Category: University of Mumbai BMS Notes

Sometimes it may be difficult to cope with workplace stress, but the skills of handling stress changes from person to person. The cause of your stress and your approach to handle it may be way different from that of your friend.

Generally, we think that stress is related to something negative, but we don’t have to look at it that way. Some stress is helpful, actually to drive people towards job completion. As you may observe, stress in itself can be used for positive purposes. This type of stress is known as Eustress. In simple words, Eustress is the stress that leaves a positive effect, or is motivating in nature. It results in a positive outcome. Such stresses help people in getting good performances.

You can relate to this type of stress if you are familiar with the following scenarios:

• Running and winning a close race.
• Riding a big roller coaster ride.
• Watching a scary movie.

All these situations cause physical, emotional and mental strain, but these pressure scenarios release positive emotions and makes us happy. This is a form of stress too. So, stress is not always negative; we have positive stress too which makes our life dynamic, unlike the lives that people without any tension or stress live- dull, monotonous, and boring.

These kinds of stress are completely different from the stress disorders that people get exposed to in their professional lives. Workplace Stress is created from working in unsuitable and improper conditions and from working in an ill-suited job.

Job stress is heavily associated with workplace environment. Places like New York, Los Angeles, and London among many other municipalities acknowledge the strong relationship between job stress and heart attacks. Because workplace stress is the result of many complex interactions between an individual and a large systematically-operating organization, there are numerous theories propagated to explain the relation between both.

According to experts, there are five models that explain workplace stress, which are:

• Person Environment Fit Model
• Job Characteristics Model
• Diathesis-Stress Model
• Jobs-Demand Resources Model
• Effort-Reward Imbalance Model

Let us now discuss each of these models in detail.

Person Environment Fit Model

According to this model, a person starts to feel stress in a job where his aptitude, skills, abilities and resources are in-line with the necessities of their job. The job profile he is operating in should be in accordance to his needs, knowledge and skills-sets.

If these needs are not addressed, then it makes these employees “misfits” in that domain, which results in lagging behind in performances and not meeting management expectations. These employees end up with lower productivity, face isolation and resort to denial, as a defense mechanism.

Job Characteristics Model

This model proposes that for an employee to be successful in any job, he needs to have some degree of autonomy and he should be able to give a feedback which is heard. Such conditions result in job enrichment and employee loyalty. The absence of these factors can cause work disassociation and drops in productivity.

This model also specifies that numerous talented professionals lose their aptitude towards the same work that they had once been very interested in, and were good at. The main reason behind this was the attitude of the management.

Diathesis-Stress Model

This model makes a distinction between stressful job conditions and individual strains. Strains can be mental, physical or emotional and most of the times, these strains change from person to person.

The significant strains among them are:

• Excessive Workload
• Disagreeable Workplace Environments
• Lack of Autonomy
• Difficult Relationships with Coworkers
• Lack of Career Growth
• Low Chances of Personal Growth while Working and
• Harassment from Management.

Jobs-Demand Resources Model

This model posits that workplace stress can be associated to the difference of job demands and resources. Experienced at managerial levels, it is caused when a bully management expects managers to deliver high results with low resources.

In other words, there is a severely skewed ration between job demands and job resources. Even good managers cannot deal with this stress and end up stressed.

Effort-Reward Imbalance Model

This model focuses on the relation between efforts and rewards. When employees put in hard work, they expect management to reward their efforts. In absence of any such reward program, the employees get demotivated and underperform.

It is not enough in today’s world to expect good output from employees as a “part of the job”. Companies that think they are entitled to get good output from employees just because they pay them, need to realize that it is not paying, but compensating them for their time, i.e. the employees could have done something way more productive with the time they spend in the company.

Problems Caused by Stress Factors

Stress factors have the ability to induce a range of disorders, including psychological issues like depression, anxiety, etc. They also are the cause of emotional instability like irritation, dissatisfaction, tension and fatigue. In addition to that, workplace stress can cause changes in behavior and cognitive functioning like increased levels of aggression and concentration-lapses.

In situations where stress doesn’t cause any psychological or physical damage, it still accounts of big drops in productivity. Stressed-out employees yield poor performances, are less receptive, and engage in higher absenteeism. These conditions lead to deviant behavior, health-related expenses and increased chances of workplace injury.

The ability of an employee to cope with the number of hours expected of him to work, rate of production, performance standards, volume of work, and the deadlines that he is expected to deliver his output, all play a major role in creating stress. Doctors have observed a deeply negative impact on mental health of people who work in night shifts.

Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFC) is a high speed and high capacity railway corridor that are exclusively meant for the transportation of freight or in other words goods and commodities. DFC involves seamless integration of better infrastructure and state of the art technology. This article shares the economic benefits of Dedicated Freight Corridor and the Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) established in 2006 to oversee its development.

Dedicated Freight Corridor Benefits

Freight Transportation is the fulcrum in the growth of Indian Economy. A nation like India can benefit in the following areas due to Dedicated Freight Corridors.

