Major Effective ICTs That Support the Logistic Management Components - Coursework Example

? LOGISTICS AND OPERATIONS Task: Logistics and Operations Introduction Logistics management is the planning and setting of time for transportation using effective support systems that help in controlling the flow of finished and raw goods. Effective management of logistics enhances customers’ satisfaction because it reduces delivery time and costs. It also involves the validation of vehicles and all the facilities to avoid extra costs that emanate from government fines. The major components of logistic management entail warehousing, network design, and transportation. The rationale of this report is to analyze the major effective ICTs that support the logistic management components. The ICTs entail the Warehouse Management System (WMS), Transport Management Systems, and GIS. Warehouse Management Systems Many organizations are not successful because they pay little attention to management of warehouses. Effective warehouse management based on the increased customer services and larger proportions of stock keeping units is crucial. The effective management of the warehouses in organizations is achievable by the introduction of technologies like the Warehouse Management Systems (Emmett 2005, p.135). The Warehouse Management Systems (WMS) are used in supporting one of the major logistic management components, warehousing. The returns from retailers, supplier rejects, and packaging returns are stored in warehouses in organizations. Poor management of returns may increase a company’s expenses because they cause extra labor-intensive processes. These returns may increase a business expenses by approximately 6% (Emmett 2005). The Warehouse Management Systems help in lessening such expenses since they make administrative tracking and handling support easier and quicker. The software can give many recovery options and communicate the options to other actors (Emmett 2005). The Warehouse Management Systems work by gathering information about products and informing the management about the incoming returns. The two major examples of Warehouse Management Systems include the options that handling the returns, and the proprietary system. Common software that supports the ICT is the R-log, which helps in controlling returns after combination with the system’s component called the return centers. In the R-log, all products are labeled with a barcode after delivery to the return centers. In the return center, all labeled returns are directed to their containers. The options for recovering the returns or disposing them (Dekker, Fleischmann, Inderfurth et la 2004). Organizations can get many benefits after the implementation of the Warehouse Management System. Managing returns are labor intensive and organizations spend more money in hiring individuals to manage the returns. However, if an organization uses the technology, its expenses can reduce since it will not have to employ many individuals in the warehouse sectors. The WMS can handle all the activities like receiving stocks, generation of pick lists, and replenishing pick faces in warehouses. It is beneficial since it upgrades the process of controlling stock in organizations. Additionally, it makes it easy for organizations to locate stocks, which would be a difficult task without the system. Organizations that use the system have reported the increased levels of products and upgraded management reporting (Dekker, Fleischmann, Inderfurth et la 2004). The system is also advantageous since it can be combined with ordering systems like the online systems. These systems enable consumers to order goods while at home (Emmett 2005). They can also give direct information regarding how consumers can order goods and how they can pick them. This is once they have been dispatched by the organization. The system reduces the errors that would happen if the operation were carried out manually through cross checking and validation. The accuracy of order fulfillment can be achievable if the system is fully used in a correct manner (Emmett 2005). An organization and its consumers can benefit from using the systems. The organization can know the requirements of its customers. Additionally, it is helpful in reducing the order pick times and improving the rapidity of order fulfillment. The organization can concentrate on offering better services to their consumers because the system is efficient (Dekker, Fleischmann, Inderfurth et la 2004). The WMS is instrumental in the maintenance of clean environments in organizations. This is because the system reduces the paper work involved in the warehousing processes in offices. All the paper work can be converted into electronic data when using the system. This reduces the amount of waste papers generated in the process (Dekker, Fleischmann, Inderfurth et la 2004). An organization may face diverse several constraints when using the system. One of the challenges is that organizations have to conduct extensive research to install the system properly (Dekker, Fleischmann, Inderfurth et la 2004). Additionally, an organization needs to conduct an evaluation of all the operations in the system. For instance, the organization has to evaluate important business operations like categorization and items identification to make it realize its output goals (Dekker, Fleischmann, Inderfurth et la 2004). In addition, many organizations are challenged by the systems since they increase the maintenance of master data. They also create additional steps in warehouse processes. Some of the processes are heightened in the receipts and picking departments. An organization has to increase costs by employing individuals with expert knowledge since the process can be complicate. Without expert knowledge, errors and delays in the process may arise (Emmett 2005, P. 137). Transport Management Systems An additional logistic component is transportation. Several transportation services need management. The transport services in organization entail delivery of goods to consumers, transportation of raw materials to industries, and transportation of workers. Poor administration of transport systems in organizations results into the increase in organizational expenses. There should be the implementation of the ICT called the Transport Management System for effective management of transport systems in organizations (Lio & Stares 2000). The Transport Management Systems make some transport management process easier and faster. These processes entail scheduling for transportation, route planning, calculation of transportation costs, and monitoring of the transport system (Lio & Stares 2000). The system utilizes programs like EDI system and internet services for easier communication with consumers and suppliers. Additionally, GPS systems are instrumental in route planning (Lio & Stares 2000). The transport departments in organizations have to perform important activities like scheduling of orders and route planning before goods are dispatched. The TMS helps in selecting services, assigning carriers, selection of appropriate transport means, identification of the shortest routes, and scheduling (Knolmayer, Mertens & Zeier 2002). The system has optimizer, which helps in planning for transportation in simple cases and identifying the obstacles during optimization. Examples of the services entail the weakly delivery of certain goods and transportation of dangerous or delicate goods (Knolmayer, Mertens & Zeier 2002). The system is very accurate in calculating freight costs through many functions like the acquisition of master information, determining the carrier costs, and calculating transport costs after determining the proceeds margins. The system has extended R/3 functions, which enable the systems to select the transport method with considerable costs (Knolmayer, Mertens & Zeier 2002, p.156). The central instrument in the system is the Calculation Scheme that allows the estimation of transport costs. The centrals systems consist of the shipment documents, which contain all the information needed in the cost estimation process. The system calculates costs by estimating the weight, volume, distance, and consumer parameters (Knolmayer, Mertens & Zeier 2002, 156). TMS saves the organizations time and resources spent in route planning. Additionally, it reduces the organizational costs because it selects the shortest routes, which reduces the amount of money spent on fuel and other distribution expenses. The system enhances effective planning, which enables the transport vehicles to make less stops, and organizations to use fewer vehicles while transporting the required volume of goods. Furthermore, the system helps the organization to know and to be able to deal with the unforeseen circumstances in the transportation sector. It also displays the data of the previous transport schedules, which reduces work when scheduling the future transportation activities (Lio & Stares 2000, P.154). The system also helps in developing many loading plans easily. It identifies the time of goods, the location the goods are to be delivered, the time for delivery, and vehicles to be used. This would have been difficult if was done manually. Many companies suffer losses because of goods breakages. The implementation of the software enables organizations to avoid such losses because it enhances the effective designing of loads. Effective load designs helps in preventing the damaging of good before, during, and after the process of transportation. Moreover, the effective loading schemes will help in reducing the number of vehicles and the number of stopping fleets during the transportation process (Knolmayer, Mertens & Zeier 2002, 155). The system also reduces business costs because when using the system the organization requires fewer personnel. Additionally, it increases the competitiveness of a company because it enables it to deliver goods faster to its consumers. Since, the implementation of the systems makes a company to spend less money on transportation; the company can sell its goods at lower costs because of the reduced costs of production. Consequently, the receivers of delivered goods, which in most cases, are the retailers, purchase goods at lower prices and this enables them to develop well-organized inbound supply chain. Moreover, the faster delivery of goods enables consumers to get fresh goods at lower prices. This increases a company’s consumers, which in turn increases the amount of sales and profitability (Ray 2010, P.142). The Transport Managements Systems also benefits the whole community and the setting. This is because the system reduces the miles travelled by the vehicles in industries and the number of vehicles deeded to deliver certain goods. By reducing the miles and the number of vehicles, there can be less noise and less traffic congestions. In addition, there will be emission of lesser polluting gases, which destroy the environment (Ray 2010). Although the Transport Management Systems is effective, some organizations experience some challenges when using the system. One of the challenges the organizations experience when using the system is the shortage of expert knowledge. Consequently, organizations have to spend more money in hiring individuals with the required knowledge or in conducting trainings. Additionally, with the current high rate of intellectual theft, getting the genuine Transport Management systems can be difficult (Ray 2010). Global Positioning System (GPS) The Global Positioning Systems are used in the Network Design and transport system in the modern logistics (Columbus 2000). The integration of GPS in logistics enables organizations to identify networks of mobile objects and vehicles. Vital information like complex vehicle lines, logistics distribution, final destination, and other network issues can be obtained by the organization through the global positioning system. GPS is used in the information management systems by combining geographical databases and transport equipment databases together. Geographic information, traffic information, location information, and products information