Question:
Write a report on the recent trends of supply chain issues which is being faced by the retailers and logistics companies situated in New South Wales.
The report is a study of the recent trends of supply chain issues which is being faced by the retailers and logistics companies situated in New South Wales. The various studies conducted into the supply chain problems indicate that the congestion of ports in the adjoining areas of New South Wales such as Port Botany, Port Kembla and Port Jackson. The port Botany is the most important port of all the aforementioned as it is responsible for the handling the highest capacity of materials. The present practice of the state suffers from increased cost due to congestion in the traffic routes and various issues arising out of network routes. The lack of land availability in the Western Sydney adds to the problem of the improving the logistics infrastructures especially near the port areas. The leading concerns for the present problems have been studied in accordance to company case study such as Qube Holdings Pvt. Limited, Kiosk Zara supply chain operation and various other such organization facing a similar issue. The case study highlights the various problems which are common to all the companies. The recent trends suggest that Zara is facing several issues related to declining customer service quality. The report also looks into the various concerns related to suppliers breaching the code of conduct for fast fashion supply chain. The case on Qube Holdings is related to setting up a new intermodal terminal for improving the logistics operation situated in Moore bank at western Sydney. The potential and the problems of the upcoming facility have been discussed extensively in this report. The report also suggests the contribution of the various infrastructure firms in the market such as Brookfield infrastructure. The various types of qualitative research show the contribution of the government for improvement in the present situation of the logistics issues. The sustainability of the operation has been shown on the basis of various qualitative studies conducted on the various problems (Qrunfleh and Tarafdar 2014).
The major problems faced by the Western Sydney at present are the issues related to the scattered terminal points controlling the logistics operations of the state. The present guidelines for the demand of the materials are not in line with the timely supply of the materials. The lack of attention of the stake holders are also increasingly affecting the companies involved in this business. The Government is facing several issues in regulating the port operations and optimal usage of the available land area such as scope of a rail route near port Kembla (Moore 2014).
According to Pauka (2014), Companies such as Qube holdings are about to take a major initiative by coming up with an intermodal center at Moorebank. The various companies previously mentioned are facing a major challenge of the network route getting affected by interrupted trade route for the upcoming inland passenger rail service from Melbourne to Brisbane. Due to this, the company’s transshipment of material from Port Botany to South Australia may get hampered at a later stage when the inland rail project is completed. Several questions are being raised whether Moorebank intermodal terminal services has the potential to deliver open ended logistics solution to the tenants in the areas. Several objections have been raised by the Liverpool council related to the potential health hazards and carbon emissions from the construction works. Some experts have also raised questions on the increasing traffic congestion due to the construction operations (Guimarans et al. 2015)
Moreover companies like Zara’s supply chain operations are questionable. The company is also known for breachin of the conventional practices of the supply chain practices especially in the clothing segment. Zara believes in successful control of the products until the product is delivered to the end customer. The various unethical practices of the company related to supply chain operations has raised ethical issues and the company needs to substantially improve its social and working conditions and give more priority to its employees (Chu 2016).
The unavailability of the sufficient number of stevedoring companies is another critical issue which may be faced by tenants near the port area, especially at Port Botany which is considered to be the second largest port in Australia in terms of annual demand. The present stevedoring companies such as Brotherson Dock and Container Terminals Australia (CTAL) are proving to be insufficient in handling the massive annual demand of more than 3.2 million of twenty equivalent units ever year (Wright 2012).
The airport terminals are facing similar issues due to the growing increase in the air traffic in the routes connecting Western Sydney freight line. The increasing level of cargo operations and ecommerce has added to the problems of accommodating the capacity of the air traffic. The various action plan taken by the previous and the present government mainly focus on meeting of the medium term goals rather than the long term goals. (MacDonald 2015)
The long- term planning has been affected by increasing concerns for heath issues and the definite environmental impacts. The government is also concerned about the growing problems for the lack of availability of free land in the western Sydney, especially in the urban areas. Due to these problems there is a possibility of shifting the focus from urban to semi urban areas of the New South Wales. The figure given below shows the trade routes which are facing conflicts related to transit of the materials in the Southern Sydney freight corridor. There has been additional rail route introduced by the Government in the year 2013.
According McEvoy et al. (2013), KPMG developed a model which studies the issues relating to lack of skillful labors in the logistics industry in NSW. The barriers to the entry of the new truck drivers have further increased the problems of the employee related issues in the logistics operations. The lack of skillful labors handling cargo in all major third party logistics operators adds to the detrimental condition of the present situation. The study also shows that the employees working the field of supply chain operations lack soft skill problems need to upgrade themselves in terms of leadership and management skills for improving the operations of the present situation. (Jayant and Kumar 2012).
The infrastructure companies such as Brookfield infrastructure Partners (BIP) is known for offering infrastructural capital to companies such as Qube holdings and Asciano Limited. The solution to the present problems can be addressed through improvement in the port operation of the Patrick port division of Asciano, as it is having tremendous potential for accommodation of increased demand for the containers and can provide long term solution to the present problems of meeting the logistics demand in the Southern Sydney region. The logistics networks need an augmented focus of the rail routes for an increased flow of operations as well as speed of service. (“Brookfield, Qube raising $753-million loan for Asciano’s ports: sources” 2016)
The present problems related to the intermodal logistics hub can be addressed through intermodal logistics hub in southern highlands. Some portions of the aforementioned regions have enough space for introducing additional rail routes and reducing the traffic congestion of the present road transit points situated at Moorbank and Port Botany. Studies have suggested that there is a great amount of potential along the highway connecting Westlink M7 which directly connects the M7 motorway route to the western Sydney of New South Wales. The Government needs to put importance in selection of the port facility. The Port Kembla which is connected to the existing rail route with roadways leading to Hume Highway via Wilton has tremendous potential. The intermodal trade route via Southern highlands has the highest amount of potential in improving the supply service due to its strategic location. (Talebian et al. 2016).
According to Fryirs et al. (2014), The rail route of the Port Kembla is less likely to get disrupted by cargo transshipment via rail route. The ease of access to the Sydney intermodal and M7 route can prove to be useful for improving the service of the Sydney’s logistics hub. By linking of the routes as mentioned, NSW can bring substantial improvement in the freight transportation via rail routes. The figure also suggests the alternative trade route to the Illawarra logistics zone passing through the Sydney Logistics center. Studies have suggested that the interlinking of the Sydney logistics via Illawara district will provide new opportunities via rail route and the companies can distribute their products in a better way. The Illawara district has the potential of connecting the logistics centre of Moss Vale via rail route. This route will provide an alternative access to western Sydney and companies will be able to avoid network congestion by using this route. The Moss vale region near the Illawara rail route has been clearly shown in the diagram (Zinke et al. 2015)
The issues discussed relating to the workforce problems can be amicably managed through the Transport for New South Wales (TFNSW). This organization aims to focus on the present delivery cycle and bring improvement in the customer service, planning of the transportation and logistics services. The transport freight and logistics industry which is also known as TFL in New South Wales is responsible for assessing the shortage in the present requirement of the engineers and it aids in finding of the shortages related to the present requirement of the transportation industry ( Low 2015).
Zara aims to improve its present logistics operations with leveraging the capital assets. Zara has made sure to increase the capital investments in production and distribution facilities to make the supply activities more responsive. In the recent times Zara has invested a large amount of money that helps to increase and enforce the speed of the present supply chain operations.
The Government of the NSW in the past has taken several initiatives to respond to the problems related to the network congestion. Presently the NSW Government has taken several initiatives to promote supply operations of the company through Public private partnership known as (PPP) initiatives.
With this regard, the present Government of New South Wales is committed to improve the supply operations of Qube Holdings private limited. The company aims to setup an intermodal transportation hub connecting Port Botany with the Suburbs of the South Australia via Moorbank. The project is not only aimed at locating the importers and exporters but also improve the present logistics trade route of New South Wales. The site selected for building the Logistics center has more than 240 hectares of free land for development of industrial storage and supply chain operations. The present issues relating to the warehouse manager and the tenants will be able to suffice greater amount of demand for the logistics services. In order to meet the present requirements related to the capacity. This initiative will also improve the falling demand of rail route service and aim to improve the logistics operations of the present situation. The warehouse tenants and the logistics operators will be able to get benefit from the proposed intermodal project. According to the chairman of Qube logistics Maurice James even if the interstate rail project is undertaken by the Government of NSW it will not have an impact on the present operations of Qube Holdings. The proposed rail will be operational from Melbourne to Brisbane, while the Southern Sydney rail route is less likely to interfere with the freight route due to unavailability of passenger train. It will facilitate the transportation route from Moorebank to port Botany. Several other Government institutions such as Australian Track Corporation are assisting the project conducted by Qube Holdings. The NSW Government has funded the project with $250 Million in the first five year of the project being operational. The amount has been funded by Commonwealth Bank of Australia which falls into the category of the public sector banks of Australia. The common wealth bank has made sure to include several open access regimes so that the pricing policies of the company remains non discriminatory in nature. (“Qube’s Moorebank intermodal hub a major infrastructure boost”, 2015).
