Posted On March 27, 2017

For 75 years, Batman has run a pretty lean operation.

He’s fought criminals, protected Gotham City, and frequently saved the world—and he’s accomplished all of that with a surprisingly low employee headcount.

In fact, Batman really only has one permanent employee: Alfred, his loyal butler.

He had Robin, but Robin grew up and became a superhero called Nightwing. Like a lot of leaders, Batman has a hard time with succession planning.

Yep, Batman has only one full-time equivalent employee (FTE), but Batman can accomplish so much with just one FTE because he makes wise use of technology. Seriously, Batman is a tech nerd. He was sitting in front of a bank of computers when the only people who did that were launching space shuttles. The Batmobile had a form of GPS when 8-tracks still seemed wildly futuristic. And the utility belt? Your Apple Watch might count calories, but the utility belt holds shark repellant spray. But what would Batman be like if he didn’t leverage technology? What would his footprint be like if he had to utilize more employees, and less gadgetry? He wouldn’t be Batman.

Think about it:

First of all, it would be hard to find employees he could trust to keep his secrets. He could make new hires sign nondisclosure agreements, but imagine what TMZ or the National Enquirer would pay to know Batman’s real identity.

And how distorted would the labor market be for superhero employees? Batman can spend Bruce Wayne’s billions, but Superman can reverse time by spinning the earth backward. While they were being recruited, employees could choose between gigantic paychecks and being able to have a do-over on their first marriage. Plus, most superhero costumes are an HR lawsuit waiting to happen. For a variety of reasons, superheroes have to keep their workforce small.

So heroes leverage technology to get the job done. That’s why Batman has a utility belt and a Batmobile. It’s why Wonder Woman has her invisible airplane. Batman has to make do with a low employee head count—but he bridges the gap with cutting-edge technology. And when it comes to your logistics, supply chain, and transportation management needs, so can you.

To stay competitive, companies need to leverage technology throughout their supply chain—but implementing the right supply chain technology doesn’t just allow you to reduce your labor costs. The right supply chain technology also allows you to expand your footprint and do more with less.

Just like Batman. And Flat World Holdings has a utility belt’s worth of supply chain solutions to help your company manage its supply chain with as much efficiency and visibility as possible, while optimizing your shipping department’s labor costs.

Whether it’s supply chain and transportation management, international freight forwarding, custom crating, hospitality supply chain project management, or implementing the supply chain management technology your company needs, and the one it deserves (for those who aren’t comic book nerds, that’s a Batman pun), Flat World Holdings is here to help you save the world.

Or at least create a high-performing supply chain that gives your company the competitive edge it needs in a global market. (Which doesn’t sound as cool as saving the world, but is almost as important.)