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things that Rick Cohen from Idaho Falls
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and I'm the general manager of elevate
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fulfillment were logistics and
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warehousing company here narrow Falls so
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we have about thirty different clients
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that we do warehousing in fulfillment
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for so I think more of my job has moved
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from operational I kind of started about
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eight years ago I started in the
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warehouse and as I was going through
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school I did a lot of the warehousing
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stuff you know forklifts and packing
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orders and all that type of thing but in
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the last three years three and four
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years I've been doing a lot more on the
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administrative side and so I kind of
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interface with clients when they have
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shipments that are coming in we have a
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for instance today we have a shipment
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that came in from China that we're going
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to be repackaging and sending to Walmart
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in Canada for a customer so just kind of
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orchestrating those types of things we
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have a big order that's going out today
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for going to SeaWorld for another
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customer so kind of overseeing the high
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level stuff on that end not necessarily
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doing a lot of the manual labor so
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there's a lot of that and there's also a
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lot of on the on the financial side as
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well making sure that things are
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captured right billed accordingly most
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of the things that we do are built by
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the piece so you know so when we receive
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stuff we charge by the piece that we
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receive when we ship stuff out we try to
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buy the piece that we ship stuff out of
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and so you know just making sure that
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all that kind of information is captured
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that our employees are you know kind of
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doing everything right and overseeing
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that so that we get all the t's crossed
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and I's dotted so and another thing that
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I do too is I received their public
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vendor compliance agreements so when we
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have a customer that ships to a big
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retailer most of the time that was
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specific documentation of how they have
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to be packaged and shipped into into
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that customer my brother Brett he does a
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lot of the inbound stuff so he deals
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with you know actually getting things
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from manufacturers overseas
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or domestically you know kind of setting
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up and organizing the transportation in
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working with freight forwarders or
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brokers at the ports and making sure
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that the traffic comes in the way that
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it's supposed to come in itself so kind
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of it changes daily and I think that
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that's one of the things that really
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drew me to it you know we always bring
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in new customer who just have a customer
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that started last week that they ship on
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Amazon or sell on Amazon I guess and
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he's selling cap guns like you know I
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just gotta find this niche and and
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decided the cap codes right and who
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would have thought but he shipped like a
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hundred in the last like five days you
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know so it's cool to be able to you know
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help people when he literally when he
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got in contact with us he'll it's a kind
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of a friend of a friend that he didn't
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want to do as I'm shipping and so yeah
