Logistics is about
getting your raw materials in, getting your finished products out
and handling returns, all at the lowest possible cost. Without an
efficient logistics department the company will not function.
These article abstracts have
links that will take you to the complete article....
Logistics
Many companies choose to outsource their logistics to a third party
logistics provider (3PL).
Some 3PL companies provide warehousing facilities as well as transport.
Their role is to ensure that you have the goods you need for your
manufacturing process, just in time.
The managers responsible for organizing and outsourcing logistics must
understand every aspect of logistics and supply chain
operations. This
allows them to communicate intelligently with providers and understand
the basic activities relevant to their operations...
Air
Freight
Air Freight is faster than conventional
mail services, but more expensive.
It is worth
considering Air Freight if
you are transporting time sensitive documents, like newspapers, or
contracts.
One major consideration when looking at
air freight as a transport option is the weight of the goods you are
transporting.
Lettuce, flowers and herbs are typical of the goods that are worth the
cost of air freight. These goods are lightweight, with a high unit
value and a low weight per unit. Tomatoes and grapes are also air
freighted at certain times of the year, when the value in the final
market is high...
Pallets
There are billions of pallets in daily
use all over the
world, the USA, alone, uses two billion.
Plastic
pallets are very durable, but have a much higher initial
cost, five times the cost of a wooden equivalent. The higher cost of
plastic
pallets is worthwhile only in a closed loop shipping system, where the
pallets’
return is guaranteed.
Wooden pallets are
not the only option for shippers, Plastic
and corrugated cardboard pallets are also commonly available. However
wood remains
the preferred shipping mode because it is 20% of the cost of a plastic
pallet
and is more durable then cardboard.
|
Warehousing
An efficient business requires efficient
warehousing. It can often be the most profit-consuming element if
not organised properly – with the cost of staff, health and theft
insurance, building rates.
You will need to consider what will be best for your company, public
warehousing (where you pay only for the space and services with no long
term commitment), or contract warehousing (which is a long term
commitmen but with lower rates)...
Satellite Phones
Mobile Phones need a phone mast to have
a signal. There are many parts of the world, including USA, Canada,
Australia and Europe where no phone masts exist.
Satellite
phones work
by using a signal bounced off one of a series of communication
satellites hundreds of miles above the Earth's surface.
Sometimes it may make sense for a company to buy a few satellite phones
so that its executives and sales force are always in touch with company
HQ...
Shipping
Containers
Shipping Containers, or just plain
containers. 40 feet long.
Container ships and therefore shipping
containers were
developed to speed loading time at tthe dockside and to reduce theft by
dock workers.
There are non-standard containers too. They are all the same size
outside, but some have hangers to allow clothes to be transported and
unloaded directly to the shop floor. There are ventilated containers
for crops like coffee and cocoa and there are containers with
extra-wide doors or lashing bars for extra load security.
Plastic Pallets
My day began to go wrong the minute the
van door was slid open by a dodgy-looking man wearing leather trousers
and a mullet. Me and Cherry, the new girl, were just touching up
the war paint and fastening our bikinis, which is hard enough, I can
tell you, when you are in a motor vehicle that has just been reversing
at thirty miles an hour around an industrial estate.
He looked me up and down in a dodgy kind of way (which I don't mind on
account of I'm used to it), but then he took hold of the side of my
face and says to me "My darling, you remind me of a plastic
pallet - you are
durable, light weight and no one complains of splinters or back ache
when moving you around a warehouse."
Then he turns to Cherry and looks at her, a bit dismissively I thought,
and says, "You - you are like a wooden pallet, you are not
environmentally friendly, but to your credit, you are recyclable."
|