• Logistics costs will be reduced
• Higher energy efficiency
• Faster movement of goods
• It is Environment friendly
• Helps in generating more employment
• Boost for Real Estate Sector

Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL)

• It is headquartered in New Delhi and is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU).
• The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) is a business establishment operated by the Railways Ministry of the Government of India to work the dedicated freight corridors (DFCs).
• It engages in the planning and development, deployment of monetary resources, building, upkeep and the operation of the DFCs.
• The organisation was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 on 30th October 2006.
• DFCCIL has been assigned the status of ‘special purpose vehicle’ by the Indian government.

DFCCIL’s Mission

• To build a corridor with appropriate technology that enables Indian railways to regain its market share of freight transport by creating additional capacity and guaranteeing efficient, reliable, safe and cheaper options for mobility to its customers.
• To set up Multimodal logistic parks along the DFC to provide complete transport solution to customers.
• To support the government’s initiatives toward ecological sustainability by encouraging users to adopt railways as the most environment-friendly mode for their transport requirements.

Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC):

• It is a broad gauge corridor.
• The 1,504-km western freight corridor begins at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh and stretches till the country’s largest container port Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust, near Mumbai.
• In October 2006, a dedicated body, the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFCCIL) has been established to carry out the project.
• The project will be funded by a soft loan of $4bn provided by Japan International Cooperation Agency under special terms for economic partnership (STEP).

Important places in this route:

1. It passes through Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Palanpur, Phulera and Rewari.
2. Passing through , Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Significance:

• The western DFC will separate freight and passenger traffic to increase the speed of freight movement.
• It will be used to transport fertilisers, food grains, salt, coal, iron & steel and cement.
• The project will eventually be linked to the Eastern DFC to form four hubs known as India’s Golden Quadrilateral including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.

Need of DFCs

Increased burden: Covering a total of 10,122 km, these corridors carry the heaviest traffic and are highly congested. The route carries 52% of passenger traffic and 58% of freight traffic, according to the Make-in-India report of 2017. Also, these routes are highly saturated, with line capacity utilisation reaching as high as 150%.

Rise in demand: Considering increased transport demands, overtly congested routes and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with road transport, these freight corridors will help reduce the cost and allow faster transportation.

Revenue generation: They will open new avenues for investment, as this will lead to the construction of industrial corridors and logistic parks along these routes.

A deep water port, from its nomenclature can be suggested that is different from regular ports in respect of the depth of water.  A port is usually an area or platform entered into from the sea, by vessels, boats, ships, which also allows for protected staging and anchoring or docking for these ships to load and unload consignments and continue up towards its destination.

However a deep water port is usually made up for the usage of very large and heavily loaded ships. The depth of water helps get them access to the deepwater ports. Regular ports are by and large of recreational types where the water is not more than 20 feet deep, whereas deep water port is compatible with the large heavy loaded ships which may require the water to be 30 feet deep or even more.

The concerned authorities of the deepwater ports are responsible for oil spill prevention, containment and cleanup, effect on oceanographic currents patterns, potential dangers from waves, winds, weather, and geological conditions etc.

Deepwater Port Facilities:

• Modern diversified facilities
• Deep sheltered waters
• Track record in oil and gas
• On and offshore renewable support
• Premier Cruise destinations
• Good communication links
• Skilled labour force
• 24 hour access

Double-stack rail transport is a form of intermodal freight transport where railroad cars carry two layers of intermodal containers. Introduced in North America in 1984, double stack has become increasingly common there, being used for nearly seventy percent of United States intermodal shipments. Using double stack technology, a freight train of a given length can carry roughly twice as many containers, sharply reducing transport costs per container. On most North American railroads, special well cars are used for double-stack shipment to reduce the needed vertical clearance and to lower the center of gravity of a loaded car. In addition, the well car design reduces damage in transit and provides greater cargo security by cradling the lower containers so their doors cannot be opened. A succession of larger container sizes have been introduced to further increase shipping productivity on shipments within North America.

Double-stack rail operations are growing in other parts of the world, but are often constrained by clearance and other infrastructure limitations.

Sizes and clearances

Double-stack cars come in a number of sizes, related to the standard sizes of the containers they are designed to carry. Well lengths of 12.19 m (40.0 ft), 14.63 m (48.0 ft) and 16.15 m (53.0 ft) are most common. Heights range from 2.44 m (8 ft 0 in) to 2.90 m (9 ft 6 in)(“high cube”).

Double stack requires a higher clearance above the tracks, or structure gauge, than do other forms of rail freight. Double-stack cars are most common in North America where intermodal traffic is heavy and electrification is less widespread; thus overhead clearances are typically more manageable. Nonetheless, North American railroads have invested large sums to raise bridges and tunnel clearances along their routes and remove other obstacles to allow greater use of double stack trains and to give them more direct routes.

