The soft skills of logistics: interview with Candace Holowicki
Candace Holowicki was tasked with bringing TriMas Corp.'s global logistics operations under corporate control. Her battles, and ultimately her success, demonstrated how logistics can be two parts psychology and one part process.
Mark Solomon joined DC VELOCITY as senior editor in August 2008, and was promoted to his current position on January 1, 2015. He has spent more than 30 years in the transportation, logistics and supply chain management fields as a journalist and public relations professional. From 1989 to 1994, he worked in Washington as a reporter for the Journal of Commerce, covering the aviation and trucking industries, the Department of Transportation, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to that, he worked for Traffic World for seven years in a similar role. From 1994 to 2008, Mr. Solomon ran Media-Based Solutions, a public relations firm based in Atlanta. He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in journalism from The American University in Washington, D.C.
Candace Holowicki tells how she dealt with the challenge of stepping into a newly created corporate-level logistics position.
Among Candace Holowicki's résumé chops—along with 20-plus years of logistics experience and a master's degree in global supply chain management from Indiana University—is a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Michigan. The latter stood Holowicki in good stead in August 2011, when she was tapped for the newly created post of director of global logistics at Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based TriMas Corp.
As Holowicki toured the business units, she quickly grasped that her people skills would be just as critical as mastering the company's operations, if not more so. The business unit leaders owned their respective transport and logistics functions, and Holowicki wasn't sure how they would react to a newcomer effectively riding herd over them. "Was I there to make trouble for them by observing what they were doing and then reporting back that it was all wrong? Was I there to tell them what to do and how to do it? And did they have to listen to me?" she remembered asking herself. "I felt it was important to build rapport with the business unit decision makers and to learn about the TriMas segments before I tried to change anything."
Today, TriMas's global supply chain is in sync and operating efficiently. Most important, there is trust and collaboration between Holowicki and the business unit leaders, a far cry from what she might have expected six years ago. In an interview with Mark B. Solomon, DC Velocity's executive editor-news, Holowicki described her concerns, her approach, and how a successful logistics strategy can be as much of an art form as it is a science.
Q: Can you describe what TriMas does, what your current role is, and the company's logistics footprint?
A: TriMas is a diversified global manufacturer of engineered products, with businesses operating in four segments: packaging, aerospace, energy, and engineered components. My role is to develop and implement global logistics programs that enable our businesses to provide reliable, on-time, damage-free delivery to our customers via the lowest-cost provider available, within the optimal mode, at the time of shipping. Our logistics footprint is primarily within and between the North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific regions.
Q: You stepped into a newly created role at the corporate level. How was TriMas managing its supply chain before you joined?
A: Prior to creating the corporate function, our business units managed their own supply chains. They were autonomous from each other, and from corporate. There was an attempt to consolidate the parcel and LTL (less-than-truckload) spend under common contracts managed by the largest business unit. This resulted in programs that served the managing business unit very well but did not meet the diverse needs of all of the business units.
Q: You encountered significant pushback early on from leaders of the business units. What was the reason behind it, and what was your approach toward overcoming it?
A: I encountered immediate pushback from the business unit that had been coordinating the LTL and parcel spending. The unit did not want to give up control of those programs. There was also pushback from business units whose needs were not met by the current logistics program. Those businesses needed to use non-TriMas providers in order to meet their customers' expectations, but this spend was reported as "non-compliant" to TriMas leadership.
My approach toward overcoming the pushback was inclusion. I included the logistics manager of the largest business unit in meetings and conference calls with carriers and other providers, and made it clear to him and his boss that my plan was to collaborate with them and to build upon the work they had already done in LTL and parcel. For the business units forced to use non-TriMas providers, I included all of the carriers they were using to fill the gaps in our program as "approved carriers" until we completed our program redesign as a group.
Q: What were the biggest operational issues you encountered during your first months there? How did you address and resolve them?
A: The biggest operational issue I encountered was our carrier selection process. We had a partially implemented TMS (transportation management system) that should have provided dynamic carrier routing for the sites that had it. In addition, the rest of the sites had the most complex Excel-based routing guide that I have ever seen.
The sites without access to the TMS were not using the routing guide due to its complexity. To address this, I assessed the status of the TMS implementation and then project-managed the implementation to completion.
The sites with access to the TMS faced a different challenge. They weren't using the system within the framework of a well-designed shipping process. They just dropped the TMS in as the last step. In the worst case, the shipping clerks selected the mode, based on their experience, before entering the shipment information into the TMS. The software would then select the lowest-cost carrier with the necessary transit time within the assigned mode. However, we were not allowing the tool to show us lower-cost options via a different mode, opportunities to combine shipments, or ways to build multistop truckloads. Essentially, the TMS was just making a poor process more efficient.
