Modes of Transportation in Logistics

Transportation infrastructure consists of the rights-of-ways, vehicles, and carrier organizations that offer transportation services on a for-hire or internal basis. The nature of the infrastructure also determines a variety of legal and economic characteristics for each mode or multi-modal system. A mode identifies the basic transportation method or form.

Rail Network

Since olden times, railroads have handled the largest number of ton-miles. As a result of the early establishment of a comprehensive rail network connecting almost all the cities and towns, railways dominated the intercity freight tonnage till World War II and in some cases of Europe, Asia and Africa they even connected the countries.… Read the rest

Transportation Cost Elements

Transportation is one of the most visible elements of logistics operations. Transportation provides two major functions namely product movement & product storage.  The major objective is to move product from an origin location to a prescribed destination while minimizing temporal, financial and environmental resource costs. Loss and damage expenses must also be minimized. At the same time the movement must take place in such a manner that meets customer demands regarding delivery performance and shipment information availability.

Following are the essential elements of transportation to be taken into account:

1. Transport Mode — The most critical decision is the selection of appropriate mode of transport.… Read the rest

Activity Based Costing in Logistics

Activity-based costing seeks to relate all relevant expenses to the value adding activities performed. For example, costs are assigned to a customer or product to reflect all relevant activity cost independent of when and where they occur. The fundamental concept of activity-based costing is that expenses need to be assigned to the activity that consumes a resource rather than to an organizational or budget unit. For example, two products produced in the same manufacturing facility, may require different assembling and handling procedures. One product may need an assembly or packaging operations that requires additional equipment or labor. If total equipment and labor costs are allocated to the products on the basis of sales or units produced than both items will be charged for the additional assembly and packaging operations required by only one of them.… Read the rest

Environmental Scanning – Meaning, Definition and Importance

Every organisation is responsible for the environment that it creates. The organisation’s operation and structure all directly affected by the environment. Organisation’s environment impacts on resources and opportunities that how they can be treated? It is primary objective of the organisation to take care of the company’s operations that how they are affecting the environment. For the successful growth and development of business it is important to develop such a strategies those can be assist operate the business operations. To understand the environmental scanning it is important to identify the business and how it can affect the environment business around.

The definition of environmental scanning is “a process of gathering, analyzing, and dispensing information for tactical or strategic purposes.… Read the rest

Effective Logistics and Competitive Advantage

Effective logistics management can provide a major source of competitive advantage. The bases for successes in the marketplace are numerous, but a simple model has been based around the three C’s — Customer, Company & Competitor. The source of competitive advantage is found firstly in the ability of the organization to differentiate itself, in the eyes of the customer, from its competition and secondly by operating at a lower cost and hence at greater profit.

Seeking a sustainable competitive advantage has become the concern of every manager who realizes the realities of the marketplace. It is no longer acceptable to assume that the goods will sell themselves.… Read the rest

Case Study of Dyson: Competitive Advantage through Innovation

Dyson, an electrical manufacturer, is solely owned by Sir James Dyson, and its headquarters are based in Malmsbury, Wiltshire. Dyson was the first company to introduce a bagless solution to conventional vacuum cleaners. After securing a significant market share in the vacuum cleaner industry, the company decided to diversify in to new products and countries. Dyson’s vision is to make products more environmentally friendly and easy to use; his ongoing mission is to promote design and innovation through the production of his products. Today Dyson has a presence in 45 countries and still maintain a 46 % and 32% share in the UK and US Vacuum cleaner market, respectively.… Read the rest