CSX lists three clearance heights above top of rail for double stack service:

• Doublestack 1 — 18 ft 2 in (5.54 m)
• Doublestack 2 — 19 ft 2 in (5.84 m)
• Doublestack 3 — 20 ft 2 in (6.15 m)

The last clearance offers the most flexibility, allowing two high cube containers to be stacked.

Dwarf Containers

China had started to use reduced size containers to be stacked onto normal containers to allow transport under 25 kV electrification. It did not allow for combination with hi-cube containers though.

India has started to build a series of dwarf container for domestic transport to be run under 25 kV electrification. With 6 feet 4 inches (1,930 mm) they are 662 mm shorter but 162 mm wider than ISO shipping containers while still allowing for 67% more capacity. The chosen width is comparable to the American 53-foot containers.

India: Mundra Port and Pipavav Port operate double-stacked diesel trains on 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) gauge using flat wagons. It is one of only three countries[which?] to commercially double stack 9 ft 6 in (2,896 mm) tall (high cube) containers on a train. India is building the Dedicated Freight Corridor, an economical and environmentally friendly electrical traction-based double-stack freight railway network which can transport international standard containers.

Unit Trains

A unit train, also called a block train or a trainload service, is a train in which all cars (wagons) carry the same commodity and are shipped from the same origin to the same destination, without being split up or stored en route. They are distinct from wagonload trains, which comprise differing numbers of cars for various customers.

Unit trains enable railways to compete more effectively with road and internal waterway transport systems. Time and money is saved by avoiding the complexities and delays that would otherwise be involved with assembling and disassembling trains at rail yards near the origin and destination. Unit trains are particularly efficient and economical for high-volume commodities. Since they often carry only one commodity, cars are of all the same type; often the cars are identical.

Unit trains are typically used for the transportation of bulk goods. These can be solid substances such as:

• Track ballast or gravel
• Iron ore from mines to ports or steel mills
• Coal from mines to power stations
• Coke from coking plants to steel mills
• Steel

Bulk liquids are transported in unit trains made up of tank cars, such as:

• Crude oil from oil fields to refineries (can be [60,000 barrels (9,500 m3)] of oil in a unit train of 100 tank cars)
• Mineral oil products from the refineries to the storage facilities
• Ethanol from ethanol plants to motor fuel blending facilities
• Molten sulfur (non-US:sulphur)

Food, such as:

• Wheat
• Corn
• Fruit juice
• Refrigerated food

Other examples include:

• Shipping containers, generally between a port and a truck depot
• Cars in autoracks
• Aggregate
• Military Equipment (weapons)
• Waste (garbage), usually for recycling, often metals or paper
• Potash
• Taconite
• Mail
• Sand for hydraulic fracturing

Pros of Outsourcing Logistics

Relationships

The goal of the 3PL is to develop a long-term strategic alliance with the client. Contrast this model with a transportation broker, which is typically only focused only on moving freight from Point A to point B on a transactional basis. A 3PL will be invested in your company on a deeper level.

In fact, 91% of 3PL users and 97% of 3PL providers perceive their relationships with each other to be successful. They also find that their work together tends to yield positive results, as reported in the 2017 Third Party Logistics Study from CapGemini and Penn State University.

Access to Expertise

Because of its breadth of experience, a 3PL will include people, processes and technology at a level beyond what a single company can develop independently.

Despite fluctuating capacity, increased shipper demands and disruptions within the industry, a 3PL has the experience to manage the supply chain using information and analytics to drive decisions. The 3PL will help you figure out the most efficient routing for your goods. You will have expert help as you assess options, such as truck-load vs. less-than-truckload vs. parcel carriers, are the best choices to serve customers and manage costs. The 3PL can also take over inventory management and warehouse operations as needed.

Access to Technology

One of the major advantages of outsourcing logistics to a 3PL is the access you will gain to the latest technology. One example is the Internet of Things (IoT) functionality that is already becoming standard in many supply chains. In fact, 46% of respondents from supply-chain-intensive industries say IoT will be the driver of significant change, or transformational at the very least, according to the 2016 Gartner CEO and Senior Business Executive Survey.

The ability to manage IT-based services is a necessary core competency of leading 3PLs. Shippers come to rely heavily on the IT services that 3PL’s provide. These services are always integrated into the customer’s system, typically replacing legacy systems and processes with a mix of cloud-based and commercial solutions along with proprietary innovations. This creates a powerful custom technology stack.

By outsourcing logistics to a 3PL, you will also have the advantage of real-time inventory updates. Think of the benefits this will have for field service, healthcare, retail and other forward-deployed inventory strategies. For instance, end users will now have the ability to access inventory via mobile devices, which will shorten field service response times.

Cost Reduction

With greater visibility into the supply chain, a 3PL can help reduce inventory and reverse logistics costs. It will also increase cash flow through faster fulfillment. The organization is now able to react faster to customer demands, especially with a forward-deployed inventory model and a network of couriers and expedited carriers. Additionally, 3PL’s can integrate reverse logistics in order to return items to inventory faster, helping reduce carrying costs.

