LOGISTICS

Transport or transportation is the movement of people, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline and space.

LOGISTICS

Logistics is the management of the flow of resources between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customer requirements.

SUPPLY CHAIN

Supply chain management spans the movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption.

30 September 2013

FACTORS IN INCREASING TRANSPORTATION DEMAND

Transportation is important in logistics network. It plays a role in the spatial relations between geographic points and also affects transportation system. The basic function of transportation is to provide the market with access to the resultant products. Without transportation, supplier cannot supply the raw material to the manufacturer/ production and also cannot deliver the goods to the customer.

1. Special handling requirements. Transportation has their special handling in order to handle the goods that perishable, easy to stolen, break bulk the goods and other than that.  For example quay crane that uses to handle the container from the bigger ship into truck.

2. Globalization. Company will produce their product and sell the product with customers international. Many companies today manage worldwide production and distribution systems, and national economies are increasingly being integrated into a global economy. Transportation has been affected because of the distances involved both inbound to manufacturing from foreign sourcing and outbound for additional manufacturing or delivery to customers. For example, increasing imports from Asia eventually may warrant containership service directly from India that would operate through the Suez Canal to the East Coast of the United States. These containers would then be transported inland from the East Coast, instead of from the West Coast as currently is the case. 

3. New and advanced technology. A number of significant technological advances in equipment and information systems over the past three decades have had a profound impact on transportation in logistics. The most notable equipment advances include containerization, double-stack technology, automation and robotics, handling and interchange systems, automated terminals, and conveyance design. The significant price reductions for powerful computer equipment have helped bring about better inventory control, better equipment scheduling, and more efficient rating of transportation movements and so on.

4. Quality of service. For all types of transport, quality of service is an important matter because customers will feel satisfied with the service and the service provided. if there are problems such as loss of goods before they reach customer hands, this could not increase transport demand from customers. Also dropping a country's economy if this problem continues unabated. This problem often occurs due to lack of security in the care of the goods. 

5. New inventory concept. In transportation, new inventory concept that increases the transport demand is just-in-time (JIT). Just-in-Time is the shipment of materials for the production lines should arrive at the plant “just in time“ as needed. Also means as the product that customers order should arrive to them as the scheduled. JIT is exercising stringent control over suppliers and carriers to produce a continuous flow of small quantities into the production plant so as to minimize the amount of working inventory on hand.

25 September 2013

A Rough Road Lies Ahead for Global Transportation

PARIS - According to the American transportation officials and scholars researching on this issue, " China, Europe and the United States is facing a serious problem of moving loads growing in the world of freight and passengers, and the U.S government has failed to recognize the looming crisis."

U.S problem are outlined in University Policy paper produced by transportation leaders and academics. The members of the task force has reviewed that among the industrial powers growing in the world, China only recognizes the seriousness of the situation.

" Interconnected network of roads, bridges and terminals grew increasingly antiquated, congested and disconnected and therefore not able to provide support in the productivity and prosperity of any nation has depended for the last century and a half.

U.S. Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Turmail has taken the issue of gang members who produce studies have said the report itself "really sounds like our playbook to take the country's transportation system into the 21st century."

The members of the task force that conducted the study, said it is clear that among the industrial powers growing in the world, only China is willing to spend money to address the problem. Europe acknowledged the issue and has been successful in moving passengers by rail, but it fell behind the United States in solving the problem of freight movement.

One of the elements that appear in the global transportation problem is a shift in the global pattern of economic growth of China. China should build a robust infrastructure to support the expansion of galloping.

One example is the increase in metal coal mining in West Virginia, which is used to make steel. However, China is now supplying some of Australia's coal and South Africa, forcing Europe to re-supply coal to the United States.

Those who produce a policy paper that said "U.S. transportation system has been set to increase the movement of heavy goods in the past two years."

The U.S. economy in 1990 was driven by an increase in the service industry and industries related to computers. But the recent uptick in the economy also reflects the rise of manufacturing that has been taxed away heavy transport company. Most rail, truck lines and ports do not have enough staff or capacity to handle the increase in the service industry smoothly.

