M.Com. (Business Management) / Logistics Service Providers are becoming increasingly involved within their client’s businesses. Beyond just providing vehicles and buildings, logistics service providers are now also becoming involved with the knowledge-type work that is connected to the traditional services provided. LSPs are also becoming better integrators of supply chain functions and are offering an increasingly vast basket of services to clients that can be configured in a way that adds value to the client. The research presented in this paper looks at the theoretical impact that converged planning and execution functions have on business success as well as a view of how selected IMPERIAL Logistics client organisations perceive the impact of increased integration of IMPERIAL Logistics within their businesses. The research viewed the integration of planning and execution in two ways:  The impact of a supply chain partner integrating their business functions with that of the client organisation.  The integration of the tasks of planning and execution under a single arrangement. The impact of integrated planning and execution functions for the client organisation was found to be improved long term commitment and alignment in terms of business operations and relationships, better communication, more integrated planning and decision making, better usage of systems to streamline the process as well as a focus on core business whilst supply chain experts handle their core business, which is planning and executing supply chain functions.

M.Comm. / The South African economy is currently in a dynamic phase of change. In seeking a solution to rebuilding the economy and attaining a growth rate which is capable of creating jobs and sustaining economic development, it is widely recognized that a competitive platform needs to be created for a powerful expansion by the tradable goods sector. Many South African products cannot compete in international markets because of high unit costs and the consequential high prices offered to consumers. One of the primary reasons for product uncompetitiveness can be described as supply chain inefficiencies.q The supply chain is defined as the network of organisations that are involved in the various processes and activities that produce value in the form of products and services in the hands of the ultimate consumer. This study analyzes a single stand-alone component of the supply chain organisation, namely the public warehouse. The study recognizes that warehousing plays a vital role in enhancing end-user value by providing time and space utility and suggests that in order for the warehouse to fulfil a valueadding role, it must adjust its functioning to meet the supply chain's requirements. The study shows that conventional techniques are incorrectly focused and are thus inappropriate in an organisation aiming to achieve competitiveness and profitability, optimise the logistics trade-off between cost and quality and simultaneously supply the customer with a high level of service performance. The use of conventional costing and management techniques are shown to lead to the incorrect calculation and misallocation of costs which in turn result in inaccurate product (service) costing. This has made the public warehouse analyzed uncompetitive in the market and as a result unable to add any additional value to the customer. It is suggested that a completely new and differently focused system needs to be implemented if supply chain objectives are to be realised. It is suggested that activity-based management is capable of achieving supply chain goals. Activity-based management (ABM) is a system or discipline which focuses on the management of activities as the route to improving the value received by the customer and the profit achieved by providing this value. The study shows that ABM, as applied to the public warehouse, was able to achieve cost reductions, better and more effective management, enhanced strategic positioning, and, most importantly, competitiveness in the market place, a prerequisite for adding value to the supply chain. The study recognizes that supply chain management and activity-based management are relatively new fields of expertise, and that these are not yet recognized as a fully fledged profession in South Africa. Supply chain management needs to be established and promoted as a formal profession. Finally it is recognized that more research is necessary before ABM and supply chain management can become the standard in South African organisations. Information needs to be obtained regarding key South African performance indicators and information needs to be recognized as a strategic asset. Once this recognition is achieved strategic information plans can be designed and used to enhance the competitiveness of South African products.

M.B.A. / Outsourcing is fast becoming a fixture in the organizational models of the 21st century. At first confined to nonstrategic business activities such as cleaning, security or legal services, outsourcing now encompasses functions that are closer to the core. As suppliers become more tightly integrated into the fabric of a company's basic business operations, the risks attending these failures escalate. In fact, as Booz Allen Hamilton (2001) state, the very viability ofthe company can be threatened. To many companies, logistics outsourcing has become an attractive option in order to take advantage of various opportunities, and to focus on the core activities of the company. It is perceived that South African businesses are adopting the same principles that many European countries, the United States of America and other mainly first world countries have, in embarking on outsourcing. The purpose of this dissertation therefore is to determine the status of outsourcing in South Africa. This research gives insight into the reasons why some companies have embarked on outsourcing. The research also attempts to present a theoretical framework for the outsourcing of logistics as a guideline. Another feature of this research is the identification of the criteria that companies apply in the selection of an outsource service provider. The methodology employed in this research was empirical research, which entailed a qualitative study. A process of non-probability sampling was applied. Questionnaires were distributed to the decision makers in industry with the focus on senior managers in order to obtain the data required for the analysis and interpretation. A thorough review of applicable literature was also undertaken...

