Bundling: Bundling is a term that refers to the process of transportation of goods belonging to various flows in a common vehicle intermodal unit such as truck, train or barge or other segments during part of their journey. As a result, this process is a major business of the transportation sector given that operators occasionally examine their service networks and change their bundling operations. The adjustments made in bundling operations are usually a reaction to changing cost structures, situations, and competition with regards to the requirements of demand and performance. During the adjustments, the operators basically change the bundling type, extent of network concentration, frequency of service, vehicle load, and utilized physical means (Kreutzberger, 2010, p.160). Generally, the major factors for adjustments are changes in flow directions and sizes and the operator’s share in the market. According to market players in the maritime transport, inland logistics are one of the most significant segments still enhancing economic signals in order to add value and enhance profitability. Bundling is regarded as one of the most probable solutions on ways to enhance the intermodal transport and could also improve competitiveness. As a result, the concept or process enables resolving suitable intermodal conditions since it can be utilized in situations where container flows are not economically adequate to meet the needs of a direct service. Bundling process is
“People think about trucking as a meat and potatoes business where you pick something up and then deliver it to a destination, but it’s not that simple, it’s a highly competitive business, and in order to thrive, firms need to implement innovations that will give them a competitive edge.”
Although current interest in supply-chain management overlooks certain transportation/distribution issues, substantial savings are realizable by carefully incorporating a shipment strategy with the stock replenishment decisions for VMI systems. This impact is particularly tangible when the shipment strategy calls for a consolidation program where several smaller deliveries are dispatched as a single load, realizing scale economies inherent in transportation. Formally, shipment consolidation refers to the active intervention by management to combine many small shipments/ orders so that a larger, hence more economical, load can be dispatched on the same vehicle (Brennan 1981, Hall 1987, Higginson and Bookbinder 1995). The main motivation behind a consolidation program is to take advantage of the decreased per unit freight costs due to economies of scale associated with transportation.
One of the main ‘flows’ on transport, are goods (food, objects) that will be traded with other countries. The main improvement that has taken place in recent times is the creation of the freight transport, containerization. These containers can be loaded and unloaded, stacked, transported efficiently over long distances, and transferred from one mode of transport to another—container
The intent of this analysis is to compare and contrast the cost structures for rail, motor carriers and air modes of transportation. Implicit in this analysis is the rapid adoption of intermodal transportation which is often optimized to specific logistics and supply chain objectives (Jennings, Holcomb, 1996).
So now the issue left that if the company cannot avoid small shipments then how to minimize the cost associated to the shipment of such small shipments. As of now the company is using a freight forwarder which consolidates small shipments to fill 20-feet or 40-feet containers.
To implement the previous options, Hardee will have to make an assessment to current delivery routes, customer locations, and type of vehicles at hand in order to come up with a better network that will decrease number of times a driver has to bobtail to the shipper’s location and increase paddle time. Hardee’s sales personnel will have to work closely with shippers in order to reduce loading and uploading time, more specifically, set a certain amount of time allotted for this operation. Also, Hardee should set a detention charge if the shipper fails to meet the allotted time for loading and unloading trucks. Finally, Hardee could offer a lower rate as an incentive for shippers to work on expediting loading and unloading operations at their
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate three technology opportunities associated with the transportation and logistics industry. With today’s constantly evolving business environment, consumers are placing demand on businesses of all industries, and they want products and services faster, with more added value, and delivered immediately. Nevertheless, customers are smarter by requiring more quality, innovation, and choice, and at the same time wanting to spend less money and effort. Consequently, every transportation business has to remain highly competitive in researching and developing innovative cost-cutting techniques in order to save money.
Hi Joshua, I appreciate your intrepretation between containerization and intermodalism. I can agree with your illustration of the impact containers have on the military by transferring freight by an intermodal system. from my personal experience when i was being deployed overseas and had to pack away my stuff in storage I had the privilege to transport my personal unit items shipped in a container to where I was being deployed. The experiences have been convenient and beneficial to me with the restriction of carrying a limited amount of weight on flights. Why do you believe that containerization and intermodalism go hands in hands?
Before you ask, yes, utilizing diverse bundling amid the occasions can have any kind of effect in your primary concern. There is a considerable measure of discuss the mythical being on the rack amid Christmas, however it's not the mythical being on the rack. It's your item on the rack, and as we saw with Toblerone in the last couple of weeks, occasion bundling has a positive effect.
The use of containerization in freight movement has greatly reduced the cost and labor associated with moving freight. However, you highlighted something that is not often seen in the books, but in the field. The charges associated with the movement of freight intermodal is often combined into one charge for all modes of transportation used. For example, a shipment can be moved to the port via truck or rail, then placed on a ship to an overseas location, and finally trucked to its destination and the shipping charges would be on one shipping bill of lading. With freight shipments being consigned to one bill of lading no matter how many shipment modes used, does this make the payment process easier?
United Parcel Service (UPS), is the world’s largest express package delivery firm that handled more than 4.7 billion packages and documents in 2015. This global transportation and logistics service provider operates in more than 220 countries, and offers an array of supply chain management solutions (UPS Fact Sheet, n.d.). The firm has diversified its products and/or services to include freight forwarding and logistics services via air, ground, rail, and sea. U.S. Domestic Package operations, International Package operations, and Supply Chain and Freight operations are the three operating segments UPS. Through technology advancements UPS delivers online package tracking, e-commerce services, and specialized
Airborne Express has long differentiated itself in the market by structuring itself as a big business only carrier. They have specialized in large unit deliveries through metropolitan areas. Everything they do is aimed to optimize the delivery process and slash cost where ever possible. However, Airborne is now faced with a huge decision. They must decide whether to step away from their differentiation strategy to match the new pricing tactics of the market UPS and FedEx or to continue the old norm of delivery pricing. The new distance-based pricing strategy threatens Airborne’s consistent strategy to cut prices. Clients will seek to ship packages at the lowest cost. The short distance deliveries will be ruled by UPS and FedEx since they are the once who are
SCM can be divided into three main groups: purchase, manufacture, and transport (Thomas et al., 1996). The focus is on transportation. There are different modes of transportation. These modes of transportation fall under three basic types and they are: land (road, rail and pipelines), water (shipping) and air. Transportation plays a connective role among the several steps that result in the conversion of resources into useful goods for the ultimate consumer. It is the planning of all these functions and sub-functions into a system of goods movement in order to minimize cost and maximize service to the customers that constitutes the concept of business logistics. The system, once it’s put in place, must be effectively managed (Fair & Williams, 1981). What are the advantages and disadvantages of these modes of transportation in logistics?
The transportation sector is continually evolving. Whether moving people or products by land, sea, or air, all transportation strategies need to balance proficient network design and operations with rising intricacy, government supervision, environmental accountability, security risks and demands for flexibility and performance from consumers. Transportation solutions saturate all facets of business and comprise about ten percent of all economic action. Global economic disruption and explosive fuel pricing are driving the need for more restricted operations, ground-breaking service offerings, and inspired business models. The capability to manage change and drive continual process improvements are vital to transportation enterprises that want to uphold competitive advantage and survivability (Transportation and Logistics, n.d.).