Logistics, Trade Administration and Supply Chain

By Robert Bowman It wasn't as if it was a huge surprise. Rumors that Hanjin was financially imperiled extended back to 2013. The Korean line sought to restructure its debt in April of last year, then submitted a last-ditch liquidity plan in August for raising an additional $450m. At the time, Hanjin expressed optimism that it could come to terms with creditors while remaining in business. But the Korean government refused to bail out the carrier, the plan was rejected, and Hanjin went into receivership on Sept. 1. Then, on Feb. 17 of this year, a South Korean court declared Hanjin bankrupt, ordering liquidation of its assets. Hanjin left a huge mess to be sorted out. It had 89 ships in service and was involved in some two dozen alliances or vessel-sharing arrangements (VSAs) with carrier partners. Huge amounts of money were owed to terminals, crewmembers and supporting vendors, with total outstanding debt of approximately $6bn. It could take years for them to recover even a fra...

To date, pipeline transportation offers a very limited range of services and capabilities. The most economically feasible products to move by pipeline are crude oil and refine petroleum products. However, there are some experimentation with moving solid products suspended in liquid referred to as slurry or containing the solid products in cylinders that in turn move in a liquid within the pipe. If these innovations prove to be economical, pipeline service could be greatly expanded. Early experience with coal suspended in liquid has not been favourable because pipes have eroded. Product movement by pipeline is very slow, only about three to four miles per hour. This slowness is tempered by the fact that products move 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This makes the effective speed much greater when compared with other modes. Pipelines capacity is high, considering that a 3 mph flow in a 12 inch diameter pipe can move 89,000 gallons per hour. Concerning transit time, pipeline service...

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...