Repetition in logistics practice often is misconstrued as doing the same thing over and over again, with no changes made. In actuality, proper repetition involves revisiting a similar situation with changes made in how you look, ask, and act. While it may seem like it’s enough to trace one supply chain once in the beginning, it’s actually beneficial to trace that same supply chain again with slight modifications to understand the process even further.
With each repetition, you will find at least one new thing that you didn’t see the first time around, whether it be a lapse in time, associated costs, or communication breakdown between two parties. Start by going back to a basic product flow scenario you’ve already done and try tracing that flow again with a slight modification to your approach. If the first time you traced the flow you focused primarily on the sequence of events, go back and do the flow again but focus this time on the time it takes to go through each step and where holdups can occur.
A third time go through the flow again and focus on the cost or use of resources. This kind of repetitive flow without having to learn new concepts allows the basic scenario to become more in depth. This is a key point to remember: do not rush ahead and try to do more difficult scenarios too fast because you think that this will make you learn faster. Most of the time this just leads to frustration and confusion because you do not fully understand the basics yet.
Learning occurs when you stick with one basic flow and get more information from it. When you feel like something is too easy, you probably haven’t looked at it from every angle yet. Try to dedicate a few minutes each day to tracing a basic scenario you already learned instead of moving on to something new. Start by trying to recall the flow from memory, then check to see if you missed anything or if it was incorrect. From there try to make one change to the scenario such as a change in demand or frequency of delivery to see how it affects the rest of the system.
Finally, try to think of one thing you learned from tracing the scenario that you didn’t catch before. This will help keep your repetitive work from becoming rote. As you continue to practice logistics concepts, you will become more comfortable with making decisions along the way. Instead of having to stop and think about each step as you go, you will start to develop an idea of what is going to happen next. This is another way you can tell if your repetitive work is paying off. It shows that you have a solid grasp of how logistics systems work and react under certain circumstances.
If you find yourself getting bored with the work, it’s probably because you haven’t modified it enough to make it different. Keep going back and looking at the same flow from different angles. If you find yourself only looking at the big picture, go back and zoom in on one part of the flow such as the transfer of product from transportation to warehousing. With this modification, you will continue to see new things and repetition will be beneficial.