Proactive model to determine information technologies supporting expansion of air cargo network

Shippers and recipients expect transportation companies to provide more than just the movement of a package between points; certain information must be available to them as well, to enable forecasts and plans within the supply chain. The transportation companies also need the information flow that undergirds a transportation grid, to support ad-hoc routing and strategic structural re-alignment of business processes. This research delineates the information needs for an expanding air cargo network, then develops a new model of the information technologies needed to support expansion into a new country. The captured information will be used by shippers, recipients, and the transportation provider to better guide business decisions. This model will provide a method for transportation companies to balance the tradeoffs between the operating efficiencies, capital expenditures, and customer expectations of their IT systems. The output of the model is a list of technologies – optimized by cost – which meet the specific needs of internal and external customers when expanding air cargo networks into a new country

\u3ci\u3eThe Symposium Proceedings of the 1998 Air Transport Research Group (ATRG), Volume 3\u3c/i\u3e

UNOAI Report 98-5https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/facultybooks/1157/thumbnail.jp

Network Structures of Cargo Airlines - An Empirical and a Modelling Approach

The development of efficient air freight networks is an upcoming challenge. The present book approaches this problem for cargo airlines by characterising and classifying their network structures and by developing a model for an airline\u27s strategic network design. The book provides results which are of value for airline professionals (network efficiency analysis), policy makers (policy impact assessment) and researchers (cargo airline network design model)

Air Cargo as a Different Business Unit

By combining cargo and passenger operations under the same business, airlines are facing an operational conflict with respect to the cargo operation, which has always been perceived as a by-product and not as an essential revenue generating activity; This fact leads to poor product quality, weak revenues, and value deterioration. By dedicating time and resources to the cargo operation in a different business unit with a defined strategy, carriers may increase cargo profitability and achieve superior operational results. The purpose of this study is to identify and explain the benefits for passenger airlines to invest in air-cargo operations by defining a clear strategy and creating a separate business unit. Through developing a concept-based decision model the study explains why it makes sense to dedicate time and resources (invest) implementing a strategy for cargo operations. The outcome of this investigation will serve as a decision support tool for those airlines that are evaluating whether or not to invest in developing further their current cargo operations

Nonstatistical Factors Influencing Predictions of Financial Distress and Managerial Implications in the All-Cargo Airline Industry

All-cargo airlines carry over 50% of global airfreight, yet they are prone to bankruptcy. Many financial models are designed to predict a firms\u27 financial health, but they do not assess many nonstatistical factors that influence the prediction capability of these models. In this study, qualitative grounded theory design was used to identify nonstatistical factors and explore how they influence bankruptcy prediction models in the all-cargo airline industry. In the first phase of the study, financial data from 2005 to 2009 for 17 all-cargo U.S. airlines were used to determine the bankruptcy prediction ability of the Kroeze financial bankruptcy model. A sample of six all-cargo airlines (ABX Air, Arrow Air, Atlas Air, Cargo 360, Gemini Air Cargo, and Kitty Hawk Air Cargo) were selected containing a mixture of airlines for which the Kroeze model correctly and incorrectly predicted bankruptcy. The sample was used as the starting point to explore the nonstatistical factors using grounded theory. Data were obtained on the six airlines from company annual reports, SEC 10K annual reports, reports from professional journals such as Air Transport Intelligence and Traffic World, news reports and company press releases. The data were coded and grouped into conceptual categories, which were used in theory generation to support the emerging theory. Six categories (management, risk, operations, competitive advantage, financial, and external factors) that relate to the financial stability of an all-cargo airline emerged during the research. Three themes emerged that may improve current quantitative bankruptcy prediction models. The three themes are airline fleet type, type of aircraft flown, and aircraft utilization. The three themes relate to the type, use, and make up of an airline’s fleet. These themes influence bankruptcy prediction model and should be incorporated into failure prediction models to improve their overall accuracy. Future research should be conducted to verify these findings on a larger population, such as all-cargo airlines that operate outside the United States. These airlines operate under different financial regimes that may affect the prediction models differently

Connecting air freight services with the road transport network, Case: FREJA Transport & Logistics Oy

This master’s thesis is made as a commission for FREJA Transport & Logistics Oy. Aim of the thesis is to research how the current export air freight process can be improved with DMAIC cycle. Export air freight process needed improvement because process was mostly outsourced and company’s own resources used poorly. Research is limited to consider only export air transports from Finland to outside Europe. Theoretical part of the research was divided to two separate sections. First section handled the concept of business process improvement, which included such issues as Six Sigma, DMAIC cycle, and SCOR metrics. Second section of the theoretical part considered air freight. Air freight was discussed through six themes: demand for air cargo, aircrafts, transport units, air cargo operators, air freight costs, and future in the market. Lastly a common export air freight process was comprised and explained to set basis for the empirical part. In the empirical part, process was improved step by step as per the DMAIC cycle to reveal the issues causing the limited use of own resources. Main reason for variation and inefficient use of resources was outsourcing and by that linking number of intermediaries in the process. The solution was to insource the road transportation from the consignor to the gateway airport. Results revealed that operating costs can be reduced with the improved process and still offer evenly competitive service. Results of the empirical part were validated by process charts, profitability calculations and other supporting documentation created during the DMAIC cycle.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

The Role of Freighter Aircraft in a Full-Service Network Airline Air Freight Services: The Case of Qantas Freight

The dedicated all-cargo aircraft market is vital to the global economy. Freighter aircraft now carry around 56 per cent of world air cargo traffic. Using an in-depth case study research design, this study examined the Qantas Freight Boeing B747-400 and B767-300 freighter aircraft route network design during the 2017/2018 Northern Winter Flight schedule period, which was in effect from the 29th October 2017 to March 24th, 2018. The qualitative data were examined by document analysis. The study found that Qantas Freight deploy their leased B747-400 freighter aircraft on a route network that originates in Sydney and incorporates key markets in Thailand and China with major markets in the United States. The Boeing B767-300 freighter aircraft operated 5 services per week on a Sydney/Auckland/Christchurch/Sydney routing as a well as a weekly Sydney/Hong Kong/Sydney service. The Boeing B747-400 freighter services could generate 114,755,020 available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs) over the schedule period. The Boeing B767-300 freighter aircraft could generate 46,974,1440 AFTKs. The Qantas Freight route network and freighter fleet is underpinned by Australia’s liberalized freighter aircraft policy, the “Open Skies” agreement between Australia and China – which permits the onward carriage of cargo traffic across the trans-Pacific – and the liberalized “open skies” agreement with New Zealand

Improving the flexibility of the desktop PC supply chain

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2006.Vita.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-84).Dell Inc. is a company headquartered in Round Rock, TX founded by entrepreneur Michael Dell in 1984. In its 20+ years of history, Dell has revolutionized the PC industry by deploying the "Dell Direct" model--eliminating the "middleman" retailers in the PC supply chain-and achieved the Number 1 market share in the PC market. In managing its supply chain, Dell also utilizes its direct model and owns strategic relationships with many of the contract manufacturers, most of which have factories in China. For desktop PCs, these contract manufacturers produce semi-completed products and ship these products to Dell's U.S. and Ireland factories, and then Dell factory workers complete the remainder of the desktop PC assembly process by installing the components that are customized by Dell's customers. In order for Dell to remain low-cost and readily respond to customer demand, Dell's suppliers maintain a minimum amount of semi-completed goods inventory in a hub near each of Dell's manufacturing facilities. Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.) was founded in 1974 by Taiwanese entrepreneur Tai-ming Terry Gou. Besides its home base in Taiwan, Foxconn has major manufacturing operations in mainland China, U.S., and Europe.(cont.) Originally a maker of plastic parts, connectors and cable assemblies, Foxconn has since established manufacturing facilities worldwide that produce a variety of high-tech products, including electrical and mechanical components, modules and sub-systems for PCs, consumer electronics, handsets, networking, and display products. Foxconn's eCMMS (e-enabled components, modules, move and service) model and its high degree of vertical integration in supply chain allow Foxconn to address clients' needs from a single source. Foxconn services name-brand clients, such as Dell. Similar to Dell's inventory management strategies, Foxconn also requires its suppliers to keep a minimum amount of raw materials at its inbound warehouse. Dell and Foxconn's shared strategy is to maintain a minimum level of inventory while balancing it with a continuity of supply, in order to maximize sales and minimize the inventory-holding cost. However, this inventory management policy has been disrupted by a continuous shortage of chipset supply from Dell's chipset manufacturer since July 2004. A chipset is a critical component of the desktop motherboard manufactured by Foxconn in China.(cont.) After manufacturing the motherboard, Foxconn is also responsible for installing the motherboard into the desktop chassis before shipping the motherboard-inside chassis from China to U.S. or Ireland by ocean. The chipset supply shortage has caused Foxconn not to be able to procure chipsets in order to manufacture the motherboards in China. As a result, some chassis are shipped empty by ocean first, and motherboards are air-freighted later. This leads Dell to utilize Third-Party Integrators (3PI) in the U.S. to install the motherboards into the chassis. The continuous shortfall of chipset supply increases the volume of motherboard-chassis integration in the U.S. and further increases Dell's overall manufacturing costs. Thus, the goal of this thesis is to create a framework for improving the flexibility of the Desktop PC Supply Chain. This framework examines how the various players contribute to the supply chain, the dynamics among these players that led to the current supply chain design, and how Dell can work with its suppliers and other strategic partners to more effectively balance demand and supply.(cont.) This thesis will explain the symptoms as well as the root causes of the problem, present the original direction of my internship and the exogenous factors that caused the direction to change, and describe the renewed direction. It will also examine Dell's decision-making process, organizational processes, and leadership issues involved. In addition, it will discuss how other industries structure their manufacturing given a supply shortage and the importance of trust and innovating contracting in cultivating more collaborative relationships in a supply chain.by Johnson Wu.S.M.M.B.A