Are you trying to accomplish just-in-time manufacturing and retail restocking? A 3PL can streamline the supply chain to remove the need for contingency inventory.

A 3PL also has the ability to provide a range of services under one single point of contact. This will virtually eliminate the internal costs of supporting accounts for warehousing, fulfillment and transportation across multiple vendors.

Scalability

A 3PL can scale up or down quickly to respond to demand without sunk costs for personnel, real estate or equipment. 3PL’s are built to manage time-sensitive deliveries, lean supply chains and shorter product lifecycles. Another advantage of working with a 3PL is their ability to react quickly when consumer demand or other variables occur that will require strategic changes.

As your business grows, the 3PL will be able to scale accordingly. For early-stage companies, the 3PL can provide the requisite level of service without the capital investment. While a company grows organically or through mergers and acquisitions, the 3PL can add services and capacity as necessary.

A 3PL can also support rapid expansion into new markets or new supplier sources, such as expanding e-commerce, buy online-pick up in store and other omnichannel initiatives.

Cons of Outsourcing Logistics

Loss of Control

Most 3PLs adopt the client’s branding for assets and employees, so typically the relationship is invisible to customers. You still might fear the unknown when turning over your logistics operations to a third party. The 3PL will be responsible for a significant portion of your relationship with your customers. Any lapses in service will reflect on your company, not the 3PL. However, contracts and service level agreements can help address this and prevent issues before they occur.

Strategic Misalignment

There are no magic bullets to supply chain success. It’s critical for both parties in a 3PL relationship to share an understanding of the strategy as well as the KPI’s that drive value. In a meaningful relationship, the 3PL is able to provide innovative solutions and a demonstrable competitive advantage. The 3PL must be treated as a strategic partner, not as a perfunctory cost center.

On the other hand, the 3PL must be prepared to engage the client at that level and not see the relationship as an opportunity to maximize its own asset utilization. The 3PL must be a true multi-service provider, and be willing to seek outside expertise to handle new challenges, such as international shipping.

Communication and shared expectations are the keys to a productive 3PL relationship. Clients of 3PLs must understand their own internal requirements and organizational structure to engage the 3PL for long-term success.

Integrating Information Technology

Integration with IT can be the biggest challenge. Data must flow between systems, and all parties must have deep visibility to manage and optimize the network. Clients must be willing to adapt to new systems to allow for integration. Lack of buy-in from internal IT often leads to failed relationships.

Costs

While outsourcing may be seen as a cost-cutting measure, in reality, it is a value-producing decision. The client must fully understand the cost implications. The return on investment can be derived from value affecting more than the client’s supply chain.

While third-party logistics outsourcing is accepted business practice (though not without risk), corporations are now looking to outsource to a single partner who will assess, design, build, run and measure integrated comprehensive supply chain solutions on their behalf. This evolution in supply chain outsourcing is Fourth-party Logistics or 4PL.

A 4PL provider is a supply chain integrator. The 4PL assembles and manages all resources, capabilities and technology of an organisation’s Supply Chain and its array of providers.

An experienced and reliable 4PL provider will bring value and a reengineered approach to your organisation as it will manage the logistics process, regardless of what carriers, forwarders or warehouses are used. As the centralised contact with the client, 4PL has overall responsibility for logistics performance and the ability to impact the entire supply chain and not just single elements. Consider how many discrete discussions you need to have in your company to ensure your product gets into consumers hands.

Like Business Process Outsourcing, a 4PL solution aims to manage people, process and technology. Importantly, 4PL outsourcing must not be seen as a pure cost reduction issue and if it is considered as such then it is prone to failure. Adopting a 4PL approach brings a different perspective, knowledge, experience and technology to the existing in-house function. Successful 4PL partnerships will see both parties work side by side motivated by mutual success and reward.

Some of the 4PL benefits include: access to a broader base of potential suppliers; back-end system integration; increased market transparency for goods and services; standardisation and automation of order placement; reduced procurement costs and order cycle times. If your business and people are sufficiently mature you might also integrate the 4PL into the S&OP process. Think how powerful that could be.

Organisations are exploring this solution because it can improve their own bottom line through increased and sustainable business efficiency. A word of warning; do not go down this road unless your existing supply chain is already robust AND people are sufficiently experienced to cope with a very different way of doing business.

The five most common advantages companies discover with 4PL logistics utilization are:

1. Trusted Advocacy

4PL providers take logistics services to the next level by continually striving to improve their client’s supply chain procedures. Commitment between 4PL providers and their client is long-term, and it goes beyond transaction provisions.

4PL keep their client’s interests at the forefront of their focus because the relationship between a 4PL provider and a company is a valued partnership. This synergy emerges because parties committed to achieving the same goal.

Data collection and analysis is integral to optimizing a company’s supply chain management procedures. 4PL’s collect valuable data from all parts of a company’s supply chain, including other supply chain partners. Following collection, they use that data to operate within the best interests of their client.

4PL’s offer the convenience and security of an in-house logistics department with all of the benefits of outsourcing. Having a partner that will vouch and advocate for your company’s bottom line without the costly commitment of equipment and assets required for effective logistics is just one benefit of a 4PL service.

2. Customer Connectivity

The ways that customers and retailers connect is evolving, as is the supply chain management process. Online options have created new consumer habits. Customers are spending less time face-to-face with retailers and they are relying more heavily on online interfaces for their customer service connections.

While many believe online communications are harming the customer-company dynamic, 4PL providers can improve customer relations for their B2C clients by keeping consumers in close contact with their purchases.

When 4PL’s take on a client’s logistics needs they also take on the needs of their customers. For that reason, customer engagement is a top priority for qualified 4PL providers. Keeping customers informed about their purchase, from the moment they click “BUY” to the moment it lands in their hands, is a service that exemplifies quality customer care, as well as leads to better brand loyalty from consumers.

3. Improved Core Competencies

Operational improvements designed to streamline work and eliminate inefficiency allows 4PL logistics clients to reduce their spending habits. This can leave company resources free and available for redistribution.

4PL service adoption aids companies hoping to redistribute much needed resources away from wasteful logistic practices and directly into the company’s core competency efforts. By focusing on a company’s core foundations, while allowing 4PL experts to handle the distribution of products, clients find they can keep everyone focused on their primary tasks. When logistics are directed properly, productivity can only increase.

Just like business’ know their product and clients, so too do 4PL providers. Trusting 4PL providers to oversee an area they are experts in improves company efficiency.

4. Corporate Expansion

When growth is a company’s goal, 4PL providers can make that vision a reality with little disruption to daily operations. 4PL’s have access and relationships within the supply chain industry to easily assist business’ during times of growth and expansion.

4PL’s are supply chain architects that build reliable networks to support a growing company’s logistical needs. They possess good connections to national and international partners. Developing systems for the efficient execution of the flow of goods can be seamlessly accomplished with the right 4PL provider.

5. Corporate Clarity

4PL providers act as the single contact point between their client and their client’s supply chain process. Fourth-party logistics providers oversee and manage the complexities of a company’s logistical operations.

Having a singular contact point to coordinate each logistics step throughout every link of a company’s supply chain, from material sourcing, manufacturing considerations, and last-mile solutions, provides a unique look into a company’s overall operations.

4PL providers take that picture and use its information to find points where efficiency improvements can be made. Fresh eyes with a clear vision and focus on operational excellence, like those found at 4PL firms, can create efficiency strategies that go far beyond finding a low-cost shipping service.

4PL and Supply Chain Future

E-commerce retail options has created amazing opportunities and business endeavours that are operating on a global scale. Overnight, seemingly small businesses have been able to connect with clients and gain impressive exposure in locales far from their home. Such rapidly growing expansions online are great, but they don’t always translate with the limitations created by vast physical distances.

4PL providers are effectively increasing order fulfillment and shipping times, streamlining supply chains, and reducing unnecessary overhead costs that both companies and customers, are thrilled about. While those benefits are good on their own, it’s nice to see 4PL providing benefits beyond their intended scope.

Improved customer satisfaction, increased resources for furthering core competencies, and easy, scalable options for taking advantage of growth opportunities, are all benefits for those who use 4PL for effective supply chain management.

The supply chain management system thrives on the coordinated effort of the suppliers, the manufacturers, the transporters and the distributors to make the product available to the end user. In this entire setup, the ultimate objective is to give a finished product to the customer on his demand. So in order to achieve this goal, each party involved in this process must understand the importance of its role and thereby adhere to it diligently.

A global supply chain management system is not limited by the geographical boundary of a particular area or nation but addresses a company’s global operations. Why do companies go for global operations? The reasons can be many. One major reason is business expansion. This is the driving force that makes a company decide in favour of a global operation. However, fierce competition and demand for better products at affordable prices have made many MNCs to relook and redesign their global operation system. The idea is to provide better products to consumers thereby increasing their market share. So every MNC tries to have a time bound system in place to oversee everything starting from getting raw materials to manufacturing, inventory, order management and ultimately distribution and delivery to the customer. The whole process is integrated and functions in a seamless manner.

The global supply chain management system has to be a cost effective and efficient way of doing business. The entire process starting from procurement of raw materials to the distribution of the finished product has to be cost effective. Therefore many companies open up overseas manufacturing units and service centers to manufacture products on time and provide timely service to its customers.

The positive trends:

• Better brains at cheaper cost: In some countries, a company can have a cheaper labour cost as compared to some other developed nations. This is a lucrative option for a company. That is why many MNCs have outsourced a part of their operation to other countries where they can reduce the cost of operation without compromising on quality.
• Better Products for Consumers: As it is a global market and each company is trying to increase its market share, the key to success is increasing their customer base. So companies try to manufacture better products at competitive rates to gain new customers and to hold on to the old ones.
• Improvement in technology: In order to survive in the fiercely competitive global market, companies have to invest in technology and quality operations thereby giving better products to the consumer.
• Better Performance: This global exposure makes every company to enhance its product quality and improve performance. They have to continuously explore avenues to manufacture better products and provide the customers what they really need on time, every time.