The first step was to redesign our shipping process to optimize the TMS's value. We combined parcel and LTL shipments that shipped within two days of each other. We converted LTL shipments with the same ship date into multistop truckload moves, converted LTL minimum-charge shipments weighing less than 190 pounds to small parcel, and combined long-haul LTL shipments moving within the same week to the same state or region into pool distribution. By demonstrating the potential savings, I was able to get buy-in from the business units to redesign their shipping process to incorporate the full functionality of the TMS.
Q: Was there an "aha!" moment when you realized that you had won the trust of the business units and that you were all on the same page?
A: It was different with each business unit. With a couple of them, I realized that I had won their trust when they came to me for direction or assistance before making a change, instead of just doing what they wanted and then coming to me for help if it went wrong. One particularly independent business unit completely surprised me when its president contacted me and asked that I prepare a complete review of its logistics, along with opportunities for improvement. We then worked together to implement the cost-savings opportunities and had biweekly conference calls with his team to track progress and issues. After a couple of successes, I was just one of the team.
Q: Beyond mastering the "art of listening," which is easier said than done, what advice would you give other executives who walk into a similar situation?
A: My advice is to be patient, build rapport, and do your fact checking. That may sound obvious, but when you are new to an organization, you want to prove yourself and show value as quickly as possible. Making changes before you have a thorough knowledge of what the current state is, and how it came to be, can be a recipe for disaster. Remain flexible and adaptable in your approach to a problem, because in the end, both business and logistics are still about relationships.
Most of the apparel sold in North America is manufactured in Asia, meaning the finished goods travel long distances to reach end markets, with all the associated greenhouse gas emissions. On top of that, apparel manufacturing itself requires a significant amount of energy, water, and raw materials like cotton. Overall, the production of apparel is responsible for about 2% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions, according to a report titled
Taking Stock of Progress Against the Roadmap to Net Zeroby the Apparel Impact Institute. Founded in 2017, the Apparel Impact Institute is an organization dedicated to identifying, funding, and then scaling solutions aimed at reducing the carbon emissions and other environmental impacts of the apparel and textile industries.
The author of this annual study is researcher and consultant Michael Sadowski. He wrote the first report in 2021 as well as the latest edition, which was released earlier this year. Sadowski, who is also executive director of the environmental nonprofit
The Circulate Initiative, recently joined DC Velocity Group Editorial Director David Maloney on an episode of the “Logistics Matters” podcast to discuss the key findings of the research, what companies are doing to reduce emissions, and the progress they’ve made since the first report was issued.
A: While companies in the apparel industry can set their own sustainability targets, we realized there was a need to give them a blueprint for actually reducing emissions. And so, we produced the first report back in 2021, where we laid out the emissions from the sector, based on the best estimates [we could make using] data from various sources. It gives companies and the sector a blueprint for what we collectively need to do to drive toward the ambitious reduction [target] of staying within a 1.5 degrees Celsius pathway. That was the first report, and then we committed to refresh the analysis on an annual basis. The second report was published last year, and the third report came out in May of this year.
Q: What were some of the key findings of your research?
A: We found that about half of the emissions in the sector come from Tier Two, which is essentially textile production. That includes the knitting, weaving, dyeing, and finishing of fabric, which together account for over half of the total emissions. That was a really important finding, and it allows us to focus our attention on the interventions that can drive those emissions down.
Raw material production accounts for another quarter of emissions. That includes cotton farming, extracting gas and oil from the ground to make synthetics, and things like that. So we now have a really keen understanding of the source of our industry’s emissions.
Q: Your report mentions that the apparel industry is responsible for about 2% of global emissions. Is that an accurate statistic?
A: That’s our best estimate of the total emissions [generated by] the apparel sector. Some other reports on the industry have apparel at up to 8% of global emissions. And there is a commonly misquoted number in the media that it’s 10%. From my perspective, I think the best estimate is somewhere under 2%.
We know that globally, humankind needs to reduce emissions by roughly half by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050 to hit international goals. [Reaching that target will require the involvement of] every facet of the global economy and every aspect of the apparel sector—transportation, material production, manufacturing, cotton farming. Through our work and that of others, I think the apparel sector understands what has to happen. We have highlighted examples of how companies are taking action to reduce emissions in the roadmap reports.
Q: What are some of those actions the industry can take to reduce emissions?