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he contacted us and you know you know we
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were able to help him say everything up
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and get all the shipping policies in
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place and now you know it's basically
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hands off for him so he just wanted
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material comes in here we receive it he
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sells it we ship it out and and just
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kind of deal with it from that end so so
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it's cool to be able to work with a lot
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of different things we work with some
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customers they're really small like him
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that that might ship a few you know 10
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12 hours a day and we have customers
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that will ship 1,500 to 2,000 orders a
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day so so it just is kind of neat to see
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different types of business see people
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be successful so they're not so
00:03:19
successful in trying to find out why was
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I don't know if I'm successful yet
00:03:23
working on it but I think the biggest
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thing for for me is learning how to
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learn you know I don't think that in
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school we ever went over a kind of
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mentor compliance agreements would ever
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did never learn a lot about you know
00:03:38
transportation Kubik weights and a lot
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of things that I deal with on a daily
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basis and and and then II think that no
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matter what field you go into there are
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things that are going to be specific to
00:03:48
that field and also specific to that
00:03:51
company and so I think you know
00:03:53
understanding how to pick up on the
00:03:56
nuances of specific organizations and
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what their needs are is something that
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really been able to develop so that
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learning how to learn and learning how
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to do new things you know today is the
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first day we've ever that were ever
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going to ship to Sea World and so you
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know understanding what their
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requirements are different from another
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customer and going through a 45 page
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document and being ready to ship on you
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know according to that document within
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you know 12 or 15 hours and that's the
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type of thing that you know she's got to
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learn what to look for and be able to
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kind of you know ask the right questions
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I guess so I think that that's one of
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the big things that's that's helped me
00:04:38
to kind of get to where I'm at right now
00:04:40
I guess but I still think that we've got
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a long way to go before we're successful
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I think that probably one of the most
00:04:47
important things to understand would be
00:04:50
that it's it's all about perception it's
00:04:54
all about customer perception it's all
00:04:55
about and I think that in for me
00:04:58
personally and that was a finance major
00:05:00
but I can get bogged down in the numbers
00:05:03
I guess and I think the in supply chain
00:05:07
it's easy to you know run spreadsheets
00:05:09
and rent projections and run a lot of
00:05:11
that kind of stuff and it's one of the
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things we're doing with with that with
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that big client of ours you know that
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they yeah they were planning on a
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certain thing happening and it didn't
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happen according to what their models
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predicted and so you kind of forget that
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human element and so now you know we've
00:05:27
were backed up we've got a lot of stuff
00:05:29
that's going on and trying to overcome
00:05:32
those things so I think you know just
00:05:33
understanding more that it's not always
00:05:37
so much about just having all of the
00:05:38
right numbers having all the right
00:05:41
protocols having all the right
00:05:42
procedures but I think just remembering
00:05:44
that human element and really focusing
00:05:46
on that human element because perception
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and the perceived value you know
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is really critical because a lot of the
00:05:54
people that I deal with they have no
00:05:55
idea of what what I do and that's why
00:05:58
they hire me to do do that for them you
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know we have customers that have that
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every single day they'll ask us for a
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shipping quote every single day they'll
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ask us to quote something that's going