can be managed using the GPS. The level and efficiency of management can be upgraded by accessing information (Columbus 2000). The transport departments in organizations use spatial data to locate and describe occurrences in the transportation systems. Spatial representation of networks in the transport systems can be achievable using more than one dimension. The most appropriate spatial representation of transportation data is shown through highway networks using the “one dimensional linear references model” (Ray 2010). The GPS can be incorporated in the transport managements systems in organizations whose vehicle fleets are the main parts in their daily operations. Such organizations have to monitor all the facilities and products that leave the company. The system is beneficial to the organizations since they can easily know how their fleets work and the effects of the changes made on the fleets (Ray 2010). Through the GPS, an organization can know the position of its resources. This can help in preventing the misuse of resources. Some workers may use the organization vehicles for their personal activities after delivering goods to consumers. However, after the introduction of GPS in the logistic systems, such incidences can reduce. This is done by incorporating the GPS in the vehicle terminals, which will enable organizations to locate the vehicle. The GPS technology can provide the accurate vehicle locations through satellites after every second (Ray 2010, P.143). The GPS systems can also be fixed in mobile phones. This will enable the organization to know where its workers are when they are working in the field (Long 2004). It will also help the organization to reduce its expenses because it will not have to employ many supervisors. Even without supervisors, workers can still perform their tasks whenever they are far from the organization. Therefore, the money used in paying supervisors can be invested in other productive activities (Long 2004). GPS system improves security in organizations. This is the most valued characteristic of the GPS because it enables organizations to know the exact location of its goods during transit. Additionally, organizations know the conditions of their goods whenever they are on transit. This will enable them to detect any problem that affects the customers’ valuable goods and responding to them before they reach the customers. Some of the latest GPS systems are user friendly because they provide organizations with vital information like descriptions, quantity, and product code (Ray 2010). This gives the consumers information about the key transportation events like loading, delivery, and arrival. These are vital information since they enable consumers to track their goods online. The system should have passwords to avert security intrusions; thus, making it secures (Ray 2010). The system has also benefited the organizations cargo carriers. Most drivers in organizations have embraced the introduction of GPS in the transport departments. This is because the systems have provided them with security especially when they are transporting hazardous goods. Additionally, it has reduced their liability during the delivery processes (Long 2004). Organization experience many challenges when using the GPS. For instance, it will be complicated to use the approach when transporting dangerous goods. This is because the GPS can only be used to show the single point positioning (Ray 2010). An organization needs precise positions, which is difficult to obtain when using the GPS especially in the transportation of dangerous goods (Ray 2010). In addition, the application of the GPS is very expensive because most organizations cannot afford it. Furthermore, low amounts of information can be shared when using the GPS. The system does not have the mechanism that can enable departments to share high accuracy information. Moreover, the implementation of GPS in the transport systems does not only need the employees with GPS special knowledge. The company has to employ employees who are familiar with the transport and marketing information, which is expensive (Ray 2010). Even though some drivers like the idea of implementing the system in organization, most of them have tried to resist it. This is because they hate the idea of being monitors and they consider that the organizations do not trust them (Columbus 2000). Conclusion Most organizations are successful because they effectively manage their logistics. The components of logistics are Warehousing, Transportation and Network Design. For effective performances of logistics, some organizations use ICT procedures for more support. The ICTs make the logistics operations to faster and easier. The most appropriate ICTs used in supporting the components of logistics entail the Transport Management Systems, Global Position Systems, and the Warehouse Management Systems. All the systems help in reducing the expenses, time used in performing logistics services; furthermore, they increase the companies’ competencies. Reference List Columbus, F 2002, European economic and political issues. Volume 6. New York, Nova Science Publishers, Inc. Dekker, R., Fleischmann, M., Indserfurth, K. et al, 2004, Reverse logistics: quantitative models for closed-loop supply chains ; with 34 tables. Berlin [u.a.], Springer. Emmett, S., 2005, Excellence in Warehouse Management: How to Minimize Costs and Maximize Value, John Wiley & Sons, Chichester. Fekpe, E, 2003, Quality and accuracy of positional data in transportation. Accessible at Knolmayer, G, Mertens, P, & Zeier, A 2002, Supply chain management based on SAP systems: order management in manufacturing companies; with 19 tables. Berlin [u.a.], Springer. Liu, Z, & Stares, S 2000, China's urban transport development strategy proceedings of a symposium in Beijing, November 8-10, 1995. Washington, DC, World Bank Long, D 2004, International logistics: global supply chain management. Norwell, Mass, Kluwer Academic Publishers. Ray, R 2010, Supply chain management for retailing, New Delhi, Tata McGraw-Hill Education Read More