Surprisingly, this rise in U.S. shipping hit like a train system that has completed two decades of efforts to eliminate excess capacity and become more efficient. This can be done by law in the early 1980s to free the railroad system of government regulation.

U.S. officials have been paying attention only to congestion flight and has largely ignored the issue of passengers and other related items, including how to get people to and from the airport, according to the members of the task force.

For example, only 25 percent of the U.S. commercial airports have bus service, and many of these buses too often to be an attractive alternative for passengers.

Prince said the Federal Highway Administration predicts that U.S. highway traffic will increase by 24 percent in the coming year and 53 percent within two years. Peak congestion has increased in the past two years, he said, and "it is not clear how the port will operate three times the international trade in the near future. Saturating Airport and rail are struggling to handle the growth of the business."

Thomas Finkbiner, chairman of Quality Distribution, big truck line, said the U.S. government has failed for years to recognize the seriousness of this problem.
"There is no policy in this administration on transportation, and there is no one to several administration," he said. Congestion takes a toll is difficult to ensure the drivers, and the company to impose surcharge of $ 450 per trailer in New York, Newark, New Jersey; Boston; Detroit and Chicago.

Worst congestion occurs in the New York area that drivers can make only one trip a day from Port Newark to nearby locations in the metropolitan area. It is not only expensive, but drivers get frustrated and stop working.

Appointment of Transport in the administration of President George W. Bush has joined the political partners and not transportation experts. Some who have done very well appointed.

The Bush administration does not agree with the statements of the panel members. The statement from the administration has said that it "has proposed a record level of spending for surface transportation projects" and the department is "working quickly to expand the capacity of the air traffic."

The statement said the administration is "investing billions in new projects that are more innovative than connect various forms of transportation," as the report suggested, including last mile projects to connect highways, railways and ports more efficiently . Administration is also encouraging private industry to form a partnership with the states and cities. Research is to build roads more durable.

Approach to develop and promote coastal shipping ports and waterways to relieve stress on highways and railways.

The six-point plan for transportation:
1) Improve freight terminals and the connections between different modes of transportation.
2) Design passenger terminals to combine all modes of transportation - air, train and bus.
3) Reduce short-distance air traffic at congested airports, either by switching passengers to ground transportation or moving short-distance traffic to less congested airports.
4) Expand rail passenger traffic and intercity bus service "in promising markets."
5) Redevelop military bases into freight hubs.
6) Acknowledge that freight and passenger transportation "are equally important" and that they share infrastructure.



For too long the United States has focused myopically on creating isolated modal transportation networks.It needs to turn the corner now and create a single comprehensive integrated intermodal transportation system. In this way, waste and congestion will be alleviated, productivity and efficiency improved, and employment and prosperity enhanced.




22 September 2013

Global Transport Scenarios until 2050

over the next four decades, the global transportation sector will face the challenges related to demographics and pressure to minimize  outside urban centres, congestion of aging transport
infrastructure and growth in fuel demand.  These challenges will all be compounded by uncertainties
emerging from government intervention and
regulation.

Regional and global cooperation,
unstable global economic situations, and potential
technological breakthroughs will give bad  impact.
In light of these challenges and
the levels of uncertainty, the World Energy Council
(WEC) decided to re-examine the future of the
transport and mobility sector by building Global
Transport Scenarios to 2050. These scenarios will
describe potential developments in transport fuels, 
technologies, and mobility systems over the course
of the next forty years. Undoubtedly, the evolution
of the transport world between 2010 and 2050 will
offer many challenges, the biggest of which is providing sustainable transport for the seven tonine billion people at the lowest social cost
possible.

The World Energy Council believes that constructive dialogue between national and local policy makers, manufacturers, consumers and producers will be essential if we are to meet thesechallenges. Only with discovery, promotion and development of new energy resources, matched to innovation and improvements in current technologies.

Now is the time for strong leadership at both government and enterprise levels if the transport sector is to make a positive contribution towards the well-being of future generations. Regional inputs on transport policies, existing and potential developments in both fuels and technologies, in addition to major driving forces and critical uncertainties were all examined and combined into two distinct transport scenarios 
“Freeway” and “Tollway.” The main difference  between these two scenarios is the degree and 
style of government intervention in regulating future transport markets.