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to ship out and and so part of that you
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know obviously we want to train them so
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that they can do that but at the same
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time you know making sure that they're
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we understand that customer service side
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and I think that whether you were in a
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big organization that work we're kind of
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unique because we're a family-owned
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business you know and we deal with
00:06:25
customers all day long and so it's you
00:06:26
know a really customer centric business
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but I think it even if you were working
00:06:30
for a bigger organization understanding
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that the people that you work with and
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what their perception is what their
00:06:36
needs are you know I think that it's you
00:06:38
can be right and you can be doing things
00:06:42
right but you know if you don't work
00:06:44
with people and you're not you know a
00:06:46
team and the team part it's kind of a
00:06:48
bad cliche you know but if you if people
00:06:52
just you kind of stick to your guns and
00:06:54
are willing to to bend because of
00:06:57
whatever reason I think that I don't
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know
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I think that's that's just a really big
00:07:01
thing that we see the reason that people
00:07:03
come and work like to work with us
00:07:04
because we understand that that customer
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service we understand the need for to
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help people understand and to help them
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understand what they don't understand
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and sometimes they might think they
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understand everything that's a lot of
00:07:17
understand sentences yeah but some
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people just don't know what they don't
00:07:22
know and so you have to help bring them
00:07:24
around with that and do it in a way
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that's gonna get them help them
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accomplish what they're trying to do but
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also maintain you know the efficiencies
00:07:34
that we're trying to do because well
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customers will want us to get you know
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they'll try and throw a wrench in and
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you don't want to just kick it back out
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so you know what absolutely not going to
00:07:45
do that but try and find a way to kind
00:07:46
of fit that in and make that happen so I
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think that's one of the things that's
00:07:50
not so much a supply chain thing or not
00:07:52
so much a unit business and
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more of a personality effect thing I use
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Excel a lot a lot and I think that
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that's one of the engines that we use
00:08:04
the software as well we use a lot of
00:08:06
different software as a lot of
00:08:07
Technology and technology is constantly
00:08:09
changing and I think that the going back
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to what I said before on I think it's
00:08:21
kind of what I talked about before you
00:08:22
gotta have a graph the technology I'd
00:08:24
have a grasp of what you do and what
00:08:26
you're trying to accomplish because like
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I said a lot of you know almost the
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people that you're going to be dealing
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with don't they don't know what you're
00:08:33
doing and so you gotta be really you got
00:08:35
to understand that and like I said Excel
00:08:36
the software the technology you know the
00:08:38
jargon of whatever whatever it is that
00:08:40
you're you're getting into and I think
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that you know in accounting classes
00:08:45
where f OB and and FOP destination that
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will be manufacture or whatever the case
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may be and you know those are things
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that we have customers that kind of
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throw those around interchangeably and
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it can be a big deal you know if they're
00:09:00
bringing in product and then stuff will
00:09:02
be the destination port or if it's F
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will be the manufacturer they just say
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oh yeah which yes so there's there's
00:09:11
different kinds of Freight that transfer
00:09:14
and it comes down to the gallery of it
00:09:15
right so it comes down to who owns the
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product while it's in transit so if it's
00:09:21
fo B destination that that means that
00:09:23
the customer or that the manufacturer
00:09:25
who are shipping it they're responsible
00:09:27
for it until it's received by at the
00:09:31
destination and then if it's f OB you
00:09:34
know the their dock or if it's F will be
00:09:36
the port you know then they will be
00:09:38
responsible to get it to the poor and
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then after that then it's our
00:09:41
responsibility to get it from the port
00:09:42
and into our facility or sometimes it's
00:09:45
you know fov their their place you know
00:09:48
their point of manufacturer and it works
00:09:50
for us on both ways because we receive
00:09:52
stuff we also ship stuff and when things
00:09:54
go wrong it's really important to know
00:09:56
who's responsible for that so it can be
00:09:59
