Logistics, Trade Administration and Supply Chain

INTRODUCTION In every organisation or company, those who happen to become the first to come into contact with customers are the ones who are going to leave an indelible impression. We call these employees as front-line staffs. Their way of contact and handling customers are important to ensure that the customers return for more of their services. The core issue of customer service is to lessen the disgruntled and dissatisfied customers, therefore further improving the relationship with them. The results will be an obvious turnaround for the organisation or company’s image and business. As such, to manage these front-line staffs and to develop a comprehensive plan to enhance customer service in an organisation is a very important part. This program will help executives and supervisors in charge of front-line staffs to acquire skills, useful tips and techniques in this area in order to enhance the corporate image, increase productivity and businesses. COURSE OBJECTIVES ...

Transportation usually represents the most important single element in logistics cost for most firms. Freight movement has been observed to absorb between one-third and two-thirds of total logistics costs. Thus, the logistician needs a good understanding of transportation matters. Although a comprehensive discussion of transportation is not possible within the scope of this text, this subject highlights what is essential to the logistician for his or her managerial purpose. The focus is on the facilities and services that make up the transportation system and on the rates [costs] and performance of various transport service that a manager might select. Spefcifically, we wish to examine the characteristics of the transportation service alternatives that lead to optimal performance. It is performance that the user buys from the transportation service. Importance of an Effective Transportation System One needs only to contrast the economies of  developed nation with those of a...

Outdated philosophies may prevent us from recognizing and integrating some of the new ways the warehouse or distribution center (DC) can add real value to our operations. Let’s talk about moving dinosaur thinking into the 21st century. Let’s talk about the evolution of warehousing as a means of adding value to your organization. In another “era,” when I first started out, there were basically only four types of warehousing that were thought to benefit an organization: Storage Warehouse: The use of a facility to stockpile inventory for outbound shipment in a make-to-stock plant environment or where MRO items are held for consumption, repair, and service of plant facilities and equipment. The intention is to have long-term storage. Production Warehouse: The utilization of a facility to hold materials and components for inventory prior to their need in processing, production, or manufacturing. The goal is to level demand. Order Fulfillment DC: A facility that holds inventory to meet cust...

The pace of change in manufacturing, distribution and retailing has been increasing rapidly in order to support international expansion, while in the face of a wide variety of external challenges. Uncertain economic conditions are presenting CIOs with an almost impossible task: How to transform IT in order to meet the business’s constantly changing and evolving needs while staying within budget, ensuring projects are delivered successfully, and proving new systems have a lower TCO for the ongoing business. This challenge is made more complicated because so many companies are tied into big investments in legacy systems. These behemoths resist change and are so ingrained in the business that the prospect of modernising or replacing them can be daunting from an implementation effort standpoint and challenging from a cost justification perspective. There are however a number of compelling reasons why a business should consider upgrading its legacy systems. The first is the increasing cost...

Order Fulfillment: Another activity area that logistics may control is order fulfillment, which generally consist of activities involved with receiving and completing customer orders. Initially, one might question why the logistics area would concern itself directly with order fulfillment. However, one important physical distribution factor is the time elapsing from the time when a customer decides to place an order for a product until the time those goods are actually delivered in a satisfactory condition, i.e. the lead time. Forecasting: Another activity essential to the logistics area is inventory forecasting. Accurate forecasting of inventory requirements and materials and parts is essential to effective inventory control. This is particularly true in companies using a just-in-time (JIT) or materials requirement planning (MRP) approach to control their inventory. Logistics personnel should develop forecasts in those situation to ensure accuracy and effective control. Too fre...

Form Utility . It refers to the value added to goods through a manufacturing, production or assembling process. For example, form utility results when raw materials are combined in some predetermined manner to make a finished product. This is the case, for instance, when a bottling company adds together syrup, water and carbonation to make a soft drink. The simple process of adding the raw materials together to produce the soft drink represents a change in product form that adds value to the product. In today's economic environment, certain logistics activities can also provide form utility. For example, breaking bulk and product mixing, which typically take place at distribution centres, change a product's form by changing its shipment size and packaging characteristics. Thus, unpacking a pallet of breakfast cereal into individual customer size boxes form utility to the product. However, the two principal methods in which logistics adds value are in place and time utility...

The definition of supply chain management (SCM) presented previously suggested a number of key factors and related characteristics that are the key to successful implementation.. Those key factors are inventory, cost, information, customer service and collaborative relationships. Each of these deserves some special consideration. Inventory Managing the flow and level of inventory is a central focus of SCM and a major performance metrric to gauge success. In simplistic terms, the inventory level must be sufficient to provide acceptable customer service but low enough to minimize SCM costs. To maintain the balance between supply of and demand for inventory stock, the supply chain requires integrated management to avoid duplication among members of the supply chain. Inventory visibility as it move through the supply chain is necessary to reduce or eliminate uncertainty, which eliminates safety stocks. This includes visibility of invotry being held in warehouses and other storage ...