  • The “Freeway” scenario will be seen a world where pure market forces prevail to create a climate for open global competition.
  •  The “Tollway” scenario describes a more regulated world where governments decide to intervene in markets to promote technology solutions and infrastructure development that put common interests at the forefront. 
  • both scenarios describe the extreme ends of the potential futures envelope. 
  • by 2050 we noted that  total fuel demand in all transport modes will increase by 30% (Tollway) to 82% (Freeway) its shown the growth of fuel demanded in market drastically. 



FREE TRADE ZONE

FREE TRADE ZONE

A free trade zone (FTZ) also called foreign-trade zone, formerly free port, is an area within which goods may be landed, handled, manufactured or reconfigured, and exported without the intervention of the customs authorities. Only when the goods are moved to consumers within the country in which the zone is located do they become subject to the prevailing custom duties. Free-trade zones are organized around major seaports, international airports, and national frontiers—areas with many geographic advantages for trade. It is a region where a group of countries has agreed to reduce or eliminate trade barriers. Free trade zones can be defined as a labor intensive manufacturing center that involve the import of raw materials or components and the export of factory products. This was an attempt by the Irish Government to promote employment within a rural area, make use of a small regional airport and generate revenue for the Irish economy. It was hugely successful, and is still in operation today. The number of worldwide free-trade zones proliferated in the late 20th century.

BENEFIT OF FREE TRADE ZONE
Governments provide the carriers and shippers flexibility. Without FTZ, any mistaken would mean that the cargo be sent out of the country, an expensive solution. It is good way for unstable countries to get some free and fair enterprise. Foreign companies are often shy entering an unstable country, but an free trade zone is usually much safer.
Delay tariffs - As long as the cargo sits in the Free trade zone, it does not pay the import duties. The FTZ is physically just a warehouse, usually, but it is more expensive than an average warehouse.
Avoid Tariffs before on shipment – The cargo may not be destined for that country at all. It may sit in an free trade zone and then be exported.
Processing – This is more like export processing zone (EPZ), but even free trade zone do some processing
Correct mistakes – The customs authority may have told the importer that the cargo was not up to the local law, so it can sit in the free trade zone to be fixed
Sell – the cargo may be bought and sold while sitting in the free trade zone.

19 September 2013

INNOVATIONS IN LOGISTICS TECHNOLOGY

E-commerce and the desire for a competitive advantage are destroying traditional ways of doing business in the transportation segment of today’s supply chain management, and logistics is now emerging as an area that can deliver tremendous benefits.
Cutting-edge supply chain logistics management solutions, from a traditional return-on-investment (ROI) perspective, are vital to a successful business, but, more important, the return-on-value (ROV) from these solutions is the real criterion of significance. Rather than focusing purely on return as a function of cost, examining ROV and its effect on revenue, customer satisfaction and long-term competitive advantage is a new way of analysing the true bottom line.


Re-Examining Traditional Measures
Enterprises have traditionally evaluated the acquisition of business application software primarily as a function of return on investment. Certain assumptions were required for this model to provide a meaningful yardstick, and chief among those assumptions was the premise that the new system provided a more efficient means of addressing a current set of processes and activities. Moreover, and almost without exception, these replacement decisions focused exclusively on improving the efficiency of internal enterprise processes.
But the business world has changed, and along with it, so have the fundamental notions upon which enterprises base their marketplace advantage. Now new business models—courtesy of the e-commerce revolution—are displacing traditional methods of transacting business. As a result, strategies that base competitive advantage solely on current intra-enterprise process excellence are at the very least under threat, with a likely fate of being relegated to the proverbial woodshed. Looking beyond traditions, one sees the intriguing concept of transforming internal processes, functions, and cost centres into competitive weapons or even profit centers. As an enterprise looks outward into its value chain—defined as the trading partner ecosystem encompassing suppliers, partners, and customers—is there an opportunity to leverage internal excellence into inter-enterprise competitive advantage?


