A product manufactured by a company goes through numerous stages before reaching the hand of the final consumer. These stages could have directly impacted the product like raw material, production, testing or the effects could have been indirect like logistics, finance, supply, but all these processes and stages are necessary to run a business and they are dominated by a single supply chain model.
Anything that encompasses the life of a product is commanded by supply chain management, these could include raw materials, production, assembly, transport, warehousing, customer service, etc. In this article, we will be zooming in on the transport and warehousing aspect of a supply chain system. These two domains are the backbone of any growing business and both are strongly intertwined, let us understand more about these areas and see how they fit in.
Transportation:
To simply put it, the act of moving an element from point A to point B is called transportation. Even though the world is spread apart by natural and political elements an effective transportation system can manage to bypass this.
The transit process can happen at multiple points during the entire life cycle of a product, the incoming transport of resources, the intermediate movement between processes, or the final transport to distribution centers, all this requires a hassle-free and efficient transportation solution. It must be understood that transportation doesn't comprise only the movement of goods but also valuable business data and information that are part of them, therefore a secure and governable system must be identified.
Even the mode of transportation can determine the delivery rate, many shipping companies have implemented most of the transportation means like rails, roads, airways, and cargo ships, and based on the nature of transit the specific mode can be utilized.
Also, a well-planned transportation system should not overwhelm other sectors of the supply chain nor should it be undervalued, it should synergize with the entire supply chain and balance out harmoniously.
Warehousing:-
The main reason for warehousing is for the storage of products. The reason for storage can depend on many factors. Few reasons for the need for warehousing are- during variable demand and supply warehouses can help safely keep the products until the need arises, with warehousing businesses can reduce the impending damage to the products from movement, advanced warehouse technologies protect the products from most external disturbances and promote longevity of the product, it also provides better control over inventory management, warehousing gives the companies the chance to improve on the packaging and systemization of the products.
Even with all these warehouse services, the core functionality of a warehouse is the storage of products and any ineffectiveness in this can greatly tarnish the overall productivity of the business, affecting the entire supply chain system. All these points should be considered while implementing a warehousing solution.
Transportation and warehousing play crucial roles in the supply chain management equal to all the other components as well, any improper component can cripple the entire system. A well-developed supply chain system should successfully incorporate its elements and vice-versa.