Benchmarking in the Singapore logistics industry

• Main Author: Anisah Mohamed Dawood
• Other Authors: -
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Engineering::Maritime studies
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/139012
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In 2012, Singapore was ranked as the top logistics hub in Asia although it started off as a Singapore-based freight forwarder in the early 80s. The logistics industry has been experiencing a positive annual growth of about 7% for the past years, contributing to Singapore’s economy. The concept of benchmarking in the logistics industry is crucial in ensuring that Singapore maintains its top position among all the countries in Asia. With the growing urbanization and advancement of technology, there has been an increasing demand in the retail industry. This paper focuses on fashion logistics and its key elements in the supply chain. Benchmarking induces positive competition among the fashion logistics industry but there are still various restraining force that needs to be overcome. As the fashion industry is facing disruptive technology due to the evolution of e-commerce, it is crucial for the companies to have the right attitude and thinking so as to remain sustainable and competitive. Depending on the company size and the type of goods it is handling, the significance of benchmarking differs accordingly. As for fast fashion goods, it focuses on achieving an efficient enough system that would allow the goods to reach the consumers within a short period of time. However for high fashion goods, maintaining a high quality product and transparent communication with the consumers is its upmost priority. In fact, meeting seasonal demands and ensuring a smooth process of reverse logistics is already a challenge for most fashion companies out there. With that, benchmarking can be used as a tool for these companies to identify the industry standards and work towards that goal. This study seeks to understand as to why there is a lack of benchmarking studies on fashion logistics despite the many benefits it can bring about. In such a competitive business environment, it is crucial for the companies to continuously improve itself through the sharing of best practices but many are still reluctant, as they would like to protect their own interest. In fact, the lack of benchmarking studies being published is also due to the fact that most of the benchmarking processes are done unofficially through the feedbacks from consumers and ex-employees. Ultimately, benchmarking does bring about many positive impacts but it is the responsibility of the top management to decide if it should be implemented and to what extent.