Logistics and transport: factors for competitiveness For many , logistics is just the fancy name than previously

denominbamos " traffic" . For others, the logistics could hold the key to what ultimately will characterize the twenty-first century transportation . It would be the catalyst that allows synergies between different modes of transport, associated with the production and effective marketing , multiply the advantages of each of these components.

The first time you used the term "logistics" was when a Napoleonic army officer summed up in the word " logistique " the tasks necessary for quartering troops , supplying weapons and ammunition to get food for both men as for horses. Later, when the war had at its disposal highly advanced technological features , this term summarized the ability to move or transport the troops, military hardware , weapons and ammunition , which was essential to define the winner .

Currently , to replace the old battlefield for the markets in the global economy , we could say that nothing has changed : the logistics continues to play the same critical role to achieve success and survival but this time it is a trade war.

Beyond globalization

It's no secret that free trade agreements ( FTA 's ) represented the main engine of the processes most important commercial release of the 90 and 2000 . Mexico at its initial stage was a major player and benefited particularly the Free Trade Agreement with North America ( NAFTA ) which currently achieving , trade is more than two billion dollars a day ( See Ministry of Economy . exceeding 700 billion dollars in 2012 .

To date, the country has a network of 12 FTAs with 44 countries , 28 Agreements for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments ( BITs ) and nine Economic Complementation Agreements and Partial Scope Agreements ( ECAs ) , without But the

bulk of the commercial movement comes primarily from two sources: the United States and China.

In 2012 , Mexico registered a trade with the Asian country of just over 52 billion dollars in imports and approximately 5 billion in exports. What makes it the second largest trading partner of our country. This could be explained by the size of markets in both countries , however , there is more ... and is called logistics.

What are the variables that allow us to say that the logistics and transport can be factors for competitiveness? Let's see . Regardless of the basic elements that identify with the logistics , such as storage, transportation , inventory management , materials management , purchasing , packaging, design services and flow of information , there are trends that will define the role of logistics in the near future :

Growth in demand Despite recurring crises worldwide demand will continue to grow. Those who are old enough to remember the Mexican crises of the 70s , 80s and 90s of last century, will appreciate that the crisis of 2008 , however serious it was, not the financial system collapsed , and banking and the recovery period is measured in years rather than decades.

Moreover, international trade grows ever faster rate than the economy. If this is correct , then it means that the demand for logistics and transport services will grow at the pace of trade and economy.

Expansion of infrastructure and supply of logistics and transportation services The transport elements are symbiotically linked to trade and , in turn , trade is conditional on the actual capacity of transport and not the good intentions of diversifying foreign trade.

Mexico buys and sells by 85 % in the U.S. market (U.S. and Canada) through a combination of geography , logistics and transportation. That is, thanks to its location , the efficiency of its trade is higher than in other countries. This, in turn , is directly related to existing transportation systems that connect Mexico with both countries through an impressive railway network and highways that can meet the demand of trade flows to and from these countries.

Put another way , if there is no infrastructure , logistics and transportation services , trade agreements are unnecessary ... How we trade with Greece or Nicaragua , based on the agreements signed with those countries? More and more competitors or fewer but larger Depending on the sector or segment you want to analyze , we find that there may be a greater number of players , for example in the field of warehousing services , including trucking and logistics operators. By contrast , if capital investment is very large, the effect is reversed and found fewer and fewer players but planet-sized .

What to say of which 10 mega shipping companies control more than half of the service offering shipping containers worldwide . The same thing can be said of both airlines worldwide ( United) or regionally (LAN ), leaving in this case, few windows freight trading for users ... at least the medium and small .

Race for cost reduction In this world war is for a dollar or a penny ... no loyalty ... nothing is taken for granted . Remember that local markets become part of the global market , resulting in the disappearance of the comfortable sense of yesteryear , where the domestic market was a haven . Today all part of the same market .

If anything serves the logistics would have to be to streamline inventory costs of supply networks , production and distribution . The ultimate goal of this branch of the administration will maximize the company's profits by minimizing costs and reducing the

capital required to do the same functions and , above all, improve the service. Does not meet this objective, the logistics will rest.

Transformation of traditional agents in real cargo and customs logistics operators The example that best illustrates this conversion is logistics operators customs agents , who at the time of closed economy where foreign trade was subject to different tax rates, managed services charge only justified by the tangled and anachronistic customs regulation that time. Today , the operation tends to simplify customs supported by highly advanced computer systems , the days of mandatory broker are numbered. In developed countries and highly competitive this function is free contracting .

outsourcing of logistics services Outsourcing , 3PL , 4PL , fillers and other imaginative titles , merely encompass all those professionals without assets , are able to weave complex networks of logistics solutions through global alliances. Of those players , the most competitive are identified as logistics operators. These "engineers" of the supply and distribution chains , also have a major challenge, cease to be mere fillers, to become advisers to their clients by providing the most appropriate formulas to those needs.

Training professional logistics None of this is possible without having a highly qualified manpower . In recent years it has been growing academic offerings in this area. Suffice it to recall that in the Logistic Summit this year organized a Hall of Logistics Training offer and was paraded countless professionals eager to take time and resources to raise their level of performance in the companies in which they serve .

Only for the purpose of illustrating the dimension of this challenge , we mention the International Diploma of Logistics and Transport designed by the International Federation of Freight Forwarders based in Zurich ( FIATA ) , considered a world standard knowledge . This program is offered in several countries , including Singapore where graduate is

hundreds of professionals, while in our country only a few dozen they graduate . The reason? In this Asian country has government funding for scholarships to students, understand that it is an extraordinary investment that benefits both the trade and industry . In contrast, in Mexico , the student must negotiate with your company or use their own resources. Banks are not willing to invest in training and therefore do not offer soft loans. In France, by contrast, the degree is guaranteeing loans to new graduates

Comentario: Hablar de competitividad implica hacer referencia a factores como crecimiento de la demanda, infraestructura, tercerizacin de servicios, capacitacin del talento logstico y servicios. Conforme maduran los mercados, el consumidor se vuelve ms exigente. Esto quiere decir que cualquier jugador que no est preparado para ofrecer la mxima satisfaccin al cliente, ms temprano que tarde, estar fuera del mercado.