For this final case, read the article below concerning improving transportation and review the Background Readings.
Gilmore, D. (2002, November). Achieving transportation excellence. World Trade, 13(11), 36-38. Retrieved on December 12, 2014, from ProQuest in the Trident Online Library.
Abstract:
Companies across every industry segment are striving to become supply chain management (SCM) leaders. SCM leaders achieve this status by reducing cycle times and operating costs, increasing supply chain velocity, and enhancing top line revenue growth through improved customer satisfaction. There is a growing recognition of the role that transportation and logistics excellence plays in achieving a world-class supply chain. Transportation costs represent a substantial component of overall supply chain and corporate spend for many companies. Transportation management solutions (TMS) can enable companies to take back control of their transportation processes and drive out transportation related costs. TMS can deliver these savings through: 1. process improvement, 2. shipment optimization, 3. continuous moves, and 4. carrier.
Read the following article and review the background readings:
Graham, D.D., (2003), Warehouse of the Future, Frontline Solutions; Duluth; Apr 2003.
Abstract:
Software will choreograph tomorrow’s warehouse work The warehouse of the future will not be technology-dependent but technology enhanced-a blend of technology, machine, and manpower. Supply chain software, already a critical element today, will actually the work of this new highly automated warehouse, trimming fat, dumping waste, and eliminating redundancy wherever it is found. Workers will be fewer, but more qualified, better trained, and more motivated. What has everyone involved in material handling and warehouse management salivating are radio frequency identification technology systems that are made up of three components – an antenna or coil, a transceiver and a transponder, usually in the form of a tag. Future warehouse management technologies will perform functions impossible today, including finite scheduling and the process sequencing of orders, allowing the operation to take advantage of its capacities while managing its constraints. Those constraints will include labor, physical space, yard capacity, order mix and value added processing, a factor that will loom large in warehouses to come.
Case Assignment
Then in a 5- to 6-page paper, answer the following questions:
- How can flexibility be built into warehouse planning and design to accommodate change for the future? What would it require? What are the trade-offs with respect to allocating resources up front or into the future?
- How is process improvement important to achieving transportation excellence? How might process improvement be extended to other areas of logistics planning?
Assignment Expectations
Research the topic with information from the background readings as well as any other resources you find on your own. The paper should be 5–6 pages in length and have a cover sheet and a reference page. Clarity of presentation is important, as well as your ability to cover the topic in a succinct, organized manner with research to back up your points. Use at least 3 different sources of information and annotate your sources of information appropriately on your references page and within the text as necessary. You will be assessed on how well you develop your points and demonstrate your knowledge of process improvement as it relates to logistics planning. Submit your assignment for grading by the end of this module.