Logistics Management: The Quebe Logistics and Organisation of Business

Introduction

The importance of the logistics management is improving day by day with the changing needs of the business organisation. The value chain of an organisation is largely reliant on the efficiency of the logistics section of the organisation. The supply chain of an organisation often fragments and often the supply chain becomes expensive. In this context, the importance of the logistics services providers like Qube is growing. Qube is considered as the biggest logistics services providers. The company has substantial presence in the import as well as export logistics services in Australia as the company has efficient import and export logistics services. The company was established in the year of 2010.

The Qube Logistics is the important part of a business organisation, which deals with numerous services like rail plus road transport, warehouse, distribution, and containers park. The services typically given individually and hence failed to accomplish the requirements of the customers. The company has made significant expansion to become the biggest logistics services providers in Australia over the last four years. Qube Logistics provide 45% of the total income, and the company has substantial control over the rail plus road transportation of the containers. The company has a significant strategy of integrating domestic logistics companies as well as small firms to consolidate plus create a company which is more effective and efficient. In this matter, the company has acquired the small companies.

Key Logistic Issues

Qube Logistics though achieved many successes in the past years, but the operations of the supply chain are found to be highly unpredictable and also becoming more competitive in nature. The Qube logistic industry is found to be affected by a large number of factors which are surrounding the challenges faced by the industry due to the improper functioning of the system. It is founding to be facing some of the issues related to the national strategies and policies, transport planning, investment in the infrastructure and also is found to be facing the issues related to the regional planning and the development policies (Aiek, 2012). In the last few years, the changes in the policies are found to be affecting the logistic supply which is clearly evident from the explained following points:

Multi-modal accessing of Transport: The activities related to the Port Botany and the Port Jackson are depicted to be resulting in the modification of the modal spitting of the containers. Though the designing of the pathway of the Port Botany is made for the moving of the trucks to the containers, but the routes are found to be restricted which is providing the barriers and also the heavy traffic is created in the area of the Port Botany. The import and the export for the companies are becoming tough for which the issues are faced by the company (ABC, 2015). The local council is creating the barriers by which the development of the environmental effects is seen which are creating the barriers in the industry. The authority is found to be surrounding the development of problems regarding the freight transfer and also the rail network is established which is making a disturbance on the routes.

Inland Deport Conflicts

The conflicts are found to be going on in the area of the Port Botany and also the area is showing the development of the intermodal facility which is found to be supporting the activity in the area. When the state government is found to have announced the development of the Port Botany area, the conflicts are depicted to be raised with the local government present in the Port Botany area. The terminals are becoming the vital part of the enhancement of the logistic network (Banarjee, 2013). It is found to be reducing the costs as well as the tracking of the shipping records are executed in an easy way. But the limited space established for the terminals are found to be creating conflicts and the issues in the management of the logistics network. ·

Privatization and Asset Recycling

The lease of the Port Botany is found to be made under the NSW Ports consortium by which the privatisation is made by the Australian government. The transaction of the new construction in the lines present in the Port Botany are targeted for making the functions to be carried out in an appropriate way. This is found to be providing the better functioning facilities by which the reduction of the problems can be made. But, the conflicts are found to be raised between the existing network and the new network which is making the problem for the industry(Musgrave, 2013). The lack of funding is becoming a complete part of the proposed plan which is also depicted to be weakening the strategy of Qube logistics made for carrying out the operations.

Commodity Market Downturn

The Qube is found to be new in the market of commodity and in order to pose an image, the services must be of high quality to create goodwill in the commodity market. The current downturn in the commodity market is found to be affecting the activities related to the operations as well as it is found to be weakening the activities and are also lowering the demand for supplying the goods (Emmett and Crocker, 2010).

Acquisition Risk

The Qube is found to be present in the form of the largest service provider in Australia and also the acquisitions are provided to Qube for the purpose of increasing the credit. The acquisitions carried out by the Qube on the higher multiples are found to be creating the risks in the form of integrating the functions and are also creating the unfavourable conditions for Qube. Thus, this factor is providing the barrier in the logistic management of Qube which is provided regarding the acquisition risks.

Theories of Logistics Management

One of the most important parts of the supply chain management is the logistics management. The logistics management is effective in meeting the demand of the consumers by efficient planning, controlling as well as implementing of productive movement plus storage of relevant information of the goods and services from the origin points to the destination points. The logistics and operation management is crucial to the success of the contemporary business organisations. The supply chain management covers the entire operations of the business from the pulling out raw material, via the manufacture of the products to reach the products to the end users.

