|
Chris Griffiths wasn’t auditioning when he spoke to Progress on the phone from
Frankfurt about selling to global markets. But he is a poster guy for gateway thinking.
The 33-year-old St. John’s-based entrepreneur designs, makes, and sells guitars to music
enthusiasts all over the world. Recently his company, Garrison Guitars, signed its first
deal with a distributor in India. How does he do it? By getting on a plane and strumming
up business. “If you have a strong enough product to attract a paying customer from
elsewhere in the world,” he says, “the rest is logistics.”
Ditto Patrick Sinnott, the senior VP of supply chain management for Canadian
Tire. For him it’s math. As his company pursued more Asian sourcing, containers headed
to central Canadian markets via Vancouver were returning empty, driving up costs. By
moving Asian product through the Suez Canal to Halifax, trade flows are balanced and
efficiencies are created.
As I see it, a gateway is about marketing and logistics, and the question for us is
how to capitalize. As Paul Evans, co-CEO of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
asserts, if we can’t think beyond moving containers, we’re doomed. A gateway is as
much about “bringing in new ideas, creating new services, and adding value.” As Charles
McMillan would say, it’s about the right mindset.
David Holt interviewed both McMillan and |
Evans for his ambitious synthesis of
the elements that will complete the gateway puzzle. But first we must “imagine ourselves
as a functional link in global supply chains, with our regions supporting each other and
the private and public sectors working together.” Time is our biggest enemy, McMillan
warns.
As Alec Bruce sees it, the opportunities are endless. It’s about becoming a living
lab, or in effect, “rewriting the rules of the road when it comes to the delivery of goods
from one part of the world to another.” Why not have the greenest gateway possible? Or
become a centre of excellence for logistics and supply chain management? Or design the
most cutting-edge infrastructure? Or become role models of co-opetition? For a
comprehensive look at this kind of gateway thinking and the perils of ambivalence, turn
to page 30.
As you know deadlines preclude magazines from dealing with breaking news.
Still I must point out that Jonathan Norwood’s “history repeating” column predicting the
re-privatization of Sobeys was written in late March. As we went to press the news just
broke that he was bang on, but it was too late to re-file. Stay tuned for his next prediction.
Finally, this issue contains Jim Meek’s farewell column. Everyone at Progress
acknowledges the contribution that Jim has made to this magazine over the past eight
years. He re-joined the Halifax Chronicle-Herald as director of special projects and we
wish him well. |
