The Month of Improvement

Continual improvement and trainings are very crucial, especially in the shipping and logistics industry, which is very dynamic and where change happens all the time. The learning curve is shortening day-by-day, and the technology is helping to improve the lives of many. As one of the oldest industries in the world, international shipping has been one of the industries that is adopting technology slower when compared to others, due to the complex procedures involved. However, change is now happening fast. It is not only about shipping from point A to B, but also about the follow ups when there are customs exams, when a damaged good arrives, or when there is a container that was loaded heavier than it was supposed to be. There are many other possible issues that may be faced daily.

Constant market fluctuations in some trade lanes leave many industry experts trying to forecast the future, when providing suggestions to customers, rather than the exact data. Technology will not be able to change the human touch factor within the shipping industry, but it will complement it and help improve the processes, visibility, and communication.

At MTS Logistics, trainings and continual improvement are very important.

We put great deal of importance on these with continuous trainings, both internal, and with the help of our outside training consultant partners.

This year, we named the month of September as the “Month of Improvement.” For this reason, we had many different training sessions performed throughout the company in September. It is impossible to fit all of the areas of desired improvement into only one month, but we selected the month of September to do this in a more organized fashion, and celebrate the change. Change is constant and undeniable.

Personal Improvement, constant change, and being open-minded about change, go hand-in-hand.

In order to keep up with changes all around us, constant improvement is a must. Working with many different countries, one must have a broad knowledge about the rules and regulations of the particular country, along with the culture, shipping patterns, commodity information, and geographical sourcing areas for a particular commodity. This is a must – with the help of web search, anything is possible these days, but having in-depth knowledge and experience can not be replaced by anything.

For these reasons, we have covered many different topics from the incoterms, compliance, and customer service skills, to many other beneficial topics this month for our operations, and sales, teams.

There were not only usual sales and customer service trainings, but we also went through important topics, such as raising our frequency, public speaking, and many other interesting topics, which the MTS Logistics team enjoyed. In the end, we did not forget to celebrate the Month of Improvement with some drinks at a place close to our Manhattan office.

As Tolstoy said, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” We should start working on ourselves to make a greater change, and it should start today.