Principles of Logistic and Supply chain Management

Week 6 Chapter Questions
7-10. What is Pick-To-Light Technology and How Can it Improve Order Picking?
Pick-to-light technology is an innovation comprising of different forms of lights arranged on racks or shelves in the order picking assembly line (Murphy & Knemeyer, 2014). The organization of the lights helps in identifying the objects required for a particular order. The technology is advantageous because employees simply follow the light from one pick to the next unlike the manual system where employees have to figure out the picking route manually (Wisner, Leong, & Tan, 2015). Moreover, pick-to-light technology leads to fewer picking errors, higher picking rates, and lower employee turnover levels.
7-18. How Do Characteristics Such as Substitutability and Product Life Cycle Stage Influence the Development of Customer Service Goals and Objectives?
The text describes substitutability as the number of items from which a company’s customer can select to satisfy his/her needs (Murphy & Knemeyer, 2014). Companies that operate on a monopolistic policy regarding product manufacturing are believed to have only a few substitutes of the product. Firms that operate on a monopolistic production of an important product are associated with high degrees of customer service because people who need the item will purchase it under any reasonable standards of customer service.
In the case of product lifecycle, a new product in the market will require a differentiated service support unlike a product, which is already in the declining or maturing market phase (Murphy & Knemeyer, 2014). When a company is introducing a new product, it must guarantee an adequate supply of the item in the market to satisfy potential customer demand. Therefore, a firm can utilize expedited transportation to safeguard itself against various situations such as out-of-stock (Wisner, Leong, & Tan, 2015).
13-6. Discuss the Four Factors Used In Determining a Product’s Freight Classification.
There are certain factors used to determine the freight classification of a shipment. These factors include density, stowability, ease of handling and liability to theft or damage (Murphy & Knemeyer, 2014). Freight’s density is greatly related to the shipment costs; some goods may occupy a bigger space but be very light regarding weight. Stowability refers to the ease of storing the goods (Wisner, Leong, & Tan, 2015).
In such a case, the basic concern relates to establishing whether standard methods can facilitate the transportation of the goods or if a custom carrier is needed. The third characteristic relates to the ease of handling the freight. Sometimes, over-sized or custom products affect the ease of handling negatively. The fourth element, the liability of damage or loss relies on the value of goods being transported. In this case, the size is not an issue.
13-12. Discuss Some of the Basic Functions Performed by the Bill Of Lading.
In the logistics and transportation field, the bill of lading is the primary operating document. This document serves as a delivery receipt when a company tenders a shipment to a carrier (Murphy & Knemeyer, 2014). The shipper signs the original bill of lading, and this becomes the legal evidence that the carrier received the goods. Moreover, the bill of lading is a binding contract that specifies the obligations and duties of both the shipper and the carrier.
13-16. Explain why Smaller Shipments are Challenging to Transportation Managers.
Transportation managers confront the challenge of deciding when and whether to consolidate large volumes of small shipments into a single large shipment (Murphy & Knemeyer, 2014). Reasonably, the aspect of shipping larger quantities is associated with lower costs based on per-pound. Nevertheless, consolidating these small shipments into a single large shipment may be time-consuming and this increase in time may result in poor customer service. Besides, excessively small shipments imply that the transportation manager must have an information system capable of tracking the status of each shipment. In addition, though larger shipments save money by reducing the transportation cost, they tend to draw inventory costs related to holding units during the consolidation process.


References
Murphy, P. R., Knemeyer, A. M. (2014). Contemporary Logistics, 11th Edition. New York, NY: Pearson.
Wisner, J. D., Leong, G. K., & Tan, K.-C. (2015). Principles of supply chain management: A balanced approach. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning