6 Basic Modes of Transport in Operational Cargo Management

The transport freight is one of the key business processes relating to the management of the supply chain or Supply Chain Management (SCM), which aims to optimize costs, time and resources brand as well as the loss and damage.

Modalities of transport

This freight transport activity has a wide range of services that revolve around six basic modes or modes :

Railway
Air navigation
By truck
River navigation
Maritime navigation
By direct conduit (pipelines, aqueducts, etc.)

Ways to Track your UPS Package

1. Rail transport

More than a century ago, it enjoyed an almost monopoly on fast and massive land transport. Today it is still very important for medium and large distances, despite the great progress of road and sea transport.

The range of services offered is very wide, covering from small packages of a few kilos to a complete freight train.

2. Transportation by truck

For many years it was a complementary means of transport, but since the development of high-capacity vehicles and the worldwide increase in motorway and road networks, it has been taking a considerable boom.

Road transport is the indispensable complement for transports made by other means that do not have direct access to the interior of the companies so that almost all non-mass transport services are carried out at short and medium distances by means of trucks and vans.

3. Transportation by river navigation

It is only feasible when there are river courses or rivers with sufficient flow and it is usually interesting especially for the mass transport of very heavy goods, or in those where the speed of shipment does not matter.

Its slowness is compensated by its low price, having been improved today by the technique of barge convoys that carry millions of tons on large waterways.

4. Maritime transport

The incorporation of the container technique has considerably increased maritime transport although it needs to be complemented by approach routes served by land transport means (rail and roads), which means coordination and storage problems in ports.

This maritime transport system is especially used between coastal ports and intercontinental transport, despite the increasing facilities offered by aviation.

5. Air transport

Air transport of goods, initially limited to small packages, has developed enormously, especially since the creation of regular air cargo lines served by perfectly prepared cargo planes.

Normally, this air system is especially used for high-value cargo, reduced tonnage and when the high speed of transport is required and a guarantee of security is required in its delivery, especially when it is used in fragile and register delicate goods.

6. Transport by Direct Conduit

It involves the construction of fixed installations of pipe and pipeline networks used for the transport of liquid or gaseous components.

Normally, these are considerable investments, and with very specialized transports. Generally limited in each case to single merchandise and sense, in many cases requiring the participation of public bodies and authorities, including several registration countries.

Practices in the Management of the Supply Chain of the Aeronautical Sector.

Some of the world’s most complex supply chains operate in the aeronautical sector. As you know, UPS Flight Forward from UPS is one of the best in the logistics sector.

These supply chains are truly global, both in terms of purchase (material components and components of possibly the most sophisticated machines on the planet) and in relation to the maintenance of the parts and the operations that airplanes keep in the air.

According to United Parcel Service Inc, Future Journeys 2013 – 2032, air traffic is expected to double over the next 15 years, as well as the cost of travel continues to fall. The number of passengers is expected to increase from 2.9bn in 2012 to 6.7bn in 2032.

To cope with this increase in demand, the report suggests that the size of the aircraft will increase and that the fleet of passenger aircraft will grow 109% from 2012 to 2032, from 16,093 to 33,651 aircraft. The cargo aircraft fleet is also expected to grow 77% during the same period.

The aviation industry, in these years, has focused employee app fully on increasing its environmental performance and looking for continuous innovation. New technologies have lowered aircraft noise and emission levels – in the last 40 years, the noise has been reduced by 75% and CO2 by 70%.

At the same time, the competitiveness of large manufacturers has been increasing in recent years, both at the level of productivity and at the level of service and performance of the products.

Understanding that the integration of the entire supply chain as a fundamental aspect, the suppliers of the main manufacturers (both at the product and service level) are receiving the pressure and demands of the tractor companies to maintain increasing levels of competitiveness. In this way, there are a number of challenges facing the industries in the sector:

The increasing degree of innovation by customers.
Continuous requirements to reduce product costs throughout the life cycle, maintaining high levels of product quality.
High levels of flexibility required, to face customer changes or product customization without losing productivity.
Greater management capacity, so that suppliers are able to manage contracts as a whole.
Higher financial solvency requirements, to address growing projects.
Increased need for integration of suppliers, to be able to address new and complex projects of tractor companies.
Greater need for technical solvency and innovative capacity, so that engineering becomes a key aspect to face new projects successfully from product design.

In this way, a series of questions arise that must be answered:

How are manufacturers and suppliers in the sector to face the challenges of a significant escalation in the construction of airplanes and at the same time meet the increase in the demand for innovation and reform of the supply chain?
With twice the global fleet, how will they deal with maintenance, service and support operations? Are current strategies and processes the most appropriate for the industry’s great expectations?
How, in the end, will the companies in the supply chain be able to face the great challenges they face? Will they need to make large investments to be more competitive?

There are strategies and methodological tools that companies can carry out to meet the challenges mentioned. Now, Calculate Freight to get an estimation. These do not generally require excessively large investments, but a capacity to cope with changes in their processes to adapt to the needs of customers, quickly and efficiently; which generally requires a cultural change in the company.

The Lean Management philosophy can help carry out process innovation and the necessary cultural change, to obtain results in terms of:

Improvement in delivery times.
Lower inventory levels.
Higher levels of flexibility.
Higher levels of process reliability
Shorter product development times

The adoption of the Lean Management philosophy has been carried out for decades in the automotive sector, allowing us to obtain important results. Can you move to the aeronautical sector?
Indeed, the adoption of Lean methodologies by the aeronautical sector would allow us to offer innovative solutions, reduce costs and increase efficiency, in short.

Through the monitoring of the supply chain, adapted to the specific needs of the aeronautical sector – a guide to “best practices” could be defined – which would allow significant progress, which would result in a reduction in storage and logistics costs, greater flexibility, reduced inventories and improved service levels.

To successfully carry out the deployment of the lean Management methodology, it is necessary, finally:

That the management of the company in question be aware of the need for change.
Take into account the company’s strategy and what competitive variables they want to improve.
Relying on the figure of the change agent (example: specialist external consultant) that guarantees methodological support and overall project management.
Continuing education, to help cultural change.
The implementation of improvement actions in times not too long, to help achieve tangible changes that help improve competitiveness.