Blogs

Hi, Jim Tompkins here on the topic of real estate. A distribution center or fulfillment center’s location, size and design have a major impact on its performance. Location matters because of customer satisfaction. The closer you are to your customer, the quicker the customer service location also matters with respect to the availability of labor. The size will have a big impact. If it’s too small, it’s going to limit the capacity. If it’s too large, it’s going to increase the cost. Design will dictate the efficiency and effectiveness of the operation. Therefore real estate has a major impact on the overall performance of your operation. Real estate is really a big deal.

Hi, Jim Tompkins here on the topic of real estate. A distribution center or fulfillment center’s location, size and design have a major impact on its performance. Location matters because of customer satisfaction. The closer you are to your customer, the quicker the customer service location also matters with respect to the availability of labor. The size will have a big impact. If it’s too small, it’s going to limit the capacity. If it’s too large, it’s going to increase the cost. Design will dictate the efficiency and effectiveness of the operation. Therefore real estate has a major impact on the overall performance of your operation. Real estate is really a big deal.

Hello! I’m Jim Tompkins, the founder and chairman of Tompkins Ventures. I would like to address the topic of business intelligence. Business intelligence is a set of tools and systems used to collect, analyze, and interpret data to gain insights. These insights, based on a deep understanding about how things are changing, provide a foundation for innovation. Therefore, innovation transforms insight into tangible outcomes that beget new business intelligence. This cycle of business intelligence resulting in insights that result in innovation is an endless loop that makes good companies. Great business intelligence, therefore, is critical for the success of your organization.

Hello, I’m Jim Tompkins, the founder and chairman of Tompkins Ventures. I have three observations about sourcing and procurement. I would like to share with you. First de-globalization and resilience have triggered considerable discussion about friendly showing, near-shoring and reshoring, creating the necessity of a whole new approach to sourcing and procurement. The transformation of sourcing and procurement brought about by digitization, data-driven solutions and artificial intelligence has resulted in stronger and earlier, supplier involvement and more agile and flexible relationships. Optionality has replaced single-source supply chains. These three observations demand the reinvention of how you approach sourcing and procurement.

Hello, Jim Tompkins! Here, on two major challenges of transportation and freight forwarding. First, unpredictable shipping costs have become a major challenge to organizations, budgets, and their ability to control costs. Secondly, with disruptions becoming the new normal, the ability to control shipping times has become unreliable. To regain control, we must get in front of these challenges through the use of technology and industry insight.

Hello, Jim Tompkins, here to talk about labor services. Wow! Over the last four years, the reinvention of work has changed, how we work with labor. And the big component of that change has been technology. I would like a touch on 2 of the services that we work with where technologies had a major impact on how these labor services work. First is outsourcing call centers, and secondly, is the use of adaptable labor. If we look at the technology that we use today in call centers. It makes it virtually obsolete to try to do your own call centers. The technology begets outsourcing of your call centers to really get it right. Secondly, Uber, like technology, provides scalable logistics, labor to meet the fluctuating labor demands that you have upon your operation. So we augment your full-time employees, not with temporary labor, but with full-time employees of an adaptable labor service. This way we avoid the problems with independent contractors. And we can provide the labor we need when the labor is needed. Technology has changed labor service. If you’re not doing the things that we talked about with call centers and with adaptable workforces. Let us know we’d be happy to help.

Hello, Jim Tompkins, the founder and chairman of Tompkins, ventures on the topic of packaging optimization. Of course, the two big gorillas in the room with packaging optimization are material costs and shipping costs. These are very important. But beyond this we also need to look at the cost of labor, the amount of space it takes to do packaging, the impacts on product damage, packaging disposal and recycling. The right packaging minimizes waste which delights our ecology-conscious consumers, improves sustainability, impacts the environment and builds consumer brand loyalty. Packaging optimization is more than just material cost and shipping cost. Let’s look at the total picture.

Hi Jim Tompkins. here, on warehousing, distribution and fulfillment. The demands being placed upon distribution and fulfillment today, require a high degree of flexibility and modularity. The requirements vary on an hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis. This, plus the disruptions and supply and demand throughout the year requires distribution and fulfillment, have a high degree of adaptability, optionality, and agility. There are no normal days. Every day is a new page of the book.

Hello! I’m Jim Tompkins. I’m the founder and chairman of Tompkins ventures, and I’d like to briefly touch on the evolution of freight, audit and payment services. Originally fate audit and payment services only targeted the accuracy of your fate invoices. But it’s gone way beyond that today. Today. Fate audit and payment services have expanded to include deep analytics that assess your fate, spend, increase your overall operational efficiency and enhance vendor relationships, enhancing your freight audit and payment services is a prerequisite to the success of your supply chain.

