FOR STUDENT PURPOSE ONLY

LOGISTICS
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods, information and other resources
between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet the
requirements of consumers (frequently, and originally, military organizations).
Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory,
warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and occasionally security.
Logistics is a channel of the supply chain which adds the value of time and place
utility. Today the complexity of production logistics can be modeled, analyzed,
visualized and optimized by plant simulation software.
LOGISTICS MANAGMENT
Logistics management is that part of the supply chain which plans, implements and
controls the efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods,
services and related information between the point of origin and the point of
consumption in order to meet customer and legal requirements. A professional
working in the field of logistics management is called a logistician.
The Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport (CILT) was established in the
United Kingdom in 1919 and was granted a Royal Charter in 1926. The Chartered
Institute is one of the professional bodies or institutions, for the logistics and
transport sectors, that offers professional qualifications or degrees in logistics
management.
Origins and definition
The term logistics comes from the Greek logos (λόγος), meaning "speech,
reason, ratio, rationality, language, phrase", and more specifically from the Greek
word logistiki (λογιστική), meaning accounting and financial
organization.
Logistics is considered to have originated in the military's need to supply
themselves with arms, ammunition and rations as they moved from their base to a
forward position. In ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine empires, military
officers with the title Logistikas were responsible for financial and supply
distribution matters.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines logistics as "the branch of military science
having to do with procuring, maintaining and transporting materiel, personnel and
facilities." Another dictionary definition is "the time-related positioning of
resources." As such, logistics is commonly seen as a branch of engineering that
creates "people systems" rather than "machine systems".
TYPES OF LOGISTICS

