Trucking Technology Report - Oct. 26
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Both the online report and e-mail are sponsored by @Track Communications, a supplier of wireless communications and dispatch services.
Today's Technology Headlines:
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Landstar Finds Success With Simple Wireless Interface
Landstar (LSTR) truck driver Murray Kennedy has used Landstar's wireless information system to increase his revenue by 10% in the last month. He saves time by finding a truck stop with proper data ports to enter Landstar's Web page.
Patrick Wise, vice president of e-commerce at Landstar, said drivers were involved in the process of the system, making it user-friendly. Landstar's system was based on the fact that drivers need little distraction, and cannot use small screens on wireless phones. A simple interface was designed for cell phones.Nicholas Pinciotti of Sabre Business Travel Solutions of Southlake, Texas, agrees that simpler is better. Sabre has a wireless service for business travelers in the works, which provides information with an international angle. Data has to be multilingual, yet simple and in real-time. ComputerWorld (10/23/00) Vol. 34, No. 43, P. 8; Brewin, Bob
Working Towards a Total, Visible Supply Chain Network
Within e-business, supply chain management has emerged to raise the level of integration between supply chain partners to such a degree that the actual manufacturing of a product is just another step along the distribution process.Indeed, "there is less and less real product differentiation, especially in the consumer goods sector, so the only competitive differentiator becomes branding and marketing," says AMR Research's Simon Pollard. "If that is really the core activity then actually making the products could be outsourced just like other non-core activities, such as IT or human resource management, are at present."
Although SCM software solutions are not yet sophisticated enough to support such a third party-reliant scheme, there is movement in that direction. Mobile phone manufacturers, for example, routinely call on their distributors to label packages, insert product information, configure phones, and even assume the product assembly process. "Logistics companies are starting to buy into this model [on a larger scale] and mobile telephones are just the start," says Computer Sciences' Ian Edgell.
If it is to be effective, heavy collaboration requires that the entire supply chain be completely visible to the partners, meaning that companies, even competitors, will have to share information that they would not have dreamed of divulging just a few years ago. One sign that businesses seem to understand this is the fact that, according to a study by England's Warwick Business School, 54% of supply chain integration projects are initiated by chief executives, not operational managers. Financial Times--Supply Chain Management (10/25/00) P. 1; Ody, Penelope
Time Sensitivity Fuels More Robust Growth
The evolution of global supply chains is driving efficiency among air cargo traffic, with Airbus Industrie's latest Global Market Forecast expecting yearly growth in global air-cargo traffic of 5.7% and overall air cargo expected to triple over the coming two decades. Advanced manufacturing systems, based on e-procurement and cutting-edge communication systems have boosted productivity among air cargo carriers, who have in turn launched new services.The past year has seen the formation of a three-carrier air cargo partnership called New Global Cargo, and the four-carrier SkyTeam alliance has also added cargo to its cooperative offerings. More and more air cargo carriers are adding time-sensitive services similar to those offered by express carriers like United Parcel Service (UPS), FedEx (FDX), and DHL, and the cargo operations of Lufthansa (LHA-FRK), Air France (3112-PAR), and SAS are all enabling shipment tracking over WAP-based mobile phones.
Lufthansa Cargo is also stepping up its electronic communications channels with customers and freight forwarders; company official Jean-Peter Jansen believes electronic booking will make up more than 50% of the air cargo business's bookings four years from now. Airlines are also adding more physical facilities designed to increase their cargo-handling efficiency. Financial Times--Supply Chain Management (10/25/00) P. 4; Hastings, Phillip
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