Transportation in the Supply Chain essay

The transportation is crucial in the development of an effective supply chain management. In actuality, the company can choose a variety of means of transportation. In this regard, the choice should be grounded on needs of the company. For instance, the company operating in the book publishing industry needs the supply of paper and pulp materials along with the supply of ink and other materials essential for book publishing. In such a situation, the company should identify effective ways of transportation because the transportation may increase costs of production substantially.  For instance, using the air transportation for book publishing is unreasonable because the costs of such transportation are the highest, while the fast speed of transportation does not justify its costs. Instead, the company should focus on four key dimensions: rail transport, inland water transport, ocean transport, and over the road transport. Each way of transportation of materials needed for the book publishing and for the development of effective supply chain has its advantages and drawbacks but either way may be used successfully, if the company applies it properly and reasonably.

Rail

The rail transportation is particularly effective when large cargos have to be transported on a long distance. For instance, the supply of timber for paper and pulp manufacturing can rely heavily on the rail transportation. The use of rail transportation is very effective because the large amount of materials and products can be supplied via railways. In such a way, the company can maintain fast and effective supply of materials and products using rail transportation.

On the other hand, the rail transportation needs the back-up of the over the road transportation because cargos have to be delivered to the production facilities from railway stations and automobile transport is normally used for this purpose. The use of the automobile transportation back-up increases costs of the transportation but still the larger part of the trip is covered by rail transportation, while over the road transportation is used for a short distance only that cannot increase costs of transportation substantially.

Rail transportation is reasonable to apply to long-haul transportations because this way of transportation is relatively cheap and fast, although the back-up is needed. The costs of rail transportation are low, while the high speed and reliability of rail transportation make it a good option for companies whose supply chain cover large territory.

Inland Water

Inland water transport is reasonable to use when the supply chain is located on the large river. For instance, the timber is transported to the production facilities, where the timber is processed and paper and pulp is manufactured. Then the paper and pulp should be delivered by the same river to the book publishing company. Naturally, the latter is not essential but it is unreasonable to use inland water transportation, when numerous obstacles arise and the use of over the road or rail transportation may be needed frequently.  Ideally, the timber, for instance, should be delivered to the production facilities to manufacture the paper and pulp. This is the cheapest and effective way of transportation, while the paper and pulp may be transported over the road or by rail transportation.

However, the major drawback of the inland water transportation is the dependence of the transportation on the proximity of suppliers and manufacturers to inland waters. Otherwise, the use of inland water transportation becomes unreasonable. The use of inland water transportation is effective, when there are no substantial obstacles on the way of this transportation. In addition, the company using inland water transportation should take into consideration loading and unloading materials and products before and after inland water transportation.

Inland water transportation is reasonable to use in remote areas, where the railroads and automobile roads are under-developed.  Often, materials, especially raw materials, are supplied from remote areas. For instance, timber is supplied from Northern states or even Canada. In such a situation, the use of inland water becomes quite reasonable,

Ocean

Ocean transportation is quite effective, when overseas trade is essential and the supply chain implies the cooperation with overseas partners. As a rule, ocean transportation is applied for import-export operations. In case of book publishing, the use of ocean transpiration is normally unnecessary.

The major drawbacks of ocean transportation are relatively high costs and long time spent on the delivery of materials or products. High costs of ocean transportation naturally increase the price of products that may discourage customers from buying them.

Nevertheless, ocean transportation is reasonable to use when products are exported or some materials are imported and the price of imported materials is substantially lower compared to local ones.

Over the road

Over the road transportation system is effective to use when short-haul supply chain is used. When materials are supplied for a short-distance, the company may use over the road transportation. Even though its costs are higher compared to rail transportation or inland water transportation but materials will be delivered directly to the production facilities or products may be delivered directly to retailers. Moreover, over the road transportation does not need any back-up as is the case of rail and inland water transportation.

On the other hand, the major drawback of over the road transportation is its costs, especially today, when fuel prices are high. In fact, the high costs of fuel may be aggravated by high costs of maintenance and limited amount of cargo that may be delivered over the road. When a large amount of cargo is needed to deliver, over the road transportation is better to replace by rail transportation.

Over the road transportation is reasonable to use, when fast delivery of materials or products is needed for a short distance. If the materials or products are supplied for a long distance, the use of rail transportation is more reasonable.

Conclusion

Thus, rail, inland water, ocean, and over the road transportations are effective and meet their specific goals. However, often companies have to combine different ways of transportation to maximize their effectiveness and to save costs.