The Government has also taken several initiatives to include the third party logistics operators to have an equal opportunity to access the terminal at Moorebank. Hence the mechanism of the Government policies ensures that the entire process of gaining through the setup of the intermodal terminal is for mutual benefit in the supply chain business. The benefits will not only be observed by the various tenants involved in the logistics distribution services but also improve the railway services to stay in the competition with other modes of the transportation facilities (www.transport.nsw.gov.au 2016).
According to Johnes, (2014), Several other initiatives by the Government of North South Wales include leasing of the two major ports located in the Southern Sydney. Two ports of the south Sydney includes Port Kembla, which specializes in handling of grain products and other Port mentioned here is Port Botany. The state government has also taken several initiatives to refinance the operations at port Kembla and Enfield Intermodal logistics centre, along with cooks rail terminal and Port Botany which is of the prime importance as mentioned earlier (Cameron 2014).
According to Railway Digest April, (2013), Governments recent initiative to construct a high speed unconstrained access to the national rail network at Port Yamba. The Government has taken further initiatives to improve the Port Kembla facilities by upgrading the Princes highway which will facilitate the road transportation operation, thereby reducing congestion. The various other initiatives by the Government to facilitate the port operations include Terminal developments at the Port of New Castle and Stage 1 of the construction process of the Sydney freight corridor. The figure given below shows all the above mentioned port improvements along with Hume highway improvements as mentioned earlier in this report (Schulten and Parnell 2015).
According to MacDonald (2015), among the several present initiatives taken by the government the present action plans suggested by the Government aims to expand the terminal space in the Jackson port. It also aims to build new port facility at Botany and carry out dredging activities in order to accommodate the increasing demand. Some of the other Government initiatives include building of new road terminal points to improve the container operations at port Botany. The Government is also about to expand the container operations and aim to speed up the loading and unloading process at port Botany which is limiting the distribution operations of the large containers. Several other initiatives by the Government such as incorporation of Warfare at Port Jackson will promote the growth of the international tourism along with the improvement in the supply chain operations. (Roso et al. 2015).
Conclusion
The extensive analysis of this report shows how companies like Qube holdings and Zara is affected with the present rail and road networks congestion in the New South Wales and the report also studies the various qualitative tools and actions plans which can be implemented to improve the efficiency of the present situation. The Public private partnership has been observed as the most viable solution to address the issues related to the lack of intermodal logistics facility. The report also looks into the sustainability through proper utilization of the land resources and building of logistics centre at the Southern Highlands of the southern Sydney. The various Government initiatives also focus on sustainability of the present operations. Several other qualitative analysis in the report shows that the improvement in the Moss Vale enterprise zone will prove to be very beneficial in facilitating the current logistics operations.
Reference List
Brookfield, Qube raising $753-million loan for Asciano’s ports: sources. (2016). the Globe and Mail. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
Chu, P., 2016. Excellence in European Apparel Supply Chains: Zara (Doctoral dissertation).
El Khayat, M. (2014). . Transport infrastructure and logistics: the strategic levers of trade and competitiveness. Hors collection, 107-124.
Fryirs, K., Gough, J., & Hose, G. C. (2014). The geomorphic character and hydrological function of an upland swamp, Budderoo Plateau, Southern Highlands, NSW, Australia. Physical Geography, 35(4), 313-334.
Guimarans, D., Harabor, D. and Van Hentenryck, P., 2015. Simulation and Analysis of Container Freight Train Operations at Port Botany. arXiv preprint arXiv:1512.03476.
Low, C. (2015). Analysis of Port Kembla harbour sediment.
MacDonald, H. I. (2015). “Green, Global, and Connected”: can Sydney solve its metropolitan governance problems?. Transforming Distressed Global Communities: Making Inclusive, Safe, Resilient, and Sustainable Cities.
McEvoy, D., Mullett, J., Millin, S., Scott, H. and Trundle, A., 2013. Understanding future risks to ports in Australia.
Moore, G., 2014. AGENDA FOR THE MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE NSW ABORIGINAL LABOR NETWORK TO BE HELD AT COOMADITCHIE UNITED ABORIGINAL CORPORATION, CNR SHELLHARBOUR ROAD AND PARKES ST, PORT KEMBLA ON MONDAY 9 FEBRUARY 2015 at 10am Telephone Hook-up will be available. Call-in numbers are. AGENDA.
Pauka, C., 2014. Resilient supply chains.
Qube’s Moorebank intermodal hub a major infrastructure boost. (2015). ABC News. Retrieved 20 May 2016
Roso, V., Russell, D., Ruamsook, K., & Stefansson, G. (2015). Seaport-inland port dyad dynamics: an investigation of service provisions and intermodal transportation linkages. World Review of Intermodal Transportation Research, 5(3), 263-280.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download