The key aim of the logistics management is to devise a plan for coordinating the entire important steps to obtaining the best possible services at possibly minimal cost. The logistics of an organisation add the full transportation procedure, which is starting from the picking up of the goods from the origin till the dropping at the point of destination (Golinska, 2014). Because of the evolution of the supply chain, it is recommended that a strong logistic management strategy must be developed by the company that covers needs of different customers, various locations, plus diverse product lines. It is compulsory to plan which is flexible enough to manage the demand of changing market. Because of the issues facing by Qube, the company requires developing few efficient management strategies that support the company in overcoming the issues and help in improving the efficiency of the logistics sections of the organisation.

The logistics issues must be identified, and efficient solutions for the issues must be recommended so that the company can minimize the impact of the issues or eliminate the issue from the business operation process. The operation management concepts help the company in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the business organisation. Resolution to the problems The organisation within the same industry should take cooperative decision while implementing operational strategies. If the company Qube takes a dominant decision, then it can adversely affect the logistics operations. A logistic alliance will help to fight on the operational issues. The rolling horizon approach can be applied by the company Qube in order to manage a large number of containers with transit, inbound and outbound containers. The movement of the container needs to be noted down and balancing the load of work in an appropriate manner. The reverse logistics method can be used to deal with the goods that are not required by the users anymore. The process is applied to reuse the materials or move the goods from the point of destination to the capture value (Branch, 2009). The fundamentals of the reverse logistics consists of reduction, substitution, reuse and recycle.

The quantitative model of reverse logistic consists distribution planning, inventory control, and production planning. The limited capacity method should be used where there not adequate trucks, machines, and warehouse. The backhauls can be used for taking out products from the vehicles. Qube is using different modes of transportation which is beneficial because it allows delivering the products in a faster manner with very less chance of loss or damage. Just-In-Time deliveries should be used for frequent or small shipments. Appropriate management of emergency shipments and regular shipments is a complex task but results in higher profitability and customer satisfaction. Quality, cost and on-time delivery are considered as the main factors while making a decision as per the JIT model. The transhipments can occur in the distribution system during the transfer of freight, and it consists of two functions that are Break-bulk and Consolidation.

The ports at many places have less space; the government should implement adequate strategies for reconstructing and expanding the areas for appropriate functioning. The strategies will help the logistics of Qube to meet the demand of the logistics services. The government should invest funds for the development of infrastructure. The Heavy Vehicle National Law and Road, Safety Remuneration Act, should update the internal policies, safety systems, and training programs. The politics involved in the infrastructure plan lead to the inappropriate selection of the projects. Infrastructure NSW plan and Infrastructure Australia Plan were designed for keeping the politics aside. The best solution needs to be determined to decrease the costs and burden on the users, community investments and taxpayers (Drake, 2012). The implementation of adequate strategies will lead to maximizing returns from the investments.

The funds of the public should be invested appropriate, and cost-benefit analysis needs to carried out. It is expected that the freight in Australia will be doubled by the year 2030 and it is necessary to strengthen the networks of rail. The transportation mode can be huge transfer amount of freight with low investment and risk. The cost competitiveness enhances the increase in the haulage distance. The short haul shuttles are needed to shift between intermodal Terminals and Port. The rail track system in the areas needs improvement in order to deal with the issues. The implementation of the strategies will help to solve the issues with the application of the logistics management theories. The government of Australia should also take adequate steps in order to improve the logistics system. The optimization of the entire supply chain should be carried out cooperatively. The middle and upper management team of the company should be involved in the achievement of the objectives. The company Qube need to follow adequate steps and approach in order to enhance its operational management objectives (Mentzer, Myers & Stank, 2007).

Conclusion

The logistics management is one of the most vital parts of the supply chain management and supports the organisation in their business operation. Effective implementation of the logistics management helps in improving the operational efficiency of the organisation. The leading logistics company in Australia Qube has been facing few issues in their business operations, and with the help of the efficient recommendation, the issues can be minimized. The effective logistics strategies and efficient planning of overall business operations of the organisation support in improving the effectiveness of the organisation (Samson, 2011). The successful implementation of the conceptual frameworks of operation management improve the operational efficiency as well as the effectiveness of the supply chain management of the organisation and thus improve the overall efficiency. Furthermore, with the improved and more efficient operation of the business, the productivity of the business organisation can be improved in immense ways that also support in increasing the profitability of the organisation.