LOGISTICAL STRATEGIES AND RISKS IN CANADIAN GRAIN MARKETING

Supply chain management in grain marketing has become very important with the maturity of the industry. This is particularly important in the Canadian grain marketing system which has experienced disruptions for various reasons over many years. These problems have been the topic of numerous industry evaluations, have resulted in a complaint about service obligations and recently have been addressed by the Estey Commission. A detailed model of the supply chain in the Canadian grain logistics system was developed in this paper to evaluate factors that cause disruptions, as well as the effect of several important logistics and marketing strategies on system performance. The results indicated that in a normal year there is sufficient randomness throughout the various elements of the system that it is expected that demurrage at the West Coast would be a major cost. However, the amount of service disruptions and demurrage are affected by several important factors including the distribution of tough and damp grains, mis-graded grain, and the level of exportable supplies. There are several important strategic variables that have important effects on system performance. These include the aggressiveness in selling relative to capacity, and the level of beginning port stocks.Grain Marketing, Transportation, Supply Chain Management, Logistics, Marketing,

LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES IN GRAIN EXPORTING

During the past decade, the grain shipping industry has become highly competitive and technologically advanced. These changes, along with the introduction of innovative shipping mechanisms, have made logistics management an important source of opportunity and risk for grain shippers. In this study, a stochastic simulation model was developed to evaluate the tradeoffs and effects of key variables on logistical performance in managing the grain supply chain. Average demurrage cost for the supply chain was $2.03 million with the greatest cost being for railcars and the least cost being for barges. Of the stochastic variables modeled, changes in export demand had the greatest impact on demurrage costs.Supply Chain, Grain Shipping, Logistics, Demurrage, Guaranteed Freight, Industrial Organization,

LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES IN GRAIN EXPORTING

During the past decade, the grain shipping industry has become highly competitive and technologically advanced. These changes, along with the introduction of innovative shipping mechanisms, have made logistics management an important source of opportunity and risk for grain shippers. In this study, a stochastic simulation model was developed to evaluate the tradeoffs and effects of key variables on logistical performance in managing the grain supply chain. Average demurrage cost for the supply chain was $2.03 million with the greatest cost being for railcars and the least cost being for barges. Of the stochastic variables modeled, changes in export demand had the greatest impact on demurrage costs

LOGISTICAL STRATEGIES AND RISKS IN CANADIAN GRAIN MARKETING

Supply chain management in grain marketing has become very important with the maturity of the industry. This is particularly important in the Canadian grain marketing system which has experienced disruptions for various reasons over many years. These problems have been the topic of numerous industry evaluations, have resulted in a complaint about service obligations and recently have been addressed by the Estey Commission. A detailed model of the supply chain in the Canadian grain logistics system was developed in this paper to evaluate factors that cause disruptions, as well as the effect of several important logistics and marketing strategies on system performance. The results indicated that in a normal year there is sufficient randomness throughout the various elements of the system that it is expected that demurrage at the West Coast would be a major cost. However, the amount of service disruptions and demurrage are affected by several important factors including the distribution of tough and damp grains, mis-graded grain, and the level of exportable supplies. There are several important strategic variables that have important effects on system performance. These include the aggressiveness in selling relative to capacity, and the level of beginning port stocks

Logistics and supply chain strategies in grain exporting

The grain shipping industry is highly competitive and has become technically advanced during the past decade. These changes, along with the introduction of innovative shipping mechanisms, have made logistics management an important source of opportunity and risk for grain shippers. A stochastic simulation model was developed to evaluate tradeoffs and effects of key variables on logistical costs in the grain supply chain for an individual firm. Average demurrage for the supply chain was $2.14 million ($0.70|mt or 1.8 cent|bu) with the highest demurrage costs for vessels and lowest for railcars. Of the random variables modeled, unexpected changes in export demand had the greatest impact on costs. [EconLit citation: Q130.] © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 20: 449-464, 2004.