The global supply management system opens up new business vistas not only for the parent company but is also responsible for providing each trader to give his best so that the entire chain works in a coherent and seamless manner. In this system, each one benefits provided each one contributes on time.

Technological Trends

Blockchain Technology

The emergence of blockchain technology has enabled logistic companies to failsafe digital contracts. The use of this upcoming technology allows the different stakeholders of the logistics industry such as manufacturers, suppliers, customers, auditors, warehouse managers, and others to create a transparent and efficient system for recording transactions, tracking assets, and managing all documents involved in the logistics process. The implementation of the blockchain technology is one of the most prominent logistics trends gaining traction in the global blockchain technology market in transportation and logistics industry as it can increase the efficiency and transparency of supply chains and is expected to impact everything from warehousing to delivery top payment positively during the next few years.

Digitalization of the Logistics Industry

With digitalization shaping almost all the industries across the globe, logistics industry is no exception. Rising digital literacy and consumer awareness about the usage of different online platforms for making customized purchasing decisions, the digitalization of the logistics industry has emerged as the key trend gaining utmost traction. The use of digitization in the logistics industry is further expected to bring about significant reduction in procurement and supply chain costs while giving a considerable boost to the overall revenues. The integration of digital channels in the logistics industry is another critical logistics trends further allowing the logistics service providers to lend transparency to the customers while optimizing solutions for increased safety and efficiency.

Emergence of 3PL and 5PL

The proliferation of third-party logistics (3PL) and fifth-party logistics (5PL) is expected to accelerate the global logistics market during the predicted period. During 2017, the 3PL was able to contribute the highest to the global logistics market share. 3PL is responsible for encompassing a broad range of end-to-end transport and logistics needs including transporting goods, maintaining inventory logs and travel insurance, and offering a shield against property loss. Furthermore, according to Technavio’s express delivery market in Brazil, 3PL is one of those advancements in supply chain outsourcing, which provides decreased procurement expenses as well as reduced delivery times.  The rising complexities in the global supply chain market are further ensuring the adoption of 5PL, wherein, providers of 5PL solutions often link e-businesses to achieve minimum cost targets.

Efficient Last Mile Deliveries

With the continuously increasing proliferation of e-commerce companies, the provision of efficient last mile deliveries is witnessing a major upswing to become one of the most critical aspect of creating differentiation of services among the competitors. Furthermore, getting a package within the same day of delivery is almost common in the present days, resulting in the growth of the same-day delivery market in the US. Businesses are also witnessing a greater emphasis on including same day delivery options across industries including pharmaceuticals and food and beverages. Furthermore, along with the same-day delivery, the consumers are also expecting a higher level of services while encouraging large retailers including Walmart and Amazon to add DIY last mile delivery divisions in their own companies instead of outsourcing. Consequently, the continuous efforts of logistics companies to offer efficient last mile deliveries is another logistics trends expected to offer promising logistics market’s growth during the predicted period. The need for getting the orders not just right but perfect will also allow companies to offer ultimate customer satisfaction.

Integration of Drones and Smart Glasses

The rising integration of drones and smart glasses in the logistics industry has improved the flexibility and speed of delivery, in turn, impacting the growth of last mile logistics market during the predicted period. Self-driving vehicles, autonomous vehicles and trucks have been able to maintain high reliability and same-day delivery in both urban and rural areas. Furthermore, integration with smart glasses backed by augmented reality will make deliveries in the transportation and logistics industry much easier by hands-free route searches, face recognition for error-free deliveries and personalized deliveries. The adoption of AI integrated smart glasses will increase the operational efficiency of first and last mile logistics along with flexibility and speed of delivery.

Adoption of Data Analytics and Big Data Logistics

The use of Big Data and Data Analytics in the logistics industry is allowing several stakeholders involved in the business to make informed purchase decisions. Companies are now using big data to anticipate busy periods, potential future supply shortage and other insights for making strategic decisions to improve their market positions and offer a significant competitive advantage over other counterparts. Furthermore, as per the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, over 90% of shippers and third-party logistics firms predict that data-driven decision-making is extremely crucial to supply chain activities as the big data improves quality and performance by offering effective supply and demand forecast, inventory management, route optimization, and efficient labor management, in turn, boosting the growth of the global third-party logistics market during the predicted period.

Logistics Automation and IoT

Automation has been gaining traction in the logistics industry as well with the continuous adoption of Internet of Things (IoT). The inception of logistics 4.0 is one of the key logistics trends transforming the global supply chain market. Shortcomings including transportation delays, operator errors, poor monitoring of cargo, outdated IT failures, and thefts are being overcome by the integration of IoT in the logistics industry. Furthermore, this next generation of successful supply chain management is expected to leverage IoT and edge computing for yielding real-time automated insights. For instance, US-based Union Pacific has introduced an IoT-based system to predict equipment failures and reduce derailment risks by using visual and acoustic sensors on tracks. Such rising adoption of logistics automation and IoT has boosted the emergence of connected logistics.

