STUDY FINDS FRAGMENTED SUPPLY CHAIN PROCESSES, INEFFICIENCIES
A study of the transport component of supply chain management “shows a world of fragmented processes and inefficiencies, due mainly to the involvement of multiple organizations with incompatible systems and processes.
Results of the study were revealed Tuesday by SITA, the provider of information and telecommunications services to the air cargo industry.
The study, conducted by Distribution Management 2000 and Hartnett Consulting Ltd., found that:
* An average process cycle of eight to 12 days, with goods in actual movement for 5 to 10 percent of the total cycle time.
* At least 40 documents/forms, copies or parts of document/forms are generated in an average shipment.
* About 73 percent of the data on those documents is duplicated from data recorded on three documents — shipper invoice, shipper's letter of instruction and the air waybill.
* Nearly one-third of all personnel involved in the movement of goods are employed to generate, check or file documentation.
* About 60 processes were identified along the cycle.
“It is clear today that we have a series of 'loose' systems of operations, working within a narrow vertical focus — shipper, forwarder, carrier, handler, consignee and so forth — and not a chain of participants in a streamlined process,” said Hugh Doyle, vice president, SITA Logistics Solutions, at the Cargo Network Services conference in Miami. “Global e-commerce cannot be achieved without technological attempts to string together the multiple and diverse processes and in-house computer systems which currently exist.”