Transportation Logistics and Technology
The traditional model of transportation management is being transformed and redefined by innovative advances in supply chain logistics management. These technologies now encompass all material movements across the value chain from raw materials to finished goods. And now, thanks in large part to the advent of the internet as a flexible and robust medium of collaboration and process execution, supply chain logistics management strategies may be conceived and executed for immediate and sustainable competitive advantage.

9 September 2013

CHARACTERISTIC OF CONTAINERS

Container define as a large, vanlike, reuseable box for consolidating smaller crates or cartons into a single shipment, designed for easy and fast loading and unloading of freight.

Standardized re-sealable transportation box for unitized freight handling with standardized equipment. Two most common sizes used in ground and sea (surface) transportation are :

(1) Twenty-footer (typical capacity 33.2 cubic meter or 1172 cubic feet, maximum payload 28180 kilogram or 62130 pounds)
 (2) Forty-footer (typical capacity 67.7 cubic meter or 2392 cubic feet, maximum payload 28750 kilogram or 63380 pounds).

The typical dimensions of a 20-foot container are:
(1) internal length 5.90 meter (19 feet 4 inches),
(2) internal width 2.35 meter (7 feet 9 inches),
(3)internal height 2.40 meter (7 feet 10 inches).

Of a 40-foot container they are:
(1)internal length 12.03 meter (39 feet 6 inches),
(2)internal width 2.35 meter (7 feet 9 inches),
(3) internal height 2.4 meter (7 feet 10 inches).

Also known as unit load device.

Types of container :







Standard Container






Platforms (plats)





High-Cube Container








Hard-Top Container







Open-Top Container





Flatrack







Refrigerated Container












Bulk Container







Tank Container

The Importance Of Shipping Area In Malaysia

The importance of shipping area are first, it been conduit between sea and land transport where goods and passengers are loaded and unloaded. Supplier from United States of America will deliver the raw material use road transport and go on to water transport. Through the ship, the raw material will go to Malaysia to loading and unloading the shipment.

Second important is foreign investors. Economic of Malaysia can be growth with entry of foreign investors. Economic growth is attributed to its border with the Strait of Malacca which is an important international shipping crossroad, which promotes the country’s international trade. High levels of foreign and domestic private investment played a significant role as the economy diversified and modernized. The central bank maintains healthy foreign exchange reserves and its well-developed regulatory regime have limited Malaysia's exposure to riskier financial instruments and the global financial crisis.

Other than that, progress of local development in Port Klang, PTP or any other ports that help increased the employment sector. Port Klang as the country's premier and largest seaport. Serving the Klang valley which is the most well-developed and industrialized region in Malaysia. Due to its strategic location, it has been designated as the load center for both local and regional containers in an attempt to generate critical mas  at one port to make it an attractive destination for main line operates. Port Klang need many employers to arrange the loading and unloading and others activity in port so that no delay happen.

Otherwise, Malaysian ringgit will rising and be stronger also be important in shipping industry. It is because have import and export goods from Malaysia to other country and other country to Malaysia. Since the Asian financial crisis, Malaysia’s current account balance has consistently recorded a surplus.  Exports of goods have outpaced imports, and have more than offset the deficit in the services and income accounts. The strong performance of Malaysia’s exports was due, in large part, to the broad diversification of products and the expansion of trade in new markets. In particular, commodity exports, which have low import content, played an important role in contributing to the increase in the current account surplus. In line with rising commodity prices in 2008, the current account surplus peaked at 17.6% of GNI in 2008.

Another important of shipping area in Malaysia is increasing the International Trade of Malaysia. Importance of the Port Industry for Malaysia Malaysia is one of the powerful nations in the SE Asia region, a member of the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle, with aspirations to become a developed country by 2020. The Malaysian economy is based on the export trade of manufactured products, raw materials and petrochemicals. In fact it is placed 13th globally in terms of export quantity. At the same time, Malaysia is an oceanic state, situated next to a major waterway that connects Asia with the west coast of the US and simultaneously with the Middle East and Europe. The importance of sea freight transport and the port industry for this kind of economy is self-evident and it is no surprise that 90% of the total international trade is conducted by sea. The additional opportunity for Malaysian ports of serving as transshipment hubs make them highly valuable assets. Their significance is summarized by the Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir in his speech for the IAPH's World Port Conference in.