The Golden Quadrilateral, which connects four major cities in India, is the fifth-longest highway in the world. This column presents research that finds that by improving connectivity, the highway has helped with the efficient distribution of industries across locations. It has facilitated the shift of land and building intensive industries from the core to peripheries of cities, and has made medium-sized cities more attractive locations for manufacturing activity.

Transport investments within cities and across cities are essential for economic growth, job creation, and poverty reduction. Beyond simply facilitating cheaper and more efficient movements of goods, people, and ideas within cities, transport affects the distribution of economic activity across cities.

Many researchers have shown that transport investment plays an important role in spatial development and urbanisation. Henderson et al (2001) find that industrial decentralisation in South Korea is attributable to massive transport and communications infrastructure investments. Baum-Snow et al (2012) show that transport infrastructure aided the decentralisation of industrial production and population in Chinese cities. Several other studies find positive economic effects in ‘non-nodal’ locations due to transportation infrastructure in China (e.g. Banerjee et al 2012, Roberts et al 2012). Desmet et al (2012) have argued that manufacturing in India is slowly moving away from high-density districts to districts that are less congested, allowing industrial activity to spread more equally across space. Recently, Datta (2011) found a decline in the number of days of inventory stock held by firms in India as a result of a large scale highway construction (Golden Quadrilateral Project).

The Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) is a national highway network connecting most of the major industrial, agricultural and cultural centres of India. It forms a quadrilateral connecting the four major metro cities of India, viz., Delhi (north), Kolkata (east), Mumbai (west) and Chennai (south). Other cities connected by this network include Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Balasore, Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Durgapur, Jaipur, Kanpur, Pune, Kolhapur, Surat, Vijayawada, Ajmer, Vizag, Bodhgaya, Varanasi, Agra, Mathura, Dhanbad, Gandhinagar, Udaipur, and Vadodara. The main objective of these super highways is to reduce the distance and time between the four mega cities of India.

At 5,846 kilometres (3,633 mi), it is the largest highway project in India and the fifth longest in the world. It is the first phase of the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), and consists of four- and six-lane express highways, built at a cost of ₹600 billion (US$8.4 billion). The project was planned by 1999, launched in 2001, and was completed in 2012.

The Golden Quadrilateral project is managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways. The vast majority of the system is not access controlled, although safety features such as guardrails, shoulders, and high-visibility signs are in use. The Mumbai–Pune Expressway, the first controlled-access toll road to be built in India, is a part of the GQ Project but not funded by NHAI, and is separate from the old Mumbai – Pune section of National Highway 48 (India). Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) has been one of the major contributors to the infrastructural development activity in the GQ project.

Route

Only National Highways are used in the Golden Quadrilateral. The four legs use the following National Highways (new numbering system):

Delhi – Kolkata: NH 44 from Delhi to Agra & NH 19 from Agra to Kolkata

Delhi – Mumbai – Chennai: NH 48

Kolkata – Chennai: NH 16

Road transport is the principal mode of movement of goods and people in India, accounting for 65% of freight movement and 80% of passenger traffic. While national highways constitute about 1.7% of the road network, they carry more than 40% of the total traffic volume.

Highways and spatial development

Can investment in infrastructure such as highways play a role in facilitating the shift of manufacturing activity from large, dense cities to medium-sized cities? We group districts into three groups, based on their population density.

GQ upgrades have increased the number of new entries the most in high- and medium-density districts that lie 0-10km from the GQ network. For instance, moderate-density districts like Surat in Gujarat or Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh that lie on the GQ highway registered an increase in new output and new establishment counts of more than 100% after GQ upgrades. On the other hand, the GQ upgrades are not linked to heightened entry or performance in low-density areas. These results suggest that the improved connectivity enables manufacturing establishments to efficiently locate in cities with medium population density, but that agglomeration economies prevalent for the sector discourage entry in low-density places.

An Inland Container Depot (also known as ICD) is a container handling and storage facility situated at inland points away from sea ports. Inland Container Depots help importers and exporters to handle their shipments near their location.

ICD is formed to help importers and exporters to handle their shipments near their place of location. If the sea port is away from the places of importers and exporters Inland Container Depot (ICD) helps them to save time and money in the procedures and formalities. In Inland Container Depot (ICD), a combination of services of sea custodian, customs department, carriers, freight forwarders, customs brokers etc. are carried out to facilitate exporters and importers for smooth handling of cargo. ICD is also act as Dry port or CFS in many countries.

