The Supply Chain has gone from being a function
that was externally associated as a series of warehouses, lorry, vans, trains,
shelves with numerous items and boxes of multiple volumes, etc. to be the same
and expand their horizons. The Supply Chain today, the key function, because it
has the ability to reach all corners of the company, suppliers, manufacturers,
customers, is able to make a global vision through coordination, collaboration,
and integration of all parties involved.
We must be aware that the Supply Chain, deals
with procurement, purchasing, technology, software programs, human resources,
financial indicators, inventory, distribution, reverse logistics, etc. Being the Supply Chain the key function that
has the ability to reach all corners of
the company, we must be excellent managers of it and therefore maximize its
potential, this will mean between 10% to 50% increase in productivity, which
translates into a more solid growth of the company.
If you have lost the motivation or forgot the
goal, to do more and better, also for those who want to undertake, for anyone
who is semi-conscious that the key is in the Supply Chain, that Logistics is
part of the process of Supply chain.
To implement a better Supply Chain, we must
enter into inventory management concepts, purchasing functions, supplies,
warehouse management, transportation means and logistics platforms, new
logistics technologies, inverse logistics, and logistics indicators, I do not
forget them. We will see in future entries.
In a context of economic recession in Western
markets and an increasingly global business landscape, internationalization
ceases to be an option to become an authentic question of survival. More and
more companies to which the local or national market is no longer enough to
cover their needs, before that they only have one option, jump to the
international market.
"In the current context, opening up to the
foreign market ceases to be an option for most companies and becomes a matter
of survival."
Emerging countries, or so far called developing
countries, stop being mere industrial workshops to become huge consumer markets
full of business opportunities. Many companies are beginning to replace the
lack of demand in Western countries for this burst of consumption in countries
such as China, Brazil, India, and so on.
The most affected companies facing this new
global panorama are without a doubt the SMEs. Large corporations have their
diversified activity in different markets and also have a greater ability to
maneuver globally. Small and medium-sized companies, however, tend to be much
more linked to national or even local markets, which makes them experience the
economic recession from a much more pessimistic point of view. How can an SME
open up to the foreign market taking into account its small budget for
logistics expenses?
Advantages Of Maritime Transport For SMEs
Maritime transport is the most used worldwide
to move goods, mainly because of the good value for money it offers. It is true
that transport by sea requires longer transit times than other transport routes
such as air or land, however, this waiting time is usually more than
compensated by prices, which is a factor for most SMEs.
In addition, maritime transport also makes it
possible to transport large volumes of merchandise regardless of their size or
weight. This means that 75% of international trade is made through this route,
generally by renting entire containers.
It is very common for SMEs to encounter the
problem that when it comes to exporting the goods, their orders are not large
enough to rent an entire container transportation solutions to a freight
forwarder. What to do with this barrier?
Very simple, currently freight forwarders usually offer maritime groupage
services for SMEs, where different companies can share containers, renting only
a part and paying the proportional part.
Maritime Groupage For PYMES
The term groupage (also called combined or
fractional cargo) refers to the procedure for the issuance of merchandise by
different shipping companies, which alone could not occupy an entire container.
Thus, the different shipments of each SME are grouped so that they are treated
as a single physical unit of handling and transport, simplifying and making it
possible to send them to a common destination.
This technique, increasingly used among SMEs
operating globally and especially in maritime transport, allows the shipment of
goods to other destinations with a considerable reduction in the cost of
transport. If it were not for this type of delivery, the SME should hire an
entire container, even if half the space remained empty, with the increase in
cost that this implies.