The transition from freight consolidation to logistics(3)

Variabledwelltimesandimpreciseinformationfromcustomerslimitopportunitiestoundertakecapacityplanning.Allocatingresourcesonadailybasisisverydi cult.Most rmsbasetheirdynamicdecision-makinganddailyresourceplanningbasedonexperience.Thewiderangeofsizes,weightsandconditionsofindividualcargoesthathavetobeconsolidatedorstrippedmeansthatthetimeandmanpowerrequirementestimatesaredi culttojudge,anditisexperiencethatisusedtodecideonresourceallocation.CFScompaniesrarelymakeuseofanyresourceplanningsoftwareortailor-madecomputerservicecompaniesforwarehouseandinventorymanagement.Thisispartiallyduetothegaps

inthedatarequiredtooperatesuchsoftware,butalsototheresistanceofsta tolearnhowtousethesoftwareandapplytheoutputtodailyoperations.Withsuchaheavydependenceonexperience,thetransferofknowledgetonewemployeestendstobealengthyprocess.Thelossofakeyemployeecanhaveseriousconsequencesone ciencylevelsofthe rm.3.2.Industrychallenges

Aftermanyyearsofgrowthandprosperity,basedlargelyonthegrowthoftra cthroughtheport,HongKongÕsCFSindustryispresentlybeingconfrontedbyanumberofchallengesthatarebothinternallyandex-ternally.Asmentionedearlier,HongKongportisfacingagrowingchallengefromtheShenzhenportsofYantianandShekou.Costsofconsolidationtherearesigni -cantlylower,becauseofthemuchlowerlandandlabourcosts.Thepricedi erentialinconsolidationrepresentsaseriouscompetitivechallenge.ThesurveyrevealedthatoverhalftheHongKongCFS rmshadexperiencedadeclineinbusinessvolumesince1988andwereexpect-ingcontinuedreductionsinto21stCentury,despitethecontinuedgrowthofcontainertra cthroughtheport(seeFig.5).Thesurveyindicatedadeclineofbusinessvolumeof5.8%from1996to1998whilethecontainertra chadagrowthof8.3%duringthesameperiod.TheenhancedcompetitionfromelsewhereiscomingatatimewhenthemajorcostitemsintheindustryinHongKong,especiallyrent,arerising.TheCFScom-paniesconcentratedintheHIDCandATLbuildingshavelimitedbargainingpower.Theyleaselessthan25%ofthetotalspaceinthesestructures,themajoritybeingtenantsfromothersectors,suchasadistributioncentreforalocalsupermarketchain.Theownersarenotwillingtoconsideranyformofcontractotherthanapricepersquarefoot,basedonamulti-yearlease.Thisisanobstacletotheindustryobtainingany exibilityinthemanagementofoperationsthatalternateforms

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The transition from freight consolidation to logistics

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R.K.Cheungetal./JournalofTransportGeography11(2003)245–253

leasingsuchasActivityBasedCostingmighto er(see,forexample,Horngrenetal.(1996)).

AweaknessoftheCFSindustryisitsdependenceonforwarderstoprovidebusiness.Asintermediariesthemselves,forwardersarefacingpressuresonpro t-abilitythatforcesthemtochoseconsolidatorsbasedonpriceconsiderations.Theyareforcingadownwardpressureonprices,withoutanyconcomitantim-provementindeliveryschedulesthatcouldhelptheconsolidatorsbetterutilisetheirresources.Thustheconsolidatorsarebeingforcedtoreduceprices.ServicechargesinHongKongÕsconsolidationindustryhavebeendecliningsince1995,fromjustover$50HKto$35HKpercubicmeter(CBM)in1998.Thelowerchargesareperilouslyclosetoservicecostlevels.

TheresponsetoincreasedcompetitionintheCFSindustryhasbeentoreduceprices,therefore.Thesurveyrevealsthatthereisabeliefamongtherespondentsthatmanysmaller rmswillnolongerbeabletostayinbusinessbecauseofrisingcostsandfallingprices.Op-portunitiestocompetebyimprovingservicesisnotastrategytheindustryhaspursued,mainlybecauseofthepassivenatureoftherelationshipwiththecustomers,thevariabilityofthe owofgoods,andthedi culty(andunwillingness)ofapplyingITinresourceplanningandoperationsmanagement.3.3.Opportunitiesinlogistics

TheentiremarinetransportsectorofHongKongisfacingchallengesfromadjacentports.Thereisawide-spreadacceptancethattheindustrycannotcompeteinpricingandwillhavetomaintainitscompetitivead-vantagebyo eringhighvalue-addedlogisticsfunctions.TheCFSsectorisnoexception.Confrontingthedi -cultiesoutlinedinthispaper,individual rmsandtheCFSAssociationarecomingtoplaceagreatdealofhopethatbyaddingnewlogisticsfunctionstheycansurviveandprosperinthenewregionalenvironment.

Howrealisticarethesevisionsofthefuture?Whatlo-gisticsactivities,ifany,cantheCFSsectorberealisti-callyexpectedtoo er?Whatproblemsarelikelytobeencountered?Thesecomplexquestionsareaddressedinthefollowingparagraphs.

Inordertoprovidesomeanswerstothequestions,twoparallelsurveyswereundertaken.The rstwasanextensionoftheinitialquestionnaire,inwhichpartici-pantswereaskedtoidentifythekindsoflogisticsac-tivitiesthatwereconsideredmostsuitable,thepotentialcostsofprovidingtheseservices,andthemostsuitableproductsforlogisticsadoption.Follow-upinterviewswereheldwithallthecompaniesparticipatinginthesurveytoelaborateonsomeofthepositionsheldre-gardingthepotentialsforlogisticsadoptionintheCFS.Oneoftheauthorsspentatotalofthreemonthsstayinginthese rmsandtheirwarehousesforfurtherinfor-mationcollectionanddataveri cation.Asecond,lessstructured,surveythroughpersonalinterviewswasun-dertakenofeightmajorpotentiallogisticscustomersintheelectronics,garment,andretaildistributionindus-tries,aswellasgroupssuchastheHongKongLogisticsAssociationandtheHongKongShippersCouncil.InanopeninterviewformatwesoughttheopinionsoftheintervieweesonthetrendsinlogisticsinHongKong,theirviewsofthepotentialroleofCFS rmsinlogistics,andthespeci cobstaclesthatwerepresent.Theper-spectivesofthesepartieswereobtainedinordertoprovidearealitycheckonthepositionsofthemembersoftheCFSindustry.

SeveralattributesoftheCFSindustryareconsideredtoo erpotentialadvantagesforitsexpansionintolo-gistics.Theindustryhasexpertiseandexperienceinhandlingawiderangeofmerchandise,involvingamultitudeofparties,withspeedande ciency,despitevariableandshortleadtimes.Theindustrypossessesphysicalhandlingfacilitiesinvolvingloadingbays,storagecapacity,rackingsystems,trucks,communica-tionmedia,pallets,andanexperiencedworkforce.Theseelementswererecognisedassigni cantadvanta-gesbymanyofthepotentialusersof3PL.Shipperscon rmedaninterestinoutsourcingcostlyandlabour-intensivenon-corelogisticso …… 此处隐藏：6219字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……