Advantages

Warehouses

• Each warehouse is 13mtr high with G+6 palletized racking systems, super-flat flooring and state-of-the-art material handling equipment
• Fully insulated roofs to ensure comfortable ambient temperature
• Each warehouse has customs officials for the ease of customers
• All warehouses are earthquake resistant and designed as per seismic zone 4 requirements.
• Availability of temperature controlled storage space

Container yard

• Fully paved container yard offering an annual throughput capacity of 120,000 TEUs per annum
• The hubs have container yards with pavement quality concrete flooring for stacking containers in a G+5 stacking system using state-of-the-art Rubber Tyre Gantry Cranes (RTGCs) and reach stackers
• Dedicated scrap handling yard, empty yard and segregated maintenance and repair yard
• Specialized storm water drainage system with a capacity to handle rainfall with peak intensity of 156 mm/hr or 10 cubic meters per second

Reefer handling

State of the art, tower-based dedicated reefer container handling area consisting of 96 reefer points, expandable to 200 reefer points based on demand, backed by two diesel generator sets of 500 KVA capacity offering 100 per cent power back up for handling any power outage situations.

• Hazardous cargo handling: Primary and secondary firefighting systems along with fire engines manned by trained professionals.
• CCTV surveillance, by stringent security and safety measures
• Security and access control to prohibit unauthorized access
• Office space for customs, shipping line/agents, CHA(s), surveyors, etc.
• Fully functional customs electronic data interchange facility.
• Comprehensive IT system with network infrastructure.
• Supporting infrastructure like weighbridge, road network, uninterrupted water and power supply systems and 100% power back-up using diesel generator sets
• Other business ancillary services like on-site banks, insurance and currency exchange services

Container Freight Stations

A container freight station is a facility where freight shipments are consolidated or de-consolidated, and staged between transport legs. A CFS is typically located in proximity to an ocean, port, or airport where cargo containers are transported to and from.

Do you have shipping containers that need a home at which to consolidate, and from which to ship out? A container freight station is a location, usually a warehouse, where products and other goods are collected, stored, and where they wait to be shipped to the next location. This process is a major part of the product shipping industry and it’s important to understand how the process works. They are an integral part of any LCL (Less than Container Load) shipping.

When an order prepared for shipping is less than a full container, it is most often more cost effective to ship by LCL. In this instance, the freight is taken to a warehouse where it waits for consolidation, or in some cases, for the rest of the goods to catch up. The container is then loaded onto a truck or ship and sent to its destination.

A good, trustworthy container freight station is run by professionals who understand what it takes to safely store and efficiently ship your products. They skillfully handle the shipment of your products and follow your delivery instructions.

CFS Receiving Services include:

• Moving empty containers from a Container Yard to a Container Freight Station
• Drayage of loaded containers from the Container Freight Station to the Container Yard
• Tallying
• Issuing dock receipt or shipping order
• The physical movement of cargo in or out of a Container Freight Station
• Stuffing, sealing and marking of containers for labelling and identification
• Storage of containers
• Ordinary sorting and stacking of containers pre or post shipment
• Preparing containers internal load plan

Principles of Logistics Information System

Availability Logistics information must be readily and consistently available. Information may be regarding order status, inventory status, etc Rapid availability is very important to respond to decisions. Information availability can reduce customer requirements and improve management uncertainties in operations and planning

Accuracy Logistics information must reflect the current status of all the activities like inventory levels, customer orders etc. E.g.: The actual level of inventories should match with the LIS reported inventory levels. However, if there is a large difference between the actual inventories and those indicated by the information system inventory levels, buffer stock or safety stock would be required to cover up the uncertainty.

Timeliness The logistics information must be timely to provide quick management feedback. Timeliness is measured in terms of delay that takes place between the commencement and occurrence of an activity and when the activity is actually visible in the logistical information system. E.g.: a company may receive a certain order which a customer desires to be executed urgently. However, the database information system of the company is not fed with the details regarding the urgency of the order for whatever reasons. This will cause delay in the actual execution of the order. This delay indicates ineffectiveness in the planning process. Similar delays can occur when the goods are moved from VVIP to finished goods. All this calls for timely management controls so that corrective actions can be taken to minimize loss. Hence timely information is very necessary to reduce uncertainty.

Logistics information system

Converting data to information, portraying it in a manner useful for decision making, and interfacing the information with decision-assisting methods are considered to be at the heart of an information system. Logistics information systems are a subset of the firm’s total information system, and it is directed to the particular problems of logistics decision making.

There are three distinct elements that make up this system:

• The input
• The database and its associated manipulations
• The output

Logistics: The Inputs

The inputs are data items needed for planning and operating logistics system obtained from sources like customers, company records, and published data and company personnel.

Logistics: The Database and Its Associated Manipulations

Management of the database involves selection of the data to be stored and retrieved, choice of the methods of analysis and choice of the basic data-processing procedures.

Logistics: The Outputs

The outputs of a logistics information system include:

• Summary reports of cost or performance statistics
• Status reports of inventories or order progress
• Exception reports that compare desired performance with actual performance
• Reports that initiate action