Laser-Focused on Process Innovation: Top 50 Most Innovative Companies to Watch 2022
The CEO Views Magazine, April 2022
CEO Views has named Canon Business Process Services (Canon) as one of the “Top 50 Most Innovative Companies to Watch 2022.” This is the third year in a row that the publication has recognized Canon for its inventive approach. This includes a flexible, integrated service delivery model that enables Canon to manage services on-site at the client’s location, off-site, and offshore along with the latest technologies to support new process design.
For over 30 years Canon has been laser-focused on process innovation in order to help clients enable business agility, digital transformation and lead an increasingly evolving workforce. Canon solves these challenges by leveraging its experienced team backed by Six Sigma expertise and best-in-class technology.
“Businesses faced unprecedented challenges during the past two years,” says Joe Marciano, president and CEO of Canon Business Process Services. “Many of these organizations stayed the course and are now looking to thrive. They have set their sights on fundamentally transforming their operations by automating workflows and leveraging other technology advancements. By continuing to apply innovative thinking and our holistic approach, we can help clients meet their goals.”
This mindset continues to garner industry recognition for Canon. Case in point: the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP) has named Canon to its Global Outsourcing 100 list for 16 years in a row. According to IAOP, the Global Outsourcing 100 is an essential reference for organizations seeking relationships with the best outsourcing companies. Canon earned additional IAOP Global Outsourcing 100 recognition last year by receiving top honors in five special judging categories. These categories include “Programs for Innovation,” which recognizes a company’s ability to implement solutions that produce new forms of value for customers.
One such advanced program is Canon’s Warehouse Management Services. These services have continued to expand over the past two years. They comprise an integrated warehouse logistics and materials management solution that offers a different approach.
Traditionally, warehouse management support options have been limited and have always included a trade-off. Staffing agencies may offer some relief for talent shortages, but they often focus on headcount over skill set. Third-party logistics providers (3PLs) can support some process and technology needs, but clients might lose control and visibility. 3PLs require clients to fit their processes to the 3PL’s methods, typically at the 3PL’s facilities.
Canon offers a unique, tailored solution, including labor and technology, that can be delivered onsite at the client’s location. This means that clients can work with Canon as a true extension of their warehouse to identify long-term solutions on their own terms. What are some benefits that can be achieved? Canon spotlights four wins that companies can count on when they team with the right partner to adopt best-in-class warehouse management strategies:
- Improved labor management. Warehouse and logistics labor is hard to come by right now and in some cases, even harder to retain. The popularity of e-commerce combined with the global pandemic and an already-constrained labor market converged to create an ongoing shortage of warehouse workers. To help manufacturers and distributors tackle these mounting challenges, Canon recruits, trains and provides career paths for warehouse associates. Engaging a trusted partner like Canon to manage labor often proves to be more effective for a company compared to overseeing this function in house. Also, with effective labor management as part of its continuous improvement process, Canon is a valued partner that can offer a total cost of ownership (TCO) that is lower than what a temporary staffing firm or 3PL can deliver.
- Process optimization. After first addressing the areas of a warehouse that are most in need of optimization, Canon then works toward making the entire, end-to-end operation a world-class facility. At a high level, this involves analyzing the complete product journey as it is received at the dock, put into inventory, added to an order, packed, and shipped out the door. Canon breaks the various processes down, putting the right procedures in place to optimize those activities, establish quantifiable metrics for each, and then compares the operation with industry benchmarks and best practices. From there, a Canon team implements quantifiable improvements that range from speeding up receiving to determining the time it takes to process receipts and optimizing storage capacity and filling orders faster. Canon combines these and other common metrics with those that are unique to each business that it works with.
- Improved operational performance. It’s common for companies to use external metrics to measure their own performance, with on-time deliveries, perfect orders and supplier accuracy among the most commonly used metrics. To help companies go deeper and further enhance operational performance, Canon advises them to put a brighter spotlight on internal performance. That includes assessing safety incidents, employee performance, inventory turnover and other metrics that can have a significant impact on overall throughput and success. By leveraging its extensive knowledge bank and warehousing expertise, Canon helps companies see beyond the external and drill down into what’s going on within their four walls. Using those insights as a baseline, it helps organizations make the necessary adjustments to fine-tune their operations, manage their most pressing challenges and plan for future success
- Ensuring a culture of safety and compliance. Building a safety-first logistics culture has become table stakes for manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and other organizations that are balancing a labor shortage with high demand for their products. Knowing this, Canon begins with an onsite assessment of the company’s current safety culture, identifies potential hazards, addresses those issues, and then empowers employees to call out new problems as they emerge.
“Canon Warehouse Management Services demonstrate how we are focused on innovation to help our clients address current challenges and better prepare for the future,” says Joe Marciano. He adds that whatever their business needs, Canon’s mission is to help ensure that its clients are ready to prosper in the days ahead.