A: I think one of the positive developments since we wrote the first report is that we’re seeing companies really focus on the most impactful areas. We see companies diving deep on thermal energy, for example. With respect to Tier Two, we [focus] a lot of attention on things like ocean freight versus air. There’s a rule of thumb I’ve heard that indicates air freight is about 10 times the cost [of ocean] and also produces 10 times more greenhouse gas emissions.
There is money available to invest in sustainability efforts. It’s really exciting to see the funding that’s coming through for AI [artificial intelligence] and to see that individual companies, such as H&M and Lululemon, are investing in real solutions in their supply chains. I think a lot of concrete actions are being taken.
And yet we know that reducing emissions by half on an absolute basis by 2030 is a monumental undertaking. So I don’t want to be overly optimistic, because I think we have a lot of work to do. But I do think we’ve got some amazing progress happening.
Q: You mentioned several companies that are starting to address their emissions. Is that a result of their being more aware of the emissions they generate? Have you seen progress made since the first report came out in 2021?
A: Yes. When we published the first roadmap back in 2021, our statistics showed that only about 12 companies had met the criteria [for setting] science-based targets. In 2024, the number of apparel, textile, and footwear companies that have set targets or have commitments to set targets is close to 500. It’s an enormous increase. I think they see the urgency more than other sectors do.
We have companies that have been working at sustainability for quite a long time. I think the apparel sector has developed a keen understanding of the impacts of climate change. You can see the impacts of flooding, drought, heat, and other things happening in places like Bangladesh and Pakistan and India. If you’re a brand or a manufacturer and you have operations and supply chains in these places, I think you understand what the future will look like if we don’t significantly reduce emissions.
Q: There are different categories of emission levels, depending on the role within the supply chain. Scope 1 are “direct” emissions under the reporting company’s control. For apparel, this might be the production of raw materials or the manufacturing of the finished product. Scope 2 covers “indirect” emissions from purchased energy, such as electricity used in these processes. Scope 3 emissions are harder to track, as they include emissions from supply chain partners both upstream and downstream.
Now companies are finding there are legislative efforts around the world that could soon require them to track and report on all these emissions, including emissions produced by their partners’ supply chains. Does this mean that companies now need to be more aware of not only what greenhouse gas emissions they produce, but also what their partners produce?
A: That’s right. Just to put this into context, if you’re a brand like an Adidas or a Gap, you still have to consider the Scope 3 emissions. In particular, there are the so-called “purchased goods and services,” which refers to all of the embedded emissions in your products, from farming cotton to knitting yarn to making fabric. Those “purchased goods and services” generally account for well above 80% of the total emissions associated with a product. It’s by far the most significant portion of your emissions.
Leading companies have begun measuring and taking action on Scope 3 emissions because of regulatory developments in Europe and, to some extent now, in California. I do think this is just a further tailwind for the work that the industry is doing.
I also think it will definitely ratchet up the quality requirements of Scope 3 data, which is not yet where we’d all like it to be. Companies are working to improve that data, but I think the regulatory push will make the quality side increasingly important.
Q: Overall, do you think the work being done by the Apparel Impact Institute will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the industry?
A: When we started this back in 2020, we were at a place where companies were setting targets and knew their intended destination, but what they needed was a blueprint for how to get there. And so, the roadmap [provided] this blueprint and identified six key things that the sector needed to do—from using more sustainable materials to deploying renewable electricity in the supply chain.
Decarbonizing any sector, whether it’s transportation, chemicals, or automotive, requires investment. The Apparel Impact Institute is bringing collective investment, which is so critical. I’m really optimistic about what they’re doing. They have taken a data-driven, evidence-based approach, so they know where the emissions are and they know what the needed interventions are. And they’ve got the industry behind them in doing that.
The global air cargo market’s hot summer of double-digit demand growth continued in August with average spot rates showing their largest year-on-year jump with a 24% increase, according to the latest weekly analysis by Xeneta.
Xeneta cited two reasons to explain the increase. First, Global average air cargo spot rates reached $2.68 per kg in August due to continuing supply and demand imbalance. That came as August's global cargo supply grew at its slowest ratio in 2024 to-date at 2% year-on-year, while global cargo demand continued its double-digit growth, rising +11%.
The second reason for higher rates was an ocean-to-air shift in freight volumes due to Red Sea disruptions and e-commerce demand.
Those factors could soon be amplified as e-commerce shows continued strong growth approaching the hotly anticipated winter peak season. E-commerce and low-value goods exports from China in the first seven months of 2024 increased 30% year-on-year, including shipments to Europe and the US rising 38% and 30% growth respectively, Xeneta said.
“Typically, air cargo market performance in August tends to follow the July trend. But another month of double-digit demand growth and the strongest rate growths of the year means there was definitely no summer slack season in 2024,” Niall van de Wouw, Xeneta’s chief airfreight officer, said in a release.