The efficient organization of waste collection systems based on bins located along the streets involves the solution of several tactical optimization problems. In particular, the bin configuration and sizing at each collection site as well as the service frequency over a given planning horizon have to be decided. In this context, a higher service frequency leads to higher routing costs, but at the same time less or smaller bins are required, which leads to lower bin allocation investment costs. The bins used have different types and different costs and there is a limit on the space at each collection site as well as a limit on the total number of bins of each type that can be used. In this paper we consider the problem of designing a collection system consisting of the combination of a vehicle routing and a bin allocation problem in which the trade-off between the associated costs has to be considered. The solution approach combines an effective variable neighborhood search metaheuristic for the routing part with a mixed integer linear programming-based exact method for the solution of the bin allocation part. We propose hierarchical solution procedures where the two decision problems are solved in sequence, as well as an integrated approach where the two problems are considered simultaneously. Extensive computational testing on synthetic and real-world instances with hundreds of collection sites shows the benefit of the integrated approaches with respect to the hierarchical ones.

The tourism industry has undergone consolidation through vertical and horizontal integration. Despite this consolidation integrated companies require support from outside of the integrated value chain. Non-integrated supporters are conflicted as the integrated companies requiring support are often direct competitors. The research methodology used to gather the required data was a qualitative research design. The 23 face-to-face interviews were conducted in South Africa, Germany and The United States of America at senior management level in non-integrated tourism organisations. Interviews were focused on the identification of factors which would cause or mitigate conflict, enhance trust and cooperation and would result in support of the integrated company. The questionnaire was designed and piloted by the researcher and the areas of importance identified through the literature were channel management, price, power, trust and cooperation. Twelve factors were identified which would minimise conflict, enhance trust and cooperation and result in support when consistently displayed. It became evident was required by companies outside of the integrated value chain was the improvement of existing competitive positions, strong relationships with the integrated company along with openness in negotiations and communications. Lastly, the integrated company was expected to behave in an ethical manner with reputation and the quality of the experiences offered being important factors when deciding if support would be given. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

Organisations need to know more in order to do more for customers. As demand for customer information grows, so to, do the archives in the back office and the servers at the central hub. It is estimated that the amount of data now captured and stored nearly doubles every 12-18 months.(Information Week) The logistics industry is plagued by the very element of changing customer demands, customization thus resulting in the survival of the fittest. The informed customer demands an integrated product offering customised to their needs. This industry has evolved to one where companies need deep pockets to ensure an IT platform capable of meeting the increasing demands of the modern supply chain. The objective of the report is to gain further insight and understanding of how stakeholders within South Africa assess the flow of information as an enabler to greater collaboration within the supply chain. Information flow is one of the many elements that contribute toward greater collaboration, which is a recent trend in supply chain management that focuses on joint planning, coordination and process integration between stakeholders in the supply chain (Spekman et al 1998). Globalisation and the advent of e-commerce Business 2 Business transactions and the Lean production philosophies that are being adopted by more and more industries is demanding real time, data exchange and information flow in order to make the necessary and timely decisions which are required to meet ever changing customer demands. Information is only one of the areas in which tremendous benefit can be derived, this paper considers a thorough literature review of aspects surrounding information flow from a global perspective and assesses the feedback of South African organisations in relation to this theme with the view to providing readers with greater insight to possible opportunities that may exist for improvement in their respective supply chain. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The paper presents specifics of logistics outsourcing, gives recommendation on how to execute outsourcing relationships, and conducts a research focused on preferences of companies on logistics services to help providers better target their potential clients.

This thesis is focused on logistics and supply chain management in transnational companies.

