Background of Intermodal Company
The supply chain management is defined as a management that is concerned with the movement of products and services and includes mobility and repository of raw materials, of work in process inventory and of finished goods from the point of its origin to the point of its production. The management of the supply chain of a company determines effectiveness and success of a company in the market. Logistics is an important component of the supply chain of an organization which involves transportation of finished goods from the manufacturers to point of consumption. In order to increase effectiveness of the logistics network, a company does not depend on a single mode of transport but they rather depend on multiple modes of transport which suits their requirements. This report focuses on the characteristics of an intermodal company and the various problems which are associated with the location of the intermodal company along with providing solutions and recommendations to address the problems.
According to Antonowicz (2015), various industries and production models requires all types of comfort and assistance in their disposal. The reason behind requiring comfort and assistance is that the developing units need to maintain their function for the benefit of the best operation of the companies. One of the most essential requirements for a clean industrial activity is an effective and well equipped and well maintained transportation network and conversion network which is needed immensely for the transportation of recyclables, freight and equipment. According to Agamez-Arias & Moyano-Fuentes (2017), one of the most effective ideas for an excellent transportation network is intermodal transportation network. Intermodal transportation is quickly being transformed in to most effective and cost effective methods used by various organizations for bringing and transporting various recyclables and developing equipment.
In case of intermodal transportation a single setting of freight transportation is not utilized and in order to gain more comfort and simplicity in the transport of raw materials and finished products various companies and firms utilize utilizes multiple setting and modes of transportation. As stated by Mostert & Limbourg (2016), the intermodal transport for various sectors and manufacturing models comprises of multiple choices of modes of transport. In most of the cases the intermodal trucking business forms the preliminary section of the vast intermodal procedure.
As stated by Reis (2014), in various developed countries and economies, road transportation in the form of trucks is the well-preferred way of transportation and shifting of raw materials and goods over long distances. But in addition to road transportation in the form of trucks, companies also utilizes railway network in order to transport raw materials and finished goods. According to Caris et al. (2013), apart from road and rail transport networks, various companies also utilize other modes of transport such as airways and waterways so as to receive as well as transport raw materials and finished products from one location to the other. As opined by Bhattacharya et. al. (2014), in most of the cases the various modes of transport are used by the company in the form of transit centres and hubs for receiving and transporting raw materials and finished products from one location to the other.
Importance of Logistics Management in Intermodal Company
The lean tool has been derived from the concept of lean manufacturing concept and the tool helps follows a set of principles in order to achieve quality, speed and customer alignment. The main aim of the lean tool is eliminate those elements which are not helping to add any sort of values to the work and focusing on the elements which are required in the supply chain at the current time. According to Ghobakhloo& Azar (2018) the elimination of waste in the lean tool refers to not only the removal of un-necessary tasks, meetings and documentation but it also refers to elimination of time which are spent in future planning and forecasting as the market is constantly changing and therefore the time spent in planning the future elements often appear to be a waste of time. The lean tool also eliminates the concept of ineffective methods of working such as multitasking, and therefore the delivery network of the company practising lean manufacturing becomes fast in nature. The concept of lean tool also helps in focusing on system which is defined as the way the team of an organization operates as a whole. Organizations which implement the lean tool in their operations enjoys a strong competitive advantage in the market in which it operates as they have the ability to successfully respond to changes in the market by not trying to predict the future.
The agile tool refers to following a set of values and principles which are a part of the agile manifesto which was itself a reaction against heavyweight methodologies which were popular in practice and were detoriating software projects from the reality regarding what they were expected to do such as creating software to help the customers. The agile tool values individuals and interactions over processes and tools, the tool also focuses on working software over comprehensive documents, the tool also favours customer collaboration over customer negotiation and the tool also focuses on responding to changes over following a particular plan. The main principles of the agile tool are based on highest priority in customer satisfaction, simplicity, changing requirements and regular reflection and adaptation.
One such company which went into bankruptcy was Australian Entertainment Logistics, operating from New South Wales since 2011. The company suffered huge losses and went in to voluntary administration and later filed for bankruptcy as a result of various factor among which the main was increasing pressure in the transport industry. The other reason which resulted in the bankruptcy of the company was the lack of ability of the company to adapt lean tool in its day to day operation which resulted in non-elimination of wastes such as outdated and un-necessary processes, future forecasting tools, and documentation which affected its daily operations and therefore the company was unable to adapt to the new conditions of the market.