Cargo (or freight) is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain,
by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most
intermodal long-haul cargo transport.
Marine
/wiki/File:CargoShip.jpg
/wiki/File:Banbury_box_car_2001_1st.pngA picture of a P&O Nedlloyd
inter-modal freight well car at Banbury station in the year 2001
Trains are capable of transporting large numbers of containers that come from
shipping ports. Trains are also used for the transportation of steel, wood and coal.
They are used because they can carry a large amount and generally have a direct
route to the destination. Under the right circumstances, freight transport by rail is
more economic and energy efficient than by road, especially when carried in bulk
or over long distances.
The main disadvantage of rail freight is its lack of flexibility. For this reason, rail
has lost much of the freight business to road transport. Rail freight is often subject
to transshipment costs, since it must be transferred from one mode of
transportation to another. Practices such as containerization aim at minimizing
these costs.
Many governments are currently trying to encourage shippers to use trains more
often because of the environmental benefits.
[edit] Road
Many firms, like Parcelforce or FedEx, transport all types of cargo by road.
Delivering everything from letters to houses to cargo containers, these firms offer
fast, sometimes same-day, delivery.
A good example of road cargo is food, as supermarkets require deliveries every
day to keep their shelves stocked with goods. Retailers of all kinds rely upon
delivery trucks, be they full size semi trucks or smaller delivery vans.
[edit] Shipment categories
Freight is usually organized into various shipment categories before it is
transported. An item's category is determined by:
•the type of item being carried. For example, a kettle could fit into the category
'household goods'.
•how large the shipment is, in terms of both item size and quantity.
•how long the item for delivery will be in transit.
Shipments are typically categorized as household goods, express, parcel, and
freight shipments:
•Household goods (HHG) include furniture, art and similar items.
•Very small business or personal items like envelopes are considered overnight
express or express letter shipments. These shipments are rarely over a few
kilogams or pounds and almost always travel in the carrier’s own packaging.
Express shipments almost always travel some distance by air. An envelope
may go coast to coast in the United States overnight or it may take several
days, depending on the service options and prices chosen by the shipper.
•Larger items like small boxes are considered parcels or ground shipments.
These shipments are rarely over 50 kg (110 lb), with no single piece of the
shipment weighing more than about 70 kg (154 lb). Parcel shipments are
always boxed, sometimes in the shipper’s packaging and sometimes in
carrier-provided packaging. Service levels are again variable but most
ground shipments will move about 800 to 1,100 kilometres (497 to 684 mi)
per day. Depending on the origin of the package, it can travel from coast to
coast in the United States in about four days. Parcel shipments rarely travel
by air and typically move via road and rail. Parcels represent the majority of
business-to-consumer (B2C) shipments.
•Beyond HHG, express, and parcel shipments, movements are termed freight
shipments.
[edit] Less-than-truckload freight
Main article: Less than truckload shipping
Less than truckload (LTL) cargo is the first category of freight shipmen, which
represents the majority of freight shipments and the majority of business-to-
business (B2B) shipments. LTL shipments are also often referred to as motor
freight and the carriers involved are referred to as motor carriers.
LTL shipments range from 50 to 7,000 kg (110 to 15,000 lb), being less than 2.5 to
8.5 m (8 ft 2.4 in to 27 ft 10.6 in) the majority of times. The average single piece of
LTL freight is 600 kg (1,323 lb) and the size of a standard pallet. Long freight
and/or large freight are subject to extreme length and cubic capacity surcharges.
Trailers used in LTL can range from 28 to 53 ft (8.53 to 16.15 m). The standard for
city deliveries is usually 48 ft (14.63 m). In tight and residential environments the
28 ft (8.53 m) trailer is used the most.
The shipments are usually palletized, shrink-wrapped and packaged for a mixed-
freight environment. Unlike express or parcel, LTL shippers must provide their
own packaging, as carriers do not provide any packaging supplies or assistance.
However, circumstances may require crating or other substantial packaging.
[edit] Air freight
Air freight shipments are very similar to LTL shipments in terms of size and
packaging requirements. However, air freight or air cargo shipments typically need
to move at much faster speeds than 800 km or 497 mi per day. Air shipments may
be booked directly with the carriers, through brokers or with online marketplace
services. While shipments move faster than standard LTL, air shipments don’t
always actually move by air.
[edit] Truckload freight
In the United States, shipments larger than about 7,000 kg (15,432 lb) are typically
classified as truckload (TL) freight. This is because it is more efficient and
economical for a large shipment to have exclusive use of one larger trailer rather
than share space on a smaller LTL trailer.
The total weight of a loaded truck (tractor and trailer, 5-axle rig) cannot exceed
36,000 kg (79,366 lb) in the United States{fact}. In ordinary circumstances, long-
haul equipment will weigh about 15,000 kg (33,069 lb), leaving about 20,000 kg
(44,092 lb) of freight capacity. Similarly a load is limited to the space available in
the trailer, normally 48 ft (14.63 m) or 53 ft (16.15 m) long, 2.6 m (102.4 in) wide,
2.7 m (8 ft 10.3 in) high and 13 ft 6 in/4.11 m high over all.
While express, parcel and LTL shipments are always intermingled with other
shipments on a single piece of equipment and are typically reloaded across
multiple pieces of equipment during their transport, TL shipments usually travel as
the only shipment on a trailer. In fact, TL shipments usually deliver on exactly the
same trailer as they are picked up on.
[edit] Shipping costs
Shipping costs
Often, an LTL shipper may realize savings by utilizing a freight broker, online
marketplace or other intermediary, instead of contracting directly with a trucking
company. Brokers can shop the marketplace and obtain lower rates than most
smaller shippers can obtain directly. In the LTL marketplace, intermediaries
typically receive 50% to 80% discounts from published rates, where a small
shipper may only be offered a 5% to 30% discount by the carrier. Intermediaries
are licensed by the DOT and have requirements to provide proof of insurance.
Truckload (TL) carriers usually charge a rate per kilometre or mile. The rate varies
depending on the distance, geographic location of the delivery, items being
shipped, equipment type required, and service times required. TL shipments
usually receive a variety of surcharges very similar to those described for LTL
shipments above. In the TL market, there are thousands more small carriers than in
the LTL market. Therefore, the use of transportation intermediaries or brokers is
extremely common.
Another cost-saving method is facilitating pickups or deliveries at the carrier’s
terminals. By doing this, shippers avoid any accessorial fees that might normally
be charged for liftgate, residential pickup/delivery, inside pickup/delivery, or
notifications/appointments. Carriers or intermediaries can provide shippers with
the address and phone number for the closest shipping terminal to the origin and/or
destination.
Shipping experts optimize their service and costs by sampling rates from several
carriers, brokers and online marketplaces. When obtaining rates from different
providers, shippers may find quite a wide range in the pricing offered. If a shipper
uses a broker, freight forwarder or other transportation intermediary, it is common
for the shipper to receive a copy of the carrier's Federal Operating Authority.
Freight brokers and intermediaries are also required by Federal Law to be licensed
by the Federal Highway Administration. Experienced shippers avoid unlicensed
brokers and forwarders because if brokers are working outside the law by not
having a Federal Operating License, the shipper has no protection in the event of a
problem. Also, shippers normally ask for a copy of the broker's insurance
certificate and any specific insurance that applies to the shipment.
[edit] Security concerns
Governments are very concerned with the shipment of cargo, as it may bring
security risks to a country. Therefore, many governments have enacted rules and
regulations, administered by a customs agency, to the handling of cargo to
minimize risks of terrorism and other crime. Of particular concern is cargo entering
through a country's borders.
The United States has been one of the leaders in securing cargo. They see cargo as
a concern to United States national security. After the terrorist attacks of
September 11th, the security of this magnitude of cargo has become highlighted on
the over 6 million cargo containers enter the United States ports each year.[1] The
latest US Government response to this threat is the CSI: Container Security
Initiative. CSI is a program intended to help increase security for containerized
cargo shipped to the United States from around the world.[2]
TOP 10 LOGISTICS COMPANY
2006
Revenue
($ Millions)
1
DHL International
30,015
2
Kuehne + Nagel
14,919
3
Schenker/BAX
14,000
4
UPS Supply Chain Solutions
7,706
 5
Deutsche Logistics SCM
7,200
6
C.H. Robinson Worldwide
6,556
7
Geodis
5,016
8
Agility
4,900
9

