4.1 Introduction
Watch or Listen to the Following Media Clip
Media 4.1 Module 4: Move it: Transportation and Logistics – ASU’s W.P. Carey School [Video]. W.P. Carey School of Business.
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to understand and answer the following questions:
- Identify different modes of transportation and their characteristics.
- Assess infrastructure and equipment types used in different modes of transportation.
- Describe International Transport Network.
- Explain how transportation adds value to the global value chain.
Introduction
Transportation is an essential and integral part of the Global Value Chain. Transportation is beneficial for society and helps in globalization of the world economy. That is why it plays a vital role in human life, companies, suppliers and distributors. This service should be effective, efficient and appropriately managed by an enterprise. Demand for transportation depends on a party wishing to move goods or freight efficiently and effectively from one point to another. Five different modes of transportation exist to help people move freight between cities or countries, or continents.
Transportation adds value in international supply chain management by reducing transportation time and as a result supply chain costs and frees up time on other areas of the supply chain. Also, suppose delays happened in some areas of the supply chain. In that case, transportation can help to speed up their performance and reduce time more efficiently by choosing the fastest way of delivering goods to the customer. In addition, transportation can help organizations to reduce cycle stock and increase customer satisfaction because of frequency deliveries. Supply chain cost minimized by dint of transportation’ benefits such as reducing inventory cost, safety stocks, cycle stocks, inventory velocity, minimum dwell-times, increase shelf life % for customers, operational planning. Transportation plays a vital role in supply chains which offer reliability and consistency; flexibility in terms of location, delivery, time, quantity, goods, cost; Just-in-Time delivery; customization by integration of supply chain; standardization by making activities predictable, reduction of total cost (Morash & Clinton, 1997).
Assessing What You Already Know
As you answer the following questions, reflect upon what you already know about how company’s work.
Overall Activity Feedback
Transportation is an essential and integral part of the Global Value Chain. Transportation is beneficial for society and helps in globalization of the world economy. That is why it plays a vital role in human life, companies, suppliers and distributors. This service should be effective, efficient and appropriately managed by an enterprise. Demand for transportation depends on a party wishing to move goods or freight efficiently and effectively from one point to another. Transportation adds value in international supply chain management by reducing transportation time and as a result supply chain costs and frees up time on other areas of the supply chain. Also, suppose delays happened in some areas of the supply chain. In that case, transportation can help to speed up their performance and reduce time more efficiently by choosing the fastest way of delivering goods to the customer. Transportation plays a vital role in supply chains which offer reliability and consistency; flexibility in terms of location, delivery, time, quantity, goods, cost; Just-in-Time delivery; customization by integration of supply chain; standardization by making activities predictable, reduction of total cost (Morash & Clinton, 1997)
Media Attributions and References
W. P. Carey School of Business. (2010, April 15). Module 4: Move it: Transportation and logistics – ASU’s W. P. Carey School. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZpHiMTwOdM
