Think Local-Act Local: Is It Time to Slow Down the Accelerated Move to Global Marketing?

In view of the accelerated move of great corporations towards global marketing, the strategic changes of such companies raise interesting questions. Is marketing globalization reaching its limits after years of implementation? Is it time for companies to rethink their strategies and move back, like Coca-Cola, to a multi-domestic marketing approach?Global Marketing, Multi-Domestic Marketing Approach, Brand Equity, Drawbacks of Marketing Globalization, Coca-Cola

The Implications of Cross-Docking in the Manufacturing Sector of Pakistan

Abstract - Purpose of the study is to find out the role of cross-docking in FMCG sector of Pakistan. Research will be helpful to find out the benefits, risks, benefits and challenges for implementing the cross-docking in organizations. The researchers have gathered the interview from twelve supply chain managers working in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan. The study can be useful for the organizations adopting the cross-docking strategy especially in the uncertain countries. The result shows that cross-docking leads to improve the customer services and helps to achieve cost-effectiveness. It can improve the lead time tremendously but labor cost does not get reduced in cross-docking. Cross-docking may lead to increase the risk of uncertainties, chances of pilferages and damages. Keywords: Cross-docking, warehouse, pilferage, lead time, cost, customer satisfaction, customer services, uncertainty, damages, safety stoc

Innovation in Marketing Channels

In more recent years, the context of globalization in which market channel structures and strategies are developing is bringing to a more complex concept of marketing channels, with disintermediation or reintermediation, multichanneling and new roles/specializations that are emerging as new issues.In this context, innovation in marketing channels becomes a complex, multiorganizational, multidisciplinary activity that requires collaboration and interactions across various entities within the supply chain network. In recent years, the innovation processes in marketing channels have occurred with high intensity and speed, especially following the changes spurred by technology that allowed the adoption of more efficient organizational solutions.Retail; Channel Structure; Innovation in Marketing Channels; Retail Technological Innovation; Global Markets

Sustainable development in contract logistics through green warehousing and distribution. Practical case: Maersk warehouse

The thesis is dedicated to the staple part of contract logistics – warehousing and distribution. The nature of this study is to show the sustainable development of (green) warehousing, the crucial changes and achievements in the sector and how these improvements impact the environment and society. The author appeals to the research and analytical methods where he investigates the sources and related documents to analyse the global situation in contract logistics and describe the current situation of green warehousing. The practical method helped to study the Maersk warehouse and to show if it indeed responds to the requirements of sustainable durability as well as highlights the transformations conducting the company towards decarbonisation. The first part dedicated to the general research of warehousing and distribution. The author investigated the main features of warehouse location and its crucial importance, studied different types of layouts, showed the modernisation and application of WMS facilitating the operation’s running, examined the efficiency of equipment usage, light and air conditioning systems and analysed the social impact of warehousing for sustainability. The second chapter observes the practical case of Maersk warehouse as the first logistic centre for the company in Iberia area. The author not only investigated the main features of warehouse, but also showed how the company is implementing the sustainable tools to reduce the environmental impact as well as gave at the glace the future of warehousing via innovation and technology usage

Supply chain distribution system towards African marketplace : a case of Mr Price.

Master of Commerce in Supply Chain Management. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2017.The expansion into new markets gives companies new challenges and unprecedented dynamics, which contribute significantly to the growth of the company. Companies seek to ensure that there are sufficient products available for distribution and that these are positioned correctly at the right time and right place. Companies must have the necessary supply chain technology for order fulfilment. The growth in the number of distribution centres towards creating a sustainable distribution system for the African marketplace is a means towards realising this fulfilment. The level of service and customer satisfaction cannot be completed at the store level without considering the full supply chain process, the product and its raw material, product manufacturing, logistical process, storage and product availability in the store. The non-availability of a product in a store when it is demanded by customers creates problems that dissatisfy the customers since their needs are not met. The main aim of this study, therefore, was to examine the influence of centralised, decentralised or hybrid processes in relation to service delivery, human capacity as well as supply chain technology. The objective of this study was firstly to establish whether a centralised or decentralised supply chain distribution system supports the expansion to the African marketplace. Secondly, to examine the extent of sustainable retail distribution systems towards improving product availability across the African region. Thirdly, to assess the challenges of inventory positioning on the existing outbound and inbound product flow systems across the African continent. Finally, to examine the influence of the supply chain distribution technology on the availability of real time information and visibility of inventory. A descriptive research design was used in this study. Statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics, multiple regression, factor analysis and one-way ANOVA technique were used to analyze the data collected from 100 staff of Mr Price Group. The main findings disclose that the most critical attributes of a good distribution centre are advanced supply chain systems, strong management team and strong workforce. Customer satisfaction as a driving force considers investment in human capital and technology as a vital component to the sustainability of Mr Price Group. There is a need to focus on training and development of employees which can improve productivity and efficiency of any organisation. The managerial implication comprises of some recommendations that will support management in decision making

Corporative Trends in Urban Distribution of Goods in Mexico City

[EN] The Logistics processes in urban-metropolitan distribution are constantly changing, both technological support and technical implementation in the processes themselves and in the management of these. It is necessary to monitor the substantive changes outlined in the metropolitan urban-physical distribution of goods, because they contribute to a better competitive position of companies in the market, and also to a better development of city life. It is a professional scientific and technical task that contributes, by its impact on "benchmarking", the improvement of engineering practices in the professional community of executives in logistics and supply chains. Based on three extensive field research (ANTÚN, JP; LOZANO, A; HERNÁNDEZ, R; ALARCÓN, R et al 2007; ANTÚN, JP; LOZANO, A; MAGALLANES, R; ALARCÓN, R; GRANADOS, F 2009, ANTUN JP ALARCON R; 2014) on Logistics Distribution of Goods in Mexico City, this article presents and discusses major corporate trends on a set of key logistics processes, and bring examples from Case Studies.Antun, JP. (2016). Corporative Trends in Urban Distribution of Goods in Mexico City. En XII Congreso de ingeniería del transporte. 7, 8 y 9 de Junio, Valencia (España). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 779-787. https://doi.org/10.4995/CIT2016.2015.3257OCS77978

Enrutamiento de almacenes cruzados considerando ventanas de tiempo y precios de ruta (estudio de caso: transporte de contenedores del puerto de Chabahar)

In this study, we develop a model for routing cross-docking centers considering time windows and pricing routs. In this model picking and delivery in several times is permitted and each knot can be serviced by more than one vehicle. Every truck can transport one or more product, in other words, we consider compatibility between product and vehicle. This model includes two goals: reducing the total cost and reducing the cost of carrying goods (freight fare). The total cost includes the cost required to traverse between the points, the cost of traversing the routes between the central cross-docking center and the first points after moving, and the cost to traverse the routes between the last points in each route and the depots that must be minimized. In general, the purpose of the model is to obtain the number of cross-docking center, the number of vehicles and the best route in the distribution network. We present a nonlinear programming model for this problem. We have solved the proposed model by GAMS. As the dimensions of the problem increase, the implementation time of the program increases progressively. So, in order to solve the model in medium and large scales, we proposed a genetic meta-heuristic algorithm. The results of examining different issues by the meta-heuristic approach show the very high efficiency of the developed algorithms in terms of the solution time and the answer of the problem.En esta investigación, se presenta un modelo para el enrutamiento entre almacenes con ventanas de tiempo y precios de ruta. En este modelo, se permite la recogida y entrega en varias ocasiones y cada nodo puede recibir servicio con más de un vehículo. Cada camión puede transportar uno o más tipos de mercancías, es decir, se considera la compatibilidad entre la mercancía y el vehículo. En este modelo, hay dos objetivos, que incluyen reducir el costo total y reducir el precio de envío de mercancías (flete). El costo total incluye el costo de recorrer los senderos entre los puntos, el costo de recorrer los senderos entre el almacén de la intersección central y los primeros puntos después de la salida, y el costo de recorrer los senderos entre los últimos puntos de cada sendero y los almacenes que deben minimizarse. En general, el propósito del modelo es obtener el número de almacenes, el número de vehículos y la mejor ruta en la red de distribución. Y presentamos un modelo de programación no lineal para este problema. Hemos resuelto el modelo propuesto con GAMS. A medida que aumenta el tamaño del problema, el tiempo de ejecución del programa aumenta considerablemente. Por tanto, para resolver el modelo en medianas y grandes dimensiones, presentamos el algoritmo genético metaheurístico. Los resultados de examinar varios problemas con metaheurísticas muestran la altísima eficiencia de los algoritmos propuestos en términos de tiempo de resolución de problemas

Enrutamiento de almacenes cruzados considerando ventanas de tiempo y precios de ruta (estudio de caso: transporte de contenedores del puerto de Chabahar)

In this study, we develop a model for routing cross-docking centers considering time windows and pricing routs. In this model picking and delivery in several times is permitted and each knot can be serviced by more than one vehicle. Every truck can transport one or more product, in other words, we consider compatibility between product and vehicle. This model includes two goals: reducing the total cost and reducing the cost of carrying goods (freight fare). The total cost includes the cost required to traverse between the points, the cost of traversing the routes between the central cross-docking center and the first points after moving, and the cost to traverse the routes between the last points in each route and the depots that must be minimized. In general, the purpose of the model is to obtain the number of cross-docking center, the number of vehicles and the best route in the distribution network. We present a nonlinear programming model for this problem. We have solved the proposed model by GAMS. As the dimensions of the problem increase, the implementation time of the program increases progressively. So, in order to solve the model in medium and large scales, we proposed a genetic meta-heuristic algorithm. The results of examining different issues by the meta-heuristic approach show the very high efficiency of the developed algorithms in terms of the solution time and the answer of the problem.En esta investigación, se presenta un modelo para el enrutamiento entre almacenes con ventanas de tiempo y precios de ruta. En este modelo, se permite la recogida y entrega en varias ocasiones y cada nodo puede recibir servicio con más de un vehículo. Cada camión puede transportar uno o más tipos de mercancías, es decir, se considera la compatibilidad entre la mercancía y el vehículo. En este modelo, hay dos objetivos, que incluyen reducir el costo total y reducir el precio de envío de mercancías (flete). El costo total incluye el costo de recorrer los senderos entre los puntos, el costo de recorrer los senderos entre el almacén de la intersección central y los primeros puntos después de la salida, y el costo de recorrer los senderos entre los últimos puntos de cada sendero y los almacenes que deben minimizarse. En general, el propósito del modelo es obtener el número de almacenes, el número de vehículos y la mejor ruta en la red de distribución. Y presentamos un modelo de programación no lineal para este problema. Hemos resuelto el modelo propuesto con GAMS. A medida que aumenta el tamaño del problema, el tiempo de ejecución del programa aumenta considerablemente. Por tanto, para resolver el modelo en medianas y grandes dimensiones, presentamos el algoritmo genético metaheurístico. Los resultados de examinar varios problemas con metaheurísticas muestran la altísima eficiencia de los algoritmos propuestos en términos de tiempo de resolución de problemas

Performance of precise marine positioning using future modernised global satellite positioning systems and a novel partial ambiguity resolution technique

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) established a set of positioning requirements for future Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) constellations in IMO resolution A.915. It is important to be able to determine if these requirements can be met, and what shore infrastructure would be required. This thesis describes the collection of data in a marine environment and the analysis of these data with regards to the requirements. The data collection exercise was held at the beginning of May 2008 and saw THV Alert navigate into Harwich Harbour whilst Global Positioning System (GPS) observation data were recorded from onboard the vessel and from shore-based reference stations. Additional data were obtained from nearby Ordnance Survey reference stations, and two total stations were used to track the vessel’s passage to provide a truth model. Several modernised GPS satellites were tracked. The data were processed under different scenarios, using software developed at UCL, and the positioning performance was analysed in the context of the IMO requirements. Potential performance improvements from modernised GPS and Galileo were then discussed. Providing integrity through single-epoch real-time kinematic positioning, required to meet the strictest IMO requirements, is particularly difficult. The identification of phase observation outliers is not possible before the integer ambiguities are resolved, but an undetected outlier could prevent successful ambiguity resolution. It will not always be necessary to fix all the ambiguities to achieve the required positioning precision, particularly with a multi-GNSS constellation. This thesis introduces a new algorithm for partial ambiguity resolution in the presence of measurement bias. Although computationally intensive, this algorithm significantly improves the ambiguity resolution success rate, increasing the maximum baseline length over which the highest requirements are met with dual-frequency GPS from 1 km to 66 km