TOP 10 DOMESTIC COMPANY

List Of Top Logistics Companies Of India:
TNT Express:
This company is a key leader in the international market in the sector of global
express services. The company ensures safe and on time delivery of your
documents,freight and parcels. The company offers time and day definite delivery
in about 200 nations across the world. It operates 47 jet freighter aircraft and
26,000 road vehicles and has a network of 2,300 companies.

AFL :
One among the acknowledged leaders among the logistics companies in India is
AFL. Through its domain of logistics services,the company has delivered world
class service in India. In 1979,the company introduced the first ever courier service
by forming an alliance with DHL World Wide Express. The company offers
services like Logistics and warehousing,Courier Company and Custom Consultant.

DHL :
This company is one among the major logistics companies in India. It is a market
leader globally in overland transport,air freight and international express. The
company ranks No.1 in the world in contract logistics and ocean freight. The
biggest logistics and express network in the world has a network in about 220
territories and countries,72,000 vehicles,350 Aircrafts,36 hubs and 4,700 bases.

Blue Dart :
This logistics company is South Asia's top integrated express package Distribution
and courier company. The domestic network of the company covers about 21,340
locations and provides service to 220 countries by the company's sales alliance
with DHL. It provides the best service like Free Pick up from Your
location,Regulatory Clearances,Real Time Tracking,Free Computerized Proof of
Delivery etc.

Gati :
The company is a key leader in then arena of express cargo delivery and a
significant one in the supply chain management solutions and distribution in India
since the year 1989.The company provides services like the WareHousing,Express
Cargo etc. Logistics Solutions of the company are Warehousing,Supply chain
Management. The Distribution Solutions of the company are Gati Surface Express,
Gati coast to coast, Gati Air Express etc.

Safexpress :
It is one of the largest express company in India. The company offers the best and
integrated logistics solutions. In 2002 the Limca Book of Records declared the
company as the Largest Logistics service Provider in India. The company has a
network over 550 locations in 28 states and 7 countries. It has 3000 weather proof
ISO-9002 vehicles.
Ashok Leyland :
The leading provider of logistic vehicles for the India Army is this company. It is a
key leader in the tractor-tailers and multi axle trucks. The company manufactures
buses,trucks,engines and special application vehicles in India. It is promoting a
new company called Ashley Transport Services Ltd. for exchange of information
and integrated services related to logistics in order to tackle the business of freight
contractors.

Agarwal Packers and Movers:

This popular Indian logistics company provides logistic services like the home
shifting,car packing etc. across India. The company believes in keeping technology
and people and of course heart and soul in the movement of the individuals
respective items. The company offers quality service in transportation and packing.

DTDC :
The biggest Domestic Delivery Network Company is DTDC. The company offers
high class delivery service in about 3700 Indian locations and 240 international
places. The company dispatch about 10 million parcels in a month.It also offers
low cost for bigger parcels to US,UK,India,Nepal,Dubai and other places across
the world.

First Flight:
This logistics company in India specializes in courier services world wide. The
multi-tracking programs of the company are Domestic ,International,First
Wheels,First Wings and many others. The overseas offices of the company are in
Malaysia,Singapore,UK,US,UAE, Quatar, Oman.

