Integrating maritime logistics with existing concepts & methodologies of supply chain management

• Main Authors: Bay, Li Shan, Lam, Yan Yee, Ng, Wei Ying
• Other Authors: Teo, Chee Chong
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Maritime studies::Maritime management and business
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/12823
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This report paper deals with ways to improve the overall supply chain performance of the shippers when integrating the use of the maritime transport in the existing Supply Chain Management (SCM). In today’s era of globalisation coupled with continuous growth in world trade, seaborne trade and demand for shipping services have become increasingly important in many transportation networks. However, sea transport is not explicitly incorporated as a planning component in the existing methodologies and concepts of SCM. This paper presents an investigation and theoretical review of the effects of the characteristics of seaborne transportation (i.e. long lead time and unreliability of shipping) and approaches to minimise these effects in the context of shippers’ cost and responsiveness. Therefore, factors such as shippers’ operating environments, product characteristics and their demands (i.e. value-weight ratio and weight-bulk ratio), and the risks involved in SCM (i.e. transportation risk, information risk, coordination and partnership risk) will be discussed to determine how long lead time and unreliability of shipping will impact on these aspects. With that, approaches such as redesign of liners' networks, collaboration through uniform information sharing systems and the efficiency of the terminal operations are examined for reducing the possible effects caused by the seaborne transportation.