I mean the reality is most of the
00:10:01
logistics professionals will know and
00:10:03
they'll ask those questions but I think
00:10:04
it's
00:10:05
something that you know when if you're
00:10:07
starting your own company or if you're
00:10:09
doing you know whatever the case may be
00:10:10
in you you place an order for a bunch of
00:10:13
stuff and it's your responsibility to
00:10:15
get there you know you just gotta make
00:10:17
sure you have the right insurance is the
00:10:18
right bonds and all those types of
00:10:20
things in place so I think there with
00:10:22
with supply chain specifically I mean
00:10:28
it's it's there they may be few and far
00:10:30
between but I think just experience
00:10:32
whatever that experience is and you know
00:10:36
when we look at resumes whether it's for
00:10:37
interns or whether it's for people that
00:10:39
are coming in you know we literally do
00:10:42
call the references you know we'll call
00:10:44
people that they work for in the past
00:10:46
we'll call people that that they've
00:10:47
worked with in the past but it really
00:10:50
comes down to experience and it may not
00:10:52
be you know in our particular field but
00:10:55
it's going to be you know what kind of
00:10:57
things that you've done what kind of you
00:11:01
know what and I guess societies and and
00:11:04
those things are great as well but I
00:11:05
think that you know having some work
00:11:07
experience and having an experience it's
00:11:09
going to be relevant to just to the
00:11:15
workforce in general just to it just to
00:11:17
a job in general you know I think that
00:11:20
gaining experience and doing those
00:11:23
things and I also think that a lot of
00:11:26
students kind of expect like I'm going
00:11:27
to graduate I'm going to move into like
00:11:28
a $80,000 a year job or $100,000 because
00:11:32
I've got a four-year degree you know or
00:11:33
whatever the case may be ins that's
00:11:36
definitely not the case you know you
00:11:37
gotta you gotta gain experience and so I
00:11:39
would say that figure out kind of where
00:11:43
you want to be what you want to do and
00:11:45
then plot out those things that are
00:11:48
going to get you there and try and
00:11:49
figure out when I was going through
00:11:50
school I got a couple of different job
00:11:52
offers and things that that I could have
00:11:54
gotten to work for different people I
00:11:56
started you know I was doing a my first
00:12:00
internship I did as a graphic designer
00:12:02
for some companies and and I got some
00:12:05
job offers to come and work for them and
00:12:06
do some different things with mark
00:12:07
in advertising but I knew that I didn't
00:12:09
want to work for somebody else I knew
00:12:11
that I wanted to to kind of do my other
00:12:13
thing and so I wanted to gain experience
00:12:16
and do those things that we're not me to
00:12:17
do that so I think just setting that
00:12:18
goal in deciding you know where you want
00:12:20
to be and what if that you know whatever
00:12:22
the case is you want to work for
00:12:23
somebody if you want to work in this
00:12:24
particular industry you know if it's the
00:12:27
supporting good industry that you want
00:12:28
to work in you know did a job a sporting
00:12:30
good shot even though maybe you want to
00:12:31
be in supply chain you know in the
00:12:34
outdoor and the order capital world or
00:12:36
whatever the case may be so that and I
00:12:39
also say probably just read up on trade
00:12:40
magazines you know finding out and that
00:12:43
that comes back to whatever it is if you
00:12:45
want to be involved in then getting
00:12:48
those trade magazines and understanding
00:12:50
you know those things that affect that
00:12:53
industry so I think that people that
00:12:56
take the initiative and people that
00:12:57
understand that kind of thing those are
00:12:58
the kinds of people that are valuable I
00:13:01
think one thing that I would look back
00:13:04
on is that when you're in school that it
00:13:07
is a job you know and and that's what I
00:13:10
think the work ethic and kind of the
00:13:12
things that you learn about in school or
00:13:14
or the the things you learn about in
00:13:16
school are important but I think
00:13:17
understanding that I had a is actually
00:13:20
like an elementary school teacher that
00:13:22
one that was I showed up one day and I
00:13:25
didn't have my work my homework done and
00:13:26
he said why didn't she do your homework
00:13:28
why don't we do my homework they know
00:13:30
this is your job like it's your job to
00:13:32
do your homework and when you're grown
00:13:35
up you have a job and your boss tells
00:13:37
you to do something like it's not if you
00:13:39
want to get it you know go ahead and do
00:13:41
it it's it is your job and I think that
00:13:44
was the approach that took with
00:13:45
assignments that I took of classes you
00:13:46
know yeah I didn't maybe you don't have
00:13:51
to do anything obviously you know when
00:13:53
you're in school and when you're at
00:13:53
school you're paying to go there you're
00:13:55
paying to be there so the professor's
00:13:57
don't really care whether you're getting
00:13:59
it's no skin off their back how will you
00:14:03
do but you get into the job you get into
00:14:05
the workforce and it's not you know
00:14:08
whether I get an A or I didn't have
00:14:10
another passive fail it's whether I keep
00:14:12
a job or in my case where I keep a
00:14:14
client or whether I don't you know and
00:14:17
so I think that just approaching and
00:14:18
developing that punk ethic saying that
00:14:21
you know these are things that
00:14:22
absolutely have to be done and kind of
00:14:24
come what may it doesn't matter what
00:14:26
happens if I get sick if I you know if I
00:14:28
might kids are up or if I've got you
00:14:30
know a bunch of other things that I'm
00:14:31
supposed to be doing like I've got to
00:14:34
get this stuff done and I think that
00:14:35
that's one of the things that we notice
00:14:37
in we have a lot of different people we
00:14:39
have about 20 people on staff right now
00:14:41
and the work ethic was it's just one of
00:14:44
those things that you see failing in the
00:14:46
in the younger generation no it's not
00:14:48
I've got this I need off on Friday or
00:14:50
I've got this and need to be gone today
00:14:52
or you know whatever the case may be in
00:14:54
and I think that that's something that
00:14:56
you can develop during school that treat
00:15:00
each one of the assignments as if it is
00:15:01
you know a paying job and great thing
00:15:04
about POA to Idaho is if you get good
00:15:06
grades your scholarship too you know so
00:15:07
it basically is a job all right thank
00:15:11
you very much for your time