“Rates we saw bottoming out in late July started picking up again in mid-August. This is too short a period to call a season. This has been a busy summer, and now we’re at the threshold of Q4, it will be interesting to see what will happen and if all the anticipation of a red-hot peak season materializes,” van de Wouw said.
The report cites data showing that there are approximately 1.7 million workers missing from the post-pandemic workforce and that 38% of small firms are unable to fill open positions. At the same time, the “skills gap” in the workforce is accelerating as automation and AI create significant shifts in how work is performed.
That information comes from the “2024 Labor Day Report” released by Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute (WPI), the firm’s government relations and public policy arm.
“We continue to see a labor shortage and an urgent need to upskill the current workforce to adapt to the new world of work,” said Michael Lotito, Littler shareholder and co-chair of WPI. “As corporate executives and business leaders look to the future, they are focused on realizing the many benefits of AI to streamline operations and guide strategic decision-making, while cultivating a talent pipeline that can support this growth.”
But while the need is clear, solutions may be complicated by public policy changes such as the upcoming U.S. general election and the proliferation of employment-related legislation at the state and local levels amid Congressional gridlock.
“We are heading into a contentious election that has already proven to be unpredictable and is poised to create even more uncertainty for employers, no matter the outcome,” Shannon Meade, WPI’s executive director, said in a release. “At the same time, the growing patchwork of state and local requirements across the U.S. is exacerbating compliance challenges for companies. That, coupled with looming changes following several Supreme Court decisions that have the potential to upend rulemaking, gives C-suite executives much to contend with in planning their workforce-related strategies.”
Stax Engineering, the venture-backed startup that provides smokestack emissions reduction services for maritime ships, will service all vessels from Toyota Motor North America Inc. visiting the Toyota Berth at the Port of Long Beach, according to a new five-year deal announced today.
Beginning in 2025 to coincide with new California Air Resources Board (CARB) standards, STAX will become the first and only emissions control provider to service roll-on/roll-off (ro-ros) vessels in the state of California, the company said.
Stax has rapidly grown since its launch in the first quarter of this year, supported in part by a $40 million funding round from investors, announced in July. It now holds exclusive service agreements at California ports including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Hueneme, Benicia, Richmond, and Oakland. The firm has also partnered with individual companies like NYK Line, Hyundai GLOVIS, Equilon Enterprises LLC d/b/a Shell Oil Products US (Shell), and now Toyota.
Stax says it offers an alternative to shore power with land- and barge-based, mobile emissions capture and control technology for shipping terminal and fleet operators without the need for retrofits.
In the case of this latest deal, the Toyota Long Beach Vehicle Distribution Center imports about 200,000 vehicles each year on ro-ro vessels. Stax will keep those ships green with its flexible exhaust capture system, which attaches to all vessel classes without modification to remove 99% of emitted particulate matter (PM) and 95% of emitted oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Over the lifetime of this new agreement with Toyota, Stax estimated the service will account for approximately 3,700 hours and more than 47 tons of emissions controlled.
“We set out to provide an emissions capture and control solution that was reliable, easily accessible, and cost-effective. As we begin to service Toyota, we’re confident that we can meet the needs of the full breadth of the maritime industry, furthering our impact on the local air quality, public health, and environment,” Mike Walker, CEO of Stax, said in a release. “Continuing to establish strong partnerships will help build momentum for and trust in our technology as we expand beyond the state of California.”
That result showed that driver wages across the industry continue to increase post-pandemic, despite a challenging freight market for motor carriers. The data comes from ATA’s “Driver Compensation Study,” which asked 120 fleets, more than 150,000 employee drivers, and 14,000 independent contractors about their wage and benefit information.
Drilling into specific categories, linehaul less-than-truckload (LTL) drivers earned a median annual amount of $94,525 in 2023, while local LTL drivers earned a median of $80,680. The median annual compensation for drivers at private carriers has risen 12% since 2021, reaching $95,114 in 2023. And leased-on independent contractors for truckload carriers were paid an annual median amount of $186,016 in 2023.
The results also showed how the demographics of the industry are changing, as carriers offered smaller referral and fewer sign-on bonuses for new drivers in 2023 compared to 2021 but more frequently offered tenure bonuses to their current drivers and with a greater median value.
"While our last study, conducted in 2021, illustrated how drivers benefitted from the strongest freight environment in a generation, this latest report shows professional drivers' earnings are still rising—even in a weaker freight economy," ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said in a release. "By offering greater tenure bonuses to their current driver force, many fleets appear to be shifting their workforce priorities from recruitment to retention."