A Literature Review Of The Role Of It In Global

A Literature Review of The Role of IT in Global Maritime Transport Logistics By: M I Chaudry Date: 02/11/2009 Foreword: Transport sector makes the integral part of the foundation upon which globalisation is based. An efficient maritime infrastructure adds value to shipping transport service to add flexibility and convenience to worldwide trade. Demand for maritime transport services is related to the increase or decrease in the demand of finished or unfinished goods. The competitiveness of goods is determined by the effectiveness of transport services in global logistics and supply chain. Maritime service components like ships, flag of registry, classification societies, insurance and seafarers’ services are all traded in a global market. International transport has become a point of attention to mainstream economists and various development theories and trade models are being applied worldwide to identify the impact of globalisation. Growth in trade volume and maritime transport cost, are mutually related. Production and marketing act as value creation functions and logistics of ship transport act as support function for a firm when examined as a value chain. Unnecessary barriers among different trading nations have been overcome due to the continuous and ongoing efforts of World Trade Organisation. This has resulted in the evolution of global supply chain across the oceans. The global demand for maritime transport services and of its components has also resulted in the multifold but contradictory trends, (Kumar S., Hoffman J. 2002). Appraisal: There have been major advances in electronics and transport technology but until recently the impact of this advancement has not fully utilised by Maritime world. Operational costs are marginally reduced by the introduction of post panamax container ships and gantries but the process in return has added the costs of transhipment. E-commerce firms are lacking in achieving the results of economy and enhanced market response is missing. The reasons behind this are the omissions and errors, which were made while introducing the E-technology into logistics. An urgent revaluation is required on urgent bases to gain the desired results of improved logistics performance and reduced cost due to the implementation of correct technological measures. Unnecessary steps in transaction management need to be eliminated; this does not include the important steps of verification, authorization and control, involved in monetary transactions. All the operational intermediaries, intermediate transactions, intermodal delays, transhipment and inventory cost and delays have to be overcome for a seamlessly integrated, virtually paperless, and real time operations management, (Frankel E. 2000). Use of new communication and Information technology provides real time information flow and control but yet if all the paper based traditional operational procedures are performed still on the bases and methodology of old economics than the desired output and result is not achieved. New approach has to be implemented based on new research and current economic practices. This equally stands true for both ecommerce and e-logistics. A remarkable achievement has been made in the road, rail and sea transport efficiency. Similarly, transaction-only costs being incurred during inventory, warehouse, and other intermodal transfers can be reduced by swift electronic data exchanges instead. Perfectly coordinated, consolidated and an efficient business-to-business transaction can be achieved by reducing the middle-man factor and by excluding the repetition of effort. Inter-company, intra-company systems and company-public authority are the various levels of shipping trade where exchange of data takes place and these are the points where core developments in IT are to be focussed. The availability of ultra-fast internet, and ability of remote and wireless access to World Wide Web, and office based information resources will enable the access, process and transfer of data in the most proficient way and the majority cost of paper based documentation will be saved. Sourcing and procurement of products on

the platform of E-logistics will result in a low cost supply chain. The provision of common e-logistic platform has made possible the standardisation of certain logistic service, logistic measures, unit cost, and major documents involved. Electronic based transport management and control system have been brought into use by regulatory and custom bodies. Singapore’s PORTNET, CITOS and GEMS are few of the examples of E-logistics, (Ojala L. Menachof D. 2002). Future is looking towards the trend of ship and port capacities being auctioned online and vessels being controlled and operated by a skeleton of professionals dealing with all aspects of vessels’ commercial and operational needs. Once all hard copy documents used in maritime transportation will go online and will be available via wireless mode, it will serve the purpose and save the costs remarkably. Integrated development towards a standardised and coordinated webenabled logistic system is the future of the transport industry. Ports and shipping companies are the major players in international trade logistics and the introduction of E-commerce is helping to bring the customers and suppliers of transport service at the same platform. Some of the practical examples of elogistics service providers are: LevelSeas.com for trans-ocean bulk transport; Tradiant.com for containerized freight; PrimeSupplier.Ltd for ship supplies; Freightdesk.com for logistics solutions; OptimumLogistics.com for bulk commodity logistics and Asiaship.com freight logistic management. Another prominent feature of trade management within the online environment is that security of a transaction is enhanced significantly. The most sophisticated and invulnerable means like encryption of data are used to make a trade transaction impregnable. Inter-company, intra-company systems and company-public authority are the various levels of shipping trade where exchange of data takes place and these are the points where core developments in IT are to be focussed. Conclusion: The above review indicates that now is only the start of an information revolution and if we say that it is the beginning of start, than it will not be a wrong statement. Development and implementation of IT in maritime transport model makes it conveniently accessible around the globe. It is the need of the hour to increase the pace of this development to achieve maximum benefits of e-logistics. References: Boubekri N. (2001): Technology Enablers for Supply Chain Management; Integrated Manufacturing Systems, 12(6), pp.394-399. Frankel E. (2000): E-Logistics Solutions: A Key to Major Cost Reduction in Getting the Product to the Buyer; 2nd Global Automotive Trades and Logistics Conference, Bremen, Germany, September. Kumar S. Hoffman J. (2002): Globalisation - The Maritime Nexus; The Handbook of Maritime Economics and Business. Ojala L. Menachof D. (2002): IT in Logistics and Maritime Business; The Handbook of Maritime Economics and Business. Packington R. (2001): The Paperless Supply Chain? Perhaps not yet; e.logistics, 1(11), May, p.16. UNCTAD (2001): Review of Maritime Transport, by United Nations, Geneva. Van D. Kees J. (2002): Traking and Tracing - A Structure for Development and Contemporary Practices; Logistics Information Management, 15(1), pp.24-33. Wallis R. (2002): Elements in Value Chain Design; Manufacturing and Logistics IT, April, p.35.