Global Top 10 Logistics Companies Industry, Financial and SWOT Analysis

Introduction

This report includes an overview of the global logistics & express market
value and five forces analysis of the industry. It provides profiles of the top
10 companies including company overviews and individual financial and
SWOT analysis of each company

Scope
•Industry analysis including market value, market volume, market share
and forecast growth till 2013
•Assess intensity of competition based on 5-forces model including
degree of rivalry, substitutes, new entrants, buyer power and supplier
power
•SWOT and 5-year financial analysis of top 10 players in the industry
•Descriptive profiles of the leading players including the strategic
initiatives undertaken in the last 12 months
Highlights

The global logistics market generated total revenues of $3,566 billion in

2008, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6% for the
period spanning 200408. The industry is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 2%
for the five-year period 200813, to reach $3,895.5 billion by the end of
2013.

The top 10 logistics companies recorded revenues of $284.6 billion during

2008, an increase of 5% over 2007. The operating profit of these
companies was $15 billion during 2008, a decrease of 0.5% compared to
2007. The net profit was $5.7 billion in 2008, a decrease of 40.8%
compared to 2007.

The operating margin of the top10 companies was 5.3% in 2008 as

compared with 5.5% in 2007. The net margin was 2% in 2008 as compared
with 3.6% in 2007.

Reasons to Purchase
•Gain insights into the industry, leading companies and competitors
through a single report
•Benchmark the leading players using SWOT, 5-year financial analysis,
ratios and adjusted financial statement data
 •Determine industry insight from five-forces analysis of constituent
segments
Linking flows of goods to streams of data
Flows of goods and streams of data can no longer be considered separately. Trade
by globally networked companies can be efficiently conducted today only with up-
to-date IT systems.
ERP and warehouse management
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
Barcode
Radio frequency identification (RFID)
Strengthened automation
Logistics is taking on its latest challenges with increased automation, e.g., with
expanded internal use of robots and automated parcel receipt.
Increased automation in intralogistics
The first and last miles
Route planning and road-transport telematics
Environmental protection
Global warming is one of the biggest problems of our times. For this reason,
logistics companies are working on an array of strategies around the world aimed
at cutting their greenhouse-gas emissions.
Reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions
Environmentally friendly shipping with GOGREE

