What is Logistics? |
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| Logistics is the process of planning, implementing and controlling the flow of personnel, materials and information from point of origin to the point of destination at the required time and in the desired condition. Today logistics networks are faced with big challenges by the globalised economy with all its fragmented procurement, production and distribution options. |
Who are the main logistics actors?
Forwarding companies are commercial businesses of assembling, collection, consolidating, shipping and distributing freight from door-to-door. For transportation, they are not only using their own means of transport but contracting ones from other companies, like transport operators (i.e. vessel or fleet operators).
Inland waterway transport (IWT) is not only carried out by big shipping companies and fleet owners but also by small-scale independent ship owners. While most of them operate a single motor cargo vessel (owner-boatmen), some own up to three vessels. In the majority of cases the owners act as captains skippers of their own vessels and do not run any land-based offices. In many cases they are organised in co-operatives. In order to market their services, both shipping companies as well as independent ship owners usually use shipbrokers and chartering agents, who are specialised in IWT and in the brokerage of shipping space (transport capacity).
Nowadays not only standard services - such as transhipment and storage - but also logistical values added for customers such as packaging, container stuffing and stripping and quality checks, etc. are offered. Ports have increasingly turned into logistic platforms that induce companies to settle in their surroundings and to stimulate economic development. As intermodal logistic centres, ports act as hubs between the different modes of transport (road, rail, inland waterway transport and maritime).
Usage of River Information Serivices (RIS) for Transport Logistics Services
SKIPPERS:
ECDIS in combination with AIS can give important nautical information to the skippers. The advantages are the wider coverage and better overview of the traffic situation as it is given by radar systems. Therefore, the skipper will be assist in nautical decision making and so the traffic safety will be increased. Notices to Skippers communicate the status of the inland waterway infrastructure (i.e. bridges and locks), failures of aids to navigation, temporarily blockages of waterway sections or other types of infrastructure, works, water level and water depth information, ice information and weather messages.
FLEETMANAGERS:
The big advantage for fleet management is the more accurate and specific information about transport-timing with River Information Services. Therefore, the calculation of shipping companies will be more exact through the former information of the automatic event management.
PORTS AND TERMINAL OPERATORS:
The reliable and actual time of arriving (ETA) of the ships gives ports and berth operators the opportunity of optimised operations and resource management.
FORWARDING COMPANIES:
Data of the cargo can be easily associated with traffic information provided by RIS. This offers all partners of the transport chain a real time tracking and tracing of the transported goods on the technical basis of AIS. Beside this transport economic application RIS can also provide statistic information for planning purposes.
LOCK OPERATORS:
RIS creates new opportunities for lock operators. Through the tactical traffic image an accurate overview of the traffic condition in the zone of attraction can be given. In combination with actual information from the voyage plans of the vessels this supports the locks on a more forward-looking planning and therefore increasing their utilization, hence decreasing waiting times of vessels.
