WINNIPEG — Claude Mongeau, president and chief executive officer of CN, called for a new business model that embraces innovation, increased productivity, and greater stakeholder collaboration.
Mongeau, speaking to the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, said: “We need to articulate a clear vision of how we’re going to foster economic growth and compete more effectively in global markets. To that end, we require business and government to embrace change and foster innovation. At CN, we intend to be part of the solution.”
Mongeau cited CN’s Scheduled Grain Plan introduced last year as an example of innovation that is driving significant gains for all stakeholders in the grain industry.
“CN’s success under this plan in delivering specified hopper cars to specified elevators on specified days each week has translated into more predictable service to the grain industry. Grain companies can now better schedule their staff at country elevators and waterfront export terminals. It’s all about selling the right grain at the right time to the right buyer and ultimately creating more wealth for Canadian farmers.”
The results – CN achieved a fulfillment rate of more than 85 per cent for spotting of covered hoppers on the day the railway committed their placement during 2010.
Mongeau said CN’s new Scheduled Grain Plan is “a prototype of what we have to do more of in the key supply chains we serve to support increased competitiveness. This business model will require greater collaboration from all players and a renewed willingness to innovate in order to stake our ground in world markets.”
Mongeau said achieving greater grain supply chain efficiencies means the system needs to evolve from one that’s too often characterized by adversarial relationships to one based on closer collaboration and a clear end-to-end supply chain perspective. This is best achieved, he said, in a context of mutual trust and in a commercial framework.
Mongeau concluded: “To succeed, we have to take this journey together. Embracing change and innovating together is the key to making the grain industry more competitive in global markets.”
