Multi Echelon Inventory Control With Integrated Shipment Decisions

Inbound logistics today is highly inefficient. Most retailers use multiple systems to manage the process and so suffer from fragmented visibility. Prioritisation and scheduling of orders are done on an ad hoc basis, with little consideration of current demand and inventory, while scarce resources, such as dock door and yard capacity, are often poorly utilised.

The massive global conglomerate known as ITT Industries has undergone a number of fundamental changes during the firm's century of continuous operation, growing from a humble family-run company known as International Telephone & Telegraph into the multifaceted worldwide corporate entity that exists today. Along the way, executives and upper management at ITT Industries elected to use a vast array of transportation options, consisting primarily of overseas shipping and railway/roadway freight distribution to facilitate the movement of supplies, equipment, and products throughout its network of interrelated industrial holdings. With much of ITT Industries' current portfolio consisting of aerospace/defense contractors, automotive manufacturers, railroads, and other industrial pursuits, building and sustaining a viable transportation structure to deliver items as efficiently and effectively as possible has become one of the company's paramount priorities. The added external pressures applied by governmental bodies and regulatory agencies, which are increasingly concerned with legislating environmentally sustainable corporate conduct, has also motivated ITT Industries to reassess the functionality of its transportation structure from a progressive perspective. When the diversity of ITT Industries' vast array of worldwide holdings is considered, it becomes clear that the firm's current reliance on the traditional model of overseas shipping and freight trucking distribution

This short report recommends the best options of serving the Spanish distributor and the North America customer based on information given. Although cost is the main consideration in the analysis, various other criteria such as service level and transport modal features are also examined. In order to deliver a more comprehensive discussion, weaknesses of the recommended modals are listed, which should be carefully evaluated when further information is available.

(Bowersox, D.J., Closs, D.J., and Cooper, M.B. (2010). Supply Chain Logistics Management. (3rd Edition) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

The advancement in technology and imaginative techniques, the procedures and systems of how cargo is moved and handled is streamlined. Prior to containerization, moving freight from one location to another across the globe was a tedious practice and often took an extended amount of time. Manufacturers would use various configurations with dissimilar sizes and weights which led to additional time at each location being required to handle the different sized cargo. The use of intermodal containers has changed the shipping industry allowing for multiple modes of transportation to rapidly cross load the containers and mover the containers to the next destination. Implementing the use intermodal

Transportation is at the centre of logistics as it represents the physical movement of materials between points in a supply chain. High customer expectations and little tolerance for inadequate performance create a competitive environment for operating a fleet, which forces fleet managers to achieve high levels of reliability and cost-efficiency (Peter Mbuthia Gitahi, Dr

With growth of international shipping also increased domestic movements of freight. Companies has to find an optimal solution for moving their goods from factory to warehouse and from warehouse to distribution centers. Organizations has to look at many factors (objective and subjective) before they will make a rational decision and pick a suitable technique.

Knowing and understanding the types of inventory your company is dealing with when importing or exporting can help to meet the main goals of your business. There are essential 3 types of inventory a company may encounter in logistics; raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods. When dealing with raw materials, the business will be receiving or sending out goods that will eventually be used to make other goods. Raw materials can be thought of as ingredients for another product. The next inventory type is work-in-process, this type of inventory are goods that are currently being made but are not yet completed and ready to be shipped out. The last inventory type is your finished goods, this type of inventory is goods that are completed and are ready to be shipped out to the businesses customers. The goal is to maintain an equal amount of inventory in each category. If your work-in-process inventory were to be greater than your finished goods, you may need to look into having a faster order fill time. If your raw materials are being to get lower than your finished goods, it may be time to order more raw materials to be able to produce more finished goods. Once the goods are finished and ready to be shipped, packaging and handling of the goods becomes important (Types of

Today, intermodal offers dependable, flexible and cost-effective linehaul, dray and transload options for large and small shippers moving products through logistics networks, whether across North America between major population centers, or as “final miles” distribution of an international supply chain. Increasingly, Intermodal is being leveraged by shippers over relatively short distances at a cost that’s competitive with OTR (Over-The-Road) trucking service and with scheduled and reliable transit times.

Having characterised reverse supply chains in Section 2.1, we now address corresponding strategic design and planning issues. Strategic design and planning of reverse supply chains deal with decisions that have a long-lasting effect on the company. These include decisions regarding a choice of collection method, the number, location and capacity of sorting and reprocessing operations and corresponding inventory buffers, and definition of various transportation links in terms of sourcing, modes and capacities and so on. However, the complexity of the reverse supply chain has also led to the inclusion of several planning decisions in addition to the classical strategic design decisions (i.e. location

Acknowledgement This master’s thesis is written as a final part of the Master of Science program in Industrial Engineering and Management at Lund University, Lund Institute of Technology. The project corresponds to 30 ECT credits and was performed during a period of 20 weeks in the summer and fall of 2009. The idea to perform a study on inventory control on IKEA came from Paul Björnsson, Process Leader for “Plan and Secure Capacity” at IKEA of Sweden. The suggestion to

Owing to receiving order through the Internet, this generates the value to lower level of inventories. However, the effect of holding lower inventories is tight support the decrease requirement of warehouse usage as well (Sarkis, Meade, and Talluri, 2004). As environmental friendly perspective, the definite advantages are lower energy consumption and eliminate quantity of toxic waste that represents the result of better warehousing management (Sarkis, Meade, and Talluri, 2004).

SCM can be divided into three main groups: purchase, manufacture, and transport (Thomas et al., 1996). The focus is on transportation. There are different modes of transportation. These modes of transportation fall under three basic types and they are: land (road, rail and pipelines), water (shipping) and air. Transportation plays a connective role among the several steps that result in the conversion of resources into useful goods for the ultimate consumer. It is the planning of all these functions and sub-functions into a system of goods movement in order to minimize cost and maximize service to the customers that constitutes the concept of business logistics. The system, once it’s put in place, must be effectively managed (Fair & Williams, 1981). What are the advantages and disadvantages of these modes of transportation in logistics?

In my job as 3PL (Third party logistics service provider) shipping (transportation across boarders) is one of the integrated services that we offer to our clients. To carry out this activity, we are constantly faced with the dilema of choosing the transportation mode that will reconcile effectiveness and efficiency. While keeping in mind the expectations of our clients, we must not forget our profit margins – which are the bases of our business sustainability. Besides deciding what mode of transportation to use, we are equally responsible for choosing between one carrier and the other. The choice of carrier is determined by a series of factors such reliability, availability of equipment, regularity, price/rates etc

Inventory is part of the resources managed by business organizations and this first documented in the year 1601. The necessity for inventory regulation cannot be overstressed as it is a way for refining the functioning of the manufacturing industries. Inventory could be labeled as a confirmation of present business assets such as property, material goods on hand, and the worth of work evolving and work completed but not sold and it is categorized as an existing asset because it can be converted into cash within a brief period of time. Inventory has generated a vast effect on the productivity of the manufacturing organization that lead to the deep research of this subject (H. Quesada-Pineda, n.d).