Hello, Jim Tompkins on the topic of reverse logistics. The tactical aspects of reverse logistics with respect to transportation and warehousing costs are important. However, of even greater importance are the strategic aspects of the existing consumer. Return policies and supplier agreements on returns. Delighting customers and collaborating with suppliers are best practices that can have a huge impact on a company’s success. Also proactively leveraging data analytics to gain insights about return patterns in customer behaviors can result in huge benefits, in sustainability, in customer loyalty and organizational profitability. Reverse logistics is not about logistics. It’s about the relationship between you, your customer, and your supplier. This is really an important topic.

I’m Jim Tompkins. And I’d like to talk about how digital enablement is often misunderstood. Digital enablement is not about technology. Digital enablement is about people. Digital enablement is supply chain leveraging technology to enhance the ability of people to plan, execute and manage resilient supply chains. Digital enablement is not about adopting the latest technology but rather about creating value for customers and stakeholders. Digital enablement is collaborative. It’s iterative, it’s continuous and it’s dynamic. It must involve all constituents and cannot be a top-down mandate. Really getting digital enablement right is critical to the success of your supply chain.

Hello, I’m Jim Tompkins on the topic of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence plays a pivotal role in enhancing supply, chain, resilience and managing volatility.
The early days of AI theory and concepts were explored in the 1950s and 1960s. Rules-based expert systems drove AI forward in the 1970 S. And in the 1980s machine learning took center stage in the 1980s and 1990s. And the pace of AI-applied research expanded in the 1990s up through the 2010s. AI-adaption began its scale in the early 2010s. And by 2016 AI saw a significant real-world application in supply chains. Generative AI models emerged in 2020, just in time for the VUKI. The volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity of Covid, and by 2024 were being applied across the end-to-end supply chain throughout business and our everyday life. The question I’m asked frequently is whether AI is relevant to supply chain? The answer is clear. AI is critical to achieving best-in-class supply chain performance. We need to get on the bandwagon. It is moving rapidly.

Hello, Jim Tompkins, to share a few thoughts on capital formation. I stepped into the world of private equity. angel investors, venture capital and family offices over 25 years ago and I’ve played a variety of roles in over 100 transactions. We work with SEC-licensed broker-dealers to navigate the intricate security laws and to ensure full compliance. We use the magic of AI to support our efforts in three ways. First to compose tantalizing teasers,. Secondly, to prepare confidential information, and memorandums that are intriguing to potential investors. And third, to identify companies that are qualified and interested in partnering, partnering with you. We support you and your financial partners in valuation, in funding negotiation, and in risk management. We have the experience in the background to help you raise the capital that you need to allow your business to be successful. But it’s not just about dollars. It’s not just about capital. It’s about your dreams. We architect success by constructing bridges between visionaries and their destiny. Let us help you raise the capital you need to achieve your ultimate success.

Hello, Jim Tompkins here of Tompkins Ventures to discuss customs. There are six reasons why efficient and effective customs are very important to your organization. Number one. They minimize import duties. Number 2. They minimize tax and storage fees. Number 3. They allow you to move goods across borders more quickly. Number 4. They prevent delays in shipping number 5, they prevent penalties and fines that are result of noncompliance. And lastly, it helps you respond more quickly to shifts in global market demands. So contrary to popular belief. Customs is not just about compliance, rather, customs is a strategic opportunity that has a huge impact on your company’s profitability.

Hello! I’m Jim Tompkins, the founder and chairman of Tompkins Ventures. I would like to discuss the key requirement of the success of your organization: leadership. We work with leadership teams to maximize the success of your business by devising the right vision, the right strategy, organizational structure, culture, and the right communications to drive profitable growth.We want to be sure, we have the right people in the right positions, and we have the right processes across the organization. We nurture leaders. So they grow and prosper and transform into Titans. We identified the need for, and we deploy the coaching and leadership development to propel your organization to achieving success. Let me know if we can help you take your leadership to the next level.

Hi, I’m Jim Tompkins, and like to share a few thoughts on port operations. Two topics really: port digitization and automation. These two factors together, port digitization and automation have significant implications for the maritime industry. They have transformed, how ports operate and how ports interact with global supply chains. If we look at digital solutions, we see 3 topics. First of all, the streamlining of port operations increasing throughput and making them more efficient, safe, and secure. Secondly, allowing for the tracking of shipments from origin to destination, yes, end to end, enhancing transparency, accountability, optimizing vessel routes, reducing emissions and minimizing ecological impacts. Thirdly, under digital solutions, we are seeing the interconnectivity of ports to foster collaboration and information exchange benefiting the entire ocean shipping industry. If we look at the automation side of ports, we see first of all, automated cranes, robotic handlers and AGVs and autonomous trucks, allowing for the automation of the flow of goods through ports. Secondly, we’re seeing gate operating automation and yard management operations which are allowing us to automate the flow of vehicles into and out of the port operations. And thirdly, we’re using drones for surveillance and for maintenance. So the ports of today have been transformed by port digitization and automation exciting times ahead as we increase the flow of goods around the world.