Many industries have retreated to their manufacturing core business THE LATEST evolution in the express sector of the logistics industry is a move from the original letter-carrying function, to full-scale distribution of a company's products, according to Peter Baker, g.m. of the Grindrod Group's courier/express arm, Fast Lane.
Market demand made us take this different view of our activity, he said. But we already had the basic functional control in position, and moving from envelopes of documents to large parcels of goods was purely related to the size of the consignment being handled - not to how it was done. The driving force behind this change has been a type of unbundling procedure taking place in the industrial community, according to Baker, with many industries retreating to their manufacturing core business.
Most of the other peripheral functions - including all the movement of that company's materials, components and goods - are now being contracted-out to third-party service providers, he said. And the express industry is playing a vital role in the distribution service area. Another vital element in the express distribution industry is state-of-the-art information technology, according to Baker.
Efficient movement of goods and parcels must be accompanied by accurate monitoring of their progress along the logistics chain to POD (proof of delivery), he said.
This function - to meet the efficiency guarantees needed in the express sector - needs a fairly sophisticated computer system.
On average, an express parcel will be handled 12 times. You need to be electronically-linked to at least half of these if you are to be sure where each consignment is. - Baker You must have scan or track areas in the system, with accurate registration of the parcel's positioning, said Baker. On average, an express parcel will be handled 12 times. You need to be electronically-linked to at least half of these if you are to be sure where each consignment is.
This, in turn, needs to be linked-in to a control function. A feature of these systems is an electronic signal to highlight any parcel which does not arrive.
Although this sounds like a negative benefit, this occurrence requires an instantaneous corrective response, said Baker. Such an overall surety in monitoring is not easy in the time available - but is critical to the success of an express operation. The new role-player in this cyber-network is the global communications web, Internet.
Everything is heading into Internet fast, said Baker, and it will be a vital part of our industry during the next year. Globally, the trend is for the major players to have their own Web Page on Internet.
The advantage in this is enormous, said Baker. The way we see it is that any client on the net will be able to get into the Fast Lane page and obtain his own track-and-trace information from the Web site.
It serves as a low-cost answer to communication demands in the industry, and is certainly the immediate future as far as electronic information transfer is concerned.