Orientador: Orlando Fontes Lima Junior / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-07T18:08:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Villela_ThaisMariadeAndrade_M.pdf: 3685803 bytes, checksum: 8a9fd4cf269d37961e00fbc40b04875c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: : A aplicação do conceito de Supply Chain Management (SCM) no setor de serviços ainda não foi muito explorada na literatura. Por se tratar de um setor que vem aumentando cada vez mais sua participação na economia, identificou-se a importância de um estudo sobre o comportamento das redes logísticas neste setor. As redes analisadas nesta pesquisa foram: hospital de grande porte, rede bancária, assistência técnica e rede distribuidora de energia elétrica. O objetivo deste trabalho é identificar alguns atributos que influenciam no desempenho dessas redes. Os atributos identificados foram: complexidade, centralização, padronização, flexibilidade, velocidade, incerteza, acessibilidade, mobilidade e disponibilidade. Eles foram agrupados de acordo com seu comportamento dentro da rede (estrutura, processos ou relações) e analisados nos quatro diferentes serviços em questão. A metodologia adotada foi a de estudo de caso. Foi feito um levantamento de dados sobre essas redes, que englobou a obtenção de informações sobre o comportamento de cada atributo considerado. Após este levantamento, foi realizada uma análise qualitativa dos dados, e foram realizadas comparações entre os casos. Também foi feita uma comparação do comportamento de cada uma das redes com o comportamento médio padrão previsto no levantamento teórico realizado. Foram observadas diferenças no comportamento e no tratamento dado aos atributos entre as redes estruturalmente mais simples (hospital e assistência técnica) e as redes estruturalmente mais complexas (rede bancária e rede distribuidora de energia elétrica). ...Observação: O resumo, na íntegra, poderá ser visualizado no texto completo da tese digital / Abstract: The use of the Supply Chain Management (SCM) concept in the service sector has not been widely exploited yet. Due to this sector increasing participation in the economy, the need for an analysis of logistic networks in this sector was identified. In this work, it is presented a comparative analysis of the performance of logistics networks of the service sector, namely, hospital, technical assistance, retail bank network, and electric energy distribution network, in order to identify some' attributes that influence in the overall performance of each of these services. The attributes considered in this work are: complexity, centralization, standardization, flexibility, speed, uncertainty, accessibility, mobility and availability. They were organized according to their behavior into the network (structure-related, process-related, relation-related) and analyzed for each of the four services. The methodology adopted in this work was case study. A data survey was done in order to gather information about each of the considered attribute. Qualitative comparisons among the cases were performed, as well as a comparison between each network and the expected average standard behavior identified in the literature. Some differences were observed in the attributes' behavior and treatment among structurally simple networks (hospital and technical assistance) and structurally complex networks (retail bank network and electric energy distribution network). ...Note: The complete abstract is available with the full electronic digital thesis or dissertations / Mestrado / Transportes / Mestre em Engenharia Civil

More and more people are living in, or moving to, urban areas than ever before. This attraction to urban areas means that new houses and work places are needed. Building new houses or renovating older housing stock is a natural way for a city to evolve. However, the end products of construction projects are produced at their place of consumption. This means that a multitude of materials and resources need to be delivered to, and removed from, each construction site. This leads to new transport flows being created in urban areas. In urban areas, these transports are subjected to space limitations, environmental demands, accessibility demands and noise restrictions. This has led to a situation where material deliveries to construction sites needs to be coordinated and managed in ways that reduce their impact on the urban transport system and at the same time ensuring efficient construction projects. In essence, construction in urban areas faces two problems; the urban transport problem and the problem of coordinating multiple construction stakeholders. One way to address these problems is through the use of construction logistics solutions such as terminals (e.g. construction logistics centres) and checkpoints. The aim of both types of solutions is to control and coordinate construction transports. In the construction industry, these solutions are however, still a rather new phenomenon. This means that how these solutions are perceived by different stakeholders, and the effect the solutions have on material flows and costs, needs to be explored further. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how construction logistics solutions can be used as a means to coordinate material flows to ensure efficient construction and reduce disturbances on the urban transport system. To achieve this purpose, the following research questions have been addressed: RQ1:   How are different stakeholders in the construction industry affected by construction logistics solutions? RQ2:   How will the use of construction logistics solutions affect material flows and costs in urban construction projects? To answer the research questions two main methodologies have been used; case study research for the empirical studies and literature reviews for the analysis of the case studies as well as for understanding how supply chain management, logistics, and third-party logistics affects the inter-organizational relationships of the construction industry. The main findings of the research are firstly that construction logistics solutions do have a role to play in the coordination of different construction stakeholders. Adding this new node will force construction stakeholders to address coordination issues in order to ensure that material deliveries arrive to construction sites on time. This also implies that new inter-organizational relationships will evolve, where communication is key. However, this may not be an easy task as it will call for an attitude adjustment towards a more open and collaborative environment. Secondly, adding a construction logistics solution can reduce some unnecessary friction between construction stakeholders and third parties. Coordinated material flows can lead to a reduction in the amount of material delivery vehicles that travels to site, thus alleviating some of the congestion in the urban transport system. This will not reduce all friction between construction projects and third parties, but it is a step in the right direction. Thirdly, a construction logistics solution must come with a set of regulations and a governance strategy from the initiator of the solution. This governance strategy must be clearly stated and communicated to the affected stakeholders. To alleviate animosity towards the solution, flexibility and stakeholder involvement is key. If the directly affected stakeholders are consulted on the function, chances are that they will be more accepting of the solution.