Ken Gunn Expert Page

		Home \| Contact \| Advertise \| Mobile \| Subscribe FREE to NPN \| Links \| Bookstore \| Career Center \| Archives

Operational Cost Control
(wholesale, retail and administrative)

Ken Gunn is a 20-year plus veteran of the petroleum industry and specializes in assessing a marketer's cost effective use of three assets: people, time and technology. Diligent management of all three assets in day-to-day business is becoming more and more important in the new marketplace of hypermarkets, super jobbers, industry consolidation, increasing customer expectations, shrinking margins and technology advances. Technology by itself or adding more people as business grows is not the answer. A blend of technology and people provides the flexibility to adapt to a changing marketplace. Ken takes a team approach to modify behavior as the best software and hardware are worthless unless the people involved want to use it, not have to use it. Caliber Consulting is a Strategic Business Alliance Partner with the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA).

Web: www.sigma.org/strategic-partners/index.html

CLICK HERE TO ASK YOUR QUESTION

Recent Questions:

• Where would I see a return on the investment, time and money when looking at their processes?

• How much time do folks have hidden as redundant or legacies of the past? Are there other soft dollar wins?

• Where is the best, quick win for marketers with regards to technology?

1) Where would I see a return on the investment, time and money when looking at their processes?
Hard, bottom-line savings generally show up in how you manage inventory and the procurement of products. The bigger savings will be in the amount of time made available to grow the business without adding staff to the overhead.

2) How much time do folks have hidden as redundant or legacies of the past? Are there other soft dollar wins?
Generally 10 to 25% of time involved in processes can be made available for other tasks. I believe in re-deploying people when the time is made available and put them in customer service positions to help grow the business and also retain existing customers.

3) Where is the best, quick win for marketers with regards to technology?
Data integration of files from suppliers into a back office offers the fastest and immediate payout and should be pursued aggressively. Yes, there is pain to get it all configured but well worth it for the long and near term gains.

Back to Experts Online Main Page

Back to Top

Gain valuable insight from some of the top names in the Industry!

Click here for more information.

Senator introduces bill that would require temperature compensation

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) on Aug. 3 introduced the F.A.I.R. (Future Accountability In Retail) Fuel Act that would require the installation of automatic temperature compensating equipment in all retail gas station pumps within six years to adjust the price of gas as it expands due to warmer temperatures.

View Entire Article

NPN/SIGMA Education Alliance

New for 2005 is NPN’s alliance with the Society of Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA) to deliver educational offerings to petroleum and convenience marketers. A primary goal of the new alliance is to provide the highest quality educational

...view entire article >>