SWOT ANALYSIS
BRIEF BACKGROUND[1]
Owned by Frederick W. Smith, the company was incorporated in June 1971 and
officially began operations on April 17, 1973, with the launch of 14 small aircraft
from Memphis International Airport. It soon entered its maturing phase in the first
half of the 1980s and grown to become the largest operating company in the FedEx
family, handling about 3.2 million packages and documents every business day.
During the fiscal year 2006, it netted a revenue of $21.4 billion (includes FedEx
Trade Networks) and is currently employing more than 139,000 employees
worldwide, serving in more than 220 countries and territories and 375 airports
worldwide. David Bronczek is the current President and CEO of the well-known
express transportation company. Since its inception, FedEx had transformed itself
from an express delivery company to a global logistics and supply-chain
management company.
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
With more than three decades of experience in providing logistics services to
individuals and fellow businesses, FedEx has the strength of dependable know-
how in the delivery business. They changed the nature of delivery business by
reconfiguring outbound logistics (a primary activity) and human resource
management (a support activity) to originate the overnight delivery business,
creating value in the process. Convinced that customers would value not only
overnight deliveries but also the ability to track them, FedEx developed a
proprietary computerised tracking system called Customer Oriented Services and
Management Operating System, or COSMOS (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson 2003),
which introduced computer technology to the shipping industry in previously
unheard-of ways and permanently altered the nature of competition within it. Over
the years, the company had also invested heavily in IT systems, providing them
with a powerful technical architecture that had the potential to pioneer in Internet
commerce.
WEAKNESSES
OPPORTUNITIES
The firm’s main opportunity is to use cooperative strategies to create value for a
customer that exceeds the cost of constructing value in other ways (Desarbo, Jedidi
& Sinha 2001) and to establish a favourable position relative to competition.
Living examples are the two that FedEx already engaged in. In an alliance between
the firm and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), the company roughly transports 3.5
million pounds of USPS packages daily on its planes and will earn FedEx more
than $7 billion - $6.3 billion in transportation charges and $900 million in drop box
revenue in the seven-year deal with USPS (Ulfelder 2001). The second alliance
was with worldwide professional services firm KPMG, which intent is to deliver
total, end-to-end supply-chain solutions to large and mid-sized companies. Another
opportunity seen for FedEx is the opportunity to take advantage of the recent
developme
THREATS
Their main competitor in their line of business is UPS, and the two companies
compete directly against each other in several product categories. They are locked
in fierce battles to dominate not only package delivery but e-commerce and
logistics markets as well. Although competitive actions and competitive responses
take to build or defend a firm’s competitive advantages and improve its market
performance (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson 2003), the presence of competition,
especially a tough one, is sometimes detrimental to the growth of the firm. In
FedEx’s case, they were caught off guard by UPS when the latter usedits internally
generated technology skills to offer e-tailers a multitude of shipping options and
prices. Although both firms help customer better utilise information to track and
ship inventory, UPS is pulling ahead of FedEx (Haddad & Ewing 2000). Rising
fuel prices could also severely impact upon the company’s net income.
PESTLE ANALYSIS
POLITICAL
This aspect of the external environment affects the company in the same way that
the legal aspect affects it. Laws and regulations effected within the transportation
and logistics industry are dependent on the political environment which formulates
such laws and regulations. The contemporary political environment is shown
supportive of such technological advances in the industry under discussion to the
extent that it has given impetus to the growth that the industry is experiencing now.
Governmental policies and laws affect where and how companies may choose to
compete, and deregulation and local government changes, such as those in the
global transportation industry, affect not only the general competitive environment,
but also the strategic decisions made by firms competing globally.
ECONOMIC
The growth of the express transportation and logistics industry was brought about
mainly by the globalisation of businesses. As businesses expanded beyond national
boundaries and extended their global reach to take advantage of new markets and
cheaper resources, so the movements of goods created new demands for the
transportation and logistics industry. With this, the competitiveness of
transportation companies depended upon their global network of distribution
centres and their ability to deliver wherever their customers conducted business.
Rising inflation and global competition gave rise to greater pressures on businesses
to minimise the costs of operation, including implementation of just-in-time
inventory management systems, etc., and also created demands for speed and
accuracy in all aspects of business.
SOCIAL
The ever-changing market demand for value-added services affects FedEx’s
corporate level strategies tremendously in that most of the business tactics that the
firm employs centre on bringing about value-added services to their customers.
After all, FedEx relies largely on their customers’ loyalty to sustain their leadership
in the industry that they are in. As part of their corporate social responsibilities,
FedEx is practising corporate philanthropy and employee volunteerism and is
constantly developing relationships with charitable institutions that share the same
values as FedEx.
TECHNOLOGICAL
The advances in IT and the application of new technology to generate process
efficiencies also served as impetus for the growth of the express transportation and
logistics industry. The ability to share information between operations/departments
within a company and between organisations to generate operational efficiencies,
reduce cost and improve customer service was a major breakthrough for the
express transportation industry. However, of even greater significance was the way
n which new technology redefined logistics. At a time when competition within the
transportation industry was tough and transportation firms were seeking to achieve
competitive advantages through value-added services, many of these companies
expanded into logistics management services. Interconnectivity through the
Internet and Intranets and the integration of systems enabled businesses to redefine
themselves and re-engineer their selling and supply-chains. Information came to
replace inventory. With the advent of It, express transportation became an
aggregation of two main function: the physical delivery of parcels, and the
management and utilisation of the flow of information pertaining to the physical
delivery.
LEGAL
Throughout the more than three decades of existence of FedEx, their growth was
attributable to a number of external factors that the firm was quick to capitalise on,
which included: (1) government deregulation of the airline industry, which
permitted the landing of larger freight planes, thus reducing operating costs for
FedEx; (2) deregulation of the trucking industry, which allowed FedEx to establish
a regional trucking system to lower costs further on short-haul trips. Also, trade
deregulation in Asia Pacific opened new markets for FedEx and expanding
globally became a FedEx priority.
ENVIRONMENTAL
The FedEx Corporation recognises that one of its most important corporate
priorities is effective environmental management. In efforts to fulfil their
responsibilities to the environment, the company is engaged in several projects
which aim at protecting the environment at large. Emissions and fuel use has been
a constant source of concern for the care of the environment. In line with this, the
firm partnered with the Environmental Defence in 2000 to create a delivery truck
that would dramatically decrease emissions and fuel use. Also, with respect to
packaging and recycling, a continued evaluation of the environmental impact of
their packages is on-going and the firm additionally makes sure that their packages
are made from recycled materials that are equally recyclable