Another such which collapsed into receivership and later filed for bankruptcy was Gregory’s transport leaving the employees of the company without salary and superannuation. The company was one of the largest privately owned transport companies which were involved in freight, warehousing and distribution and operated from various locations of Australia such as Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. One of the main reasons behind the company being bankrupt was the slowing of the productivity gains of the industry in which the company operated. The other reason which resulted in the bankruptcy of the company was inability to incorporate the agile tool in the operations of the company which resulted in the company being unable to adapt to the slow growth of the sector and therefore it suffered bankruptcy.
Issues Related to the Operational Aspects
While comparing both the above mentioned companies it was observed that the main reason which was responsible for the bankruptcy of both the companies was the in-effectiveness of both the company to implement vertical integration in the operations of the company. According to Maleki&Cruz-Machado (2013) the concept of vertical integration refers to the company controlling more than one stage of the supply chain and the process that the business organization utilizes to transform the raw materials and deliver it to the customers. The concept of vertical integration results in gaining of competitive advantage for a company and therefore in ability of both the companies to implement vertical integration resulted in bankruptcy of both the companies.
Moorebank Intermodal Company is a wholly owned Australian Government company based in Australia which is mainly established by the government in order to promote improvement of an intermodal terminal in Moorebank which is a nationally important and essential infrastructure project that will support Sydney in managing the emerging increase in the movement of freight throughout the city of Sydney and other neighbouring cities. The Moorebank Intermodal Company has entered in to agreement with the Sydney Intermodal Terminal Alliance in order to improve and serve the Sydney Terminal. The Sydney Intermodal Terminal Alliance is fully owned subsidiary of the Qube Holdings, which is one of the biggest and recognised Australian operators in the freight logistics industry. The Moorebank Logistics Park will help in delivering variety of leverages for the local community and for the wider economy which includes creation of about 6800 jobs in New South Wales, improved results for environment, source of society developments, reducing congestion growth in South-Western Sydney by facilitating few trucks on road and generating $11 billion for economic benefits including $120 million for South-Western Sydney.
Analysis of problems
The main problem which is associated with the current logistics network in New South Wales is International container landside logistics operations as it is most challenging and complex supply chain existing in New South Wales. According to Eaidgah et al. (2018), though the intermodal sector is a prospective service sector in Australia as the container trade growth will continue to grow because of the economic growth of Australia but still it faces challenges as the logistics service network in New South Wales is very competitive in nature with lower profit margins. The current logistics network in New South Wales is a very highly governed market which requires regular balance between safety governance, future innovations and developments in productivity. As stated by Chhetri et al. (2018), another problem which is associated with logistics network of New South Wales is the lack of smartness in the activities and processes of the current logistics even when the containerised freight tasks in Australia is growing with every passing day. The other problems which are associated with the logistics network of New South Wales are container safety, compliance and risk management as there are many parties who are included in the container shipment, from the country of origin of the shipment to the final destination of shipment and therefore it increases the risks which are associated with safety breaches and compliance lapses.
Sustainability in Intermodal Company
According to Slaughter (2015), there are a variety of other challenges which are associated with the New South Wales logistics network are geographical challenges such as traffic congestion the area of New South Wales and Sydney and presence of large number of toll roads in the transportation network of New South Wales which increases the costs associated with transportation.
As stated by Lam et al. (2015), there are several regional challenges which create various issues in the logistics network of New South Wales such as distance of the present logistic hub to other major cities of Australia and the condition of the Australian roads which poses serious challenges to the process of transportation and to the safe transportation of the products and commodities. According to Chakraborty & Mandal (2014), there are various demographical factors which create problems in the logistics network of New South Wales such as ageing population of New South Wales as the aged employees of various logistics companies find it hard to adapt to various new technologies creating problems in the logistics network.
As stated by Kawa & Anholcer (2018), the other challenges which the logistics network of New South Wales faces is environmental challenges such as regarding climate changes and demand for green logistics and therefore companies find it difficult to operate efficiently with the environment in mind and regarding seasonal problems as different seasons offer different problems to the logistics network such as in the winter season various parts of New South Wales witnesses severe storms which creates disruption in logistics services, in summer season the increase in temperature affects the transportation of certain perishable items and also leads to problem in rail transport as high temperature increases heat conduction in railway lines which puts added pressure on electric railway lines and moreover the high temperature also affects the working of the employees of the logistics network and various natural disasters causes damage to logistics infrastructure and the equipment also.
