Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
¶ … Improvement
How is process improvement important to achieving transportation excellence? How might process improvement be extended to other areas of logistics planning?
Process improvements are predicated on cost reduction. Costs, irrespective of company size, often hinder business progress as company profit growth is inhibited. Through the use of process improvements, company's can achieve efficiencies they otherwise may not have attained due to system optimization. Process improvements can come in a litany of different forms depending on the size of the company and the industry in which it operates. For large companies in commodity businesses, process improvements are integral in reducing overall product prices. In commodity businesses with little differentiation, cost is ultimately the determining factor in regards to consumer purchasing behavior. A consumer shopping for an apple for instance is concerned with the overall price of the apple rather than any differentiating factor. As such, the producers of this commodity must optimize its systems and processes to lower production costs, which ultimately lower consumer costs. In many instances, the cost savings incurred through process improvements can help improve gross margins for commodity type businesses as they become the low cost producer in their respective industry. The same occurs within the transportation industry which is directly impacted on commodity...
Oil, petroleum, and natural gas prices in many respects contribute to the overall need for process improvements. Chart 1 in the appendix depicts gasoline prices over the last 36 months. Notice the extreme increase as compared to the prior year. This would be a concern in regards to transportation excellence. As the cost of gasoline raises so too do the costs of conducting business. As such, process improvements can help mitigate this concern through process improvements. For instance, companies can better align their distribution network to better coincide with impending demand for their products. Investments in technology and GPS systems allow transportation services to take the shortest route to their destinations. Investment in smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles may reduce fuel costs over the long-term. Delivery times, and delivery dates can be planned during the periods when demand is needed reducing the amount of overall trips. For example, retail stores would anticipate larger sales volumes during the holiday system. As such, shipments can be planned to minimize time and waste in regards to this expected increase in demand. Investments in just-in-time inventory platforms can also align the needs of distributors and suppliers to better improve the overall transportation process (Harrington, 1997).
All the above mentioned forms of process improvements help companies achieve transportation excellence.…
References
1) Harrington, H.J. (et al.) (1997). "Business process improvement workbook: documentation, analysis, design, and management of business process improvement." McGraw-Hill. Retrieved March 16, 2012. ISBN 0-07-026779-0
2) Kock, Nereu F. (et al.) (1994). The nature of data, information and knowledge exchanges in business processes: implications for process improvement and organizational learning.
Open Versus Closed Systems Perspectives: Healthcare Processes According to Zakus & Bhattacharyya (2007), one of the great paradoxes of modern healthcare is despite the “availability of many cures, treatments, and preventive measures” for both severe and mild ailments, there remains a failure to engage in effective delivery of treatment to patients (p. 278). One possible explanation to this conundrum is that while the actual technology and medical care may be of
Improvement of Human Resource Management in a Respiratory Care Center When individuals play as a team they tend to achieve greater clinical and organizational outcomes in a healthcare institution like the respiratory care center. Clinical and financial improvements have been reported in cases where there has been teamwork between the healthcare team. Whenever there is an organizational breakdown, the departments in any organization can conspire to sabotage each other and this
Improvement in an Organization That Can Benefit a Customer An improvement to the organization, which will benefit the customer The best porter's generic strategy is the distinction strategy; this will help the business to differentiate its service delivery in some way that will help to attract customers. This will overcome the wave of supernumerary services and challenger access. This strategy is the best because it will allow the company to institute changes
Improvements in Integrity, Financial Accountability, Ethical Conduct and Corporate Responsibilities under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 We passed Sarbanes-Oxley in the wake of the Enron scandal to try to root out financial and accounting irregularities. How could similar irregularities occur at Lehman Brothers? History has a way of constantly repeating itself. -- Joseph Grant 2010 The high-profile corporate shenanigans by Enron and Lehman Brothers have made it clear that tough legislation was
IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: Case study: GHANA EDUCATION SYSTEM RESEARCH FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: GHANA EDUCATION SYSTEM The need for improvements in the educational system in Ghana today is greater than ever before, but there are some sophisticated research methods available that can help educational reformers in Ghana accomplish these important goals. In order to determine which research approach is superior for this purpose,
TOYOTA Process improvements Toyota: Case study What exactly needs to be improved? The Toyota Corporation built its reputation upon safety and quality. Based upon its perceived superiority to its competitors, particularly its American competitors, the Japanese carmaker had established itself as 'benchmark' of excellence in the international marketplace. All of this began to change in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Toyota's safety was questioned after a series of highly-publicized recalls. In particular, the