusted upon other companies.

 

It was an unheardof claim. I explained to this salesperson what I heard from this customer of his. After praising all his past efforts and saying to him, “Well-done all these years,” I, after all, removed him from his position. But I encouraged him,  “Feel free to do for every customer without hesitation, as you have been doing for this particular customer,” I thus honored him with a smile on his great salesmanship.

 

The software of trust that we have received from customers is our irreplaceable property, as we have no hardware. Although I still have a variety of emotions about this case, this incident is deeply engraved in my memory as a good example where we were able to build strong relationships of trust among people involved.

 

I was able to gain various experiences and knowledge through many encounters with many customers including the two examples cited above,. At the same time, All these experiences gave me opportunities to acquire a broad perspective on the inside and outside of the international logistics industry. These assets served as the great foundation for writing this book. There were two reasons why the idea of writing this book dawned on me.

 

The first reason was that I wanted not only logistics officials but also many people of other industries to know about the international logistics, especially the actual situation of the maritime transport. Although there are many companies involved in the international logistics, not many people can clearly answer what kind of work each logistics company is engaged in. Looking at the homepages and pamphlets of each company, many companies are claiming to undertake various services. It is not easy to differentiate their services.

 

he logistics companies are engaged in a wide range of tasks but there are a number of cases where it is hard to tell what their specialties are. Under such circumstances, we often get contacted for consultations by shippers who are trying to send cargo overseas, and their question is  “Which company should we ask to transport this cargo?”

 

In fact, our company makes it a practice to introduce other competitors for businesses in the fields that our company is not good at. I have been educating our sales people to the effect that they should not blindly accept the type of work where our company is still immature, they should always put priority on the shippers’ interests instead of our own sales profits, they should introduce to the shippers the best other companies in the spirit of the professionalism of the international logistics.  Doing these is also practicing “optimal logistics”.

 

I tried to draw the whole picture of the international logistics industry from the viewpoint of which company should be selected among the many international logistics companies. Also I had in mind was the standpoint of what criteria should be used to judge the competence of a business operator.

 

Among them, I emphatically explained the business genre of “forwarder “that is not so well known in general.

 

I trust that I was able to provide the viewpoints that we usually don’t see in general business books through this book. I believe that this book can serve as a textbook for those we are about to engage themselves in the international because I focus in this book on the question of which operator or company is the best for a shipper.

 

Another reason is that I wanted to give an impact to the current situation of the shipping industry that concerns the survival of the nation. As I repeatedly mention in this book, the shipping industry is currently in the midst of the rough waves of resession. In particular, shipping companies are in a very difficult situation. The overwhelming free competition continuously brought about deficits ro all shipping companies to the point where the number of the shipping companies has decreased to nearly half by the absorption mergers or bankcrupsy in the last few years. In no way is this a sound trend. The shippers do not necessarily want the cheap fares to the extent that the shipping companies that they trade with fall into deficits.

 

Rather, from shippers, I often hear the voice that” The fare raise is fine but keep stable services and abundant options.” In fact, my father who runs a trading company also constantly appeals “The fare is very cheap but please make sure that shipping companies will supply spaces stably.  It will be all right with me even if the fare gets expensive.” For trading companies, marine fares are surely the important part of the cost. Actually, the low cost should be welcomed. However, the fare has come down to the level that makes shippers concerned about the welfare of shipping companies.

 

At the same time, my father is also worried about the future of the shipping industryas the number of shipping companies has decreased so much. Logistics operators other than shipping companies also promote diversification and intensely compete within the industry. It is the current status of the shipping industry that each company continues to aim at expanding its market share in any way possible beyond its specialty fields by increasing its sales even a little.

This type of business moral tends to lack the philosophy of providing optimum logistics for shippers. I think that the companies that engage in the maritime industry need to first think about the interests and convenience of shippers and this attitude toward coexistence and mutual prosperity is the most sought after today.

 

This type of attitude will lead to Japan’s defense in the case of an emergency, and protect the lifeline of the  people of Japan that is the trading nation (maritime transport nation).

 

With such a strong feeling, I took a pen. I may have said something harsh to some people concerned. In some cases, I may have pushed forth my personal views too strongly.

 

I’m happy if you regard my descriptions as the view that  arises from a sincere  desire to lead both tdistributors and shippers together to a better future.

 

I would like to make a proposal for shippers with all due respect for them all in closing this book. I receive a request from shippers all the time “I would like to  keep the cost as low as possible”. I can fully understand shippers’ desire to lower the fare in their position where their job is to ship cargo.

 

There is no doubt that cost reduction is an important issue for every company. Since our company also takes a shipper’s position in dealing with a shipping company, we engage in price cut negotiations every day on purchasing offshore fares.

 

On the other hand, we have a strong sense of crisis against the current situation where the market level has declined too much. Also as a shipper, I naturally have a desire to seek fare reductions, but it is also true that I do not want to give further pressure to the management of the shipping companies.As a matter of fact, our company is engaged in negotiation with some shipping companies to help them maintain their right to continue their business in a sound manner.

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最適物流の科学――舞台は3億6106万平方km。海を駆け巡る「眠らない仕事」

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4478084297/

 

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