As opined by Kull & Ellis (2016), the other problems which the New South Wales logistics network faces are in the form of legislative challenges such as funding dis-agreements between the state governments and the federal governments regarding development of infrastructure such as roadways and rail network, transport regulations imposed for the movement of various modified vehicles, quarantine regarding import of goods and work safety of the employees of the various companies.
As stated by Tymoshchuk & Melnyk (2013), the other challenges which the logistics network of New South Wales faces are in the form of technological challenges such as additional costs for the implementation of new technologies, lack of integrated system in the logistics network, over-dependence on technology for business operations, regional issues regarding technology, resistance to change among the senior employees and problems in adjusting to new systems.
As opined by Spillan et al. (2013), the other problems which the logistics network of New South Wales faces are rising fuel prices in the intermodal transport network, maintenance work being carried out on roads and railway network, individual oversized shipments, different types of rail gauges and security issues in the form of theft and damage.
Recommendations for Addressing the Problems
The problems which have been identified regarding the New South Wales logistics network can be resolved mainly through facilitating a better relationship and communication network between the logistics industry and the regulators of the logistics industry which will help in ensuring that the pertinent safety legislations are fitting and proper in nature and will also insure that sustained direction, consciousness and education in safe transport payoffs can be provided.
According to Rose et al. (2017), another way to resolve the problems of the New South Wales logistics network involves using the most appropriate type of transport vehicle as well as higher productivity freight vehicles, streamlining various intermodal platforms, by encouraging competent and dependable rail network, implementing future technologies in order to boost operational efficiency, outcome and information visibility and by ensuring that workforce of the logistic sector has appropriate skill, training and attribute in place in order to succeed.
One of the most effective ways to get rid of the various challenges and issues which are faced by the New South Wales logistics network is to recruit a young and energetic workforce who will be better adapt to utilize the benefits of various innovative technologies for the development of the logistics and will also able to embrace change in a successful manner.
Another effective way to address the various issues faced by the New South Wales logistics network is to develop the logistics hub or terminal in such a location at New South Wales such as Moorebank which will aid in the easy receiving of raw materials and transportation of finished products. New logistics terminal or hub should be developed in such a location which has close proximity to all modes of transport and are in close proximity with the major cities of Australia. The new logistics terminal or hub should be built on a large area of land with the ability to receive and store large quantity of products and should possess several other facilities such as warehousing, car parking, storm water management etc. The new logistics hub should focus on gaining various types of approvals from the state governments and also from the federal government in order to comply with various legal requirements and to promote sustainability.
According to SALAN?? & POPA (2015), another way to address the various issues faced by the New South Wales logistics network is to select the best available transportation option for the receiving of raw materials and for the delivery of finished products based on the nature of the raw material or finished products and based on the season as different seasons provide different challenges for the transportation of goods which disrupts the operations of the logistics network by increase of transportation costs and damage of goods and materials.
Another Effective way to address the various issues faced by the New South Wales logistics network is to promote sustainability in the logistics network of the New South Wales as it will help in reducing the operational costs associated with the receiving and transportation of raw materials and finished goods through approach of green logistics and it will also help in increasing the efficiency of the various services offered by the various intermodal network of the logistics network.
Case Study: Australian Entertainment Logistics
The NSW state government and the Federal government of Australia have various responsibilities regarding the development of the logistics network of New South Wales. Firstly the NSW state government and the Federal government of Australia should act in collaboration to develop the infrastructure of the country by building new roads and railway lines and by constantly improving the conditions of the current road and railway network as it will help in increasing the effectiveness of the logistics network. According to Dinter (2013), the NSW state government should also consider a Public Private Partnership (PPP) approach in the improvement of new logistics hub in New South Wales as it will not only help in improvement of the logistics network but will also help in the development of the economy of the country by attracting various new businesses and clients. The NSW government should also consider reviewing their regulatory and legislative policies as it will help in increasing the efficiency of the sector owing to increased profit margins as the growth of the sector is restricted due to high regulations with low profit margins.
Conclusion
From the above report it is clear and evident that intermodal company’s offers various benefits to their clients and customers by offering them flexibility in the transportation of various goods, products and raw materials which suits their requirement. From the above report it is also clear and evident that the success of an intermodal company depends on the logistics network of the location in which it is based and therefore the effectiveness of the logistics network of a location is an important determinant for the success of various intermodal companies and projects. From the above report it is also clear and evident that government of a country plays a vital role in effectiveness of a logistics network of a company as government is responsible for developing the infrastructure upon which the sector is based upon and is also responsible for the development of various regulatory and legislative policies for the sector.
References
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