In 4-5 pages, list and discuss:

1. What is meant by green supply chain?
2. Discuss the cost of congestion in the transportation system?
3. Discuss advances in truck navigation.
4. Discuss issues with supply and demand of fuel.
5. What type of technology is being utilized to foster collaboration in the supply chain by carriers and shippers?

• V.M.I.
• R.F.I.D.
• E.D.I.
• all of the above are used

The requirements below must be met for your paper to be accepted and graded:

• Write between 750 – 1,250 words (approximately 3 – 5 pages) using Microsoft Word in APA style, see example below.
• Use font size 12 and 1” margins.
• Include cover page and reference page.
• At least 80% of your paper must be original content/writing.
• No more than 20% of your content/information may come from references.
• Use at least three references from outside the course material, one reference must be from EBSCOhost. Text book, lectures, and other materials in the course may be used, but are not counted toward the three reference requirement.
• Cite all reference material (data, dates, graphs, quotes, paraphrased words, values, etc.) in the paper and list on a reference page in APA style.

References must come from sources such as, scholarly journals found in EBSCOhost, CNN, online newspapers such as, The Wall Street Journal, government websites, etc. Sources such as, Wikis, Yahoo Answers, eHow, blogs, etc. are not acceptable for academic writing.

LECTURE:

Overview

Among the challenges facing today’s supply chain are many that link directly to monetization. Market volatility, economic contractions and modest recovery cycles affect the way companies manage distribution, manufacturing, invoicing and materials sourcing. Expansion into new markets introduces complex taxation, invoicing and localization burdens. And dispersed market segments demand different pricing models and services. With so many critical functions in flux, enterprises need to optimize their supply chains simply to remain competitive.

Many businesses are trying to apply outmoded processes and technologies to global supply chain operations. Often, existing systems are not capable of meeting modern demands. If a company needs to reroute an inbound container shipment, for example, a lack of visibility into the overall system can turn a simple decision to redirect a shipment from one port to another into a problem that ripples across the supply chain, and results in higher costs and decreased efficiency. As an organization’s logistics expand, so must its ability to quickly see the cost and service implications of every decision (Swartz, 2015).

Visibility and Differentiation in a Global Market

That visibility is particularly important in a time when most products have become commoditized. Gone are the days when pricing, features, and brand recognition were enough to set a business apart from its competitors. Differentiation in the global marketplace has as much to do with what happens in the supply chain as it does with product innovation. When the market dampens the payback for higher prices, businesses must instead meet their profitability goals by redesigning and enhancing their supply chains, and then use those improved operations to deliver value-added services to more sophisticated customers. Increasingly, logistics leaders are charged with delivering legacy products while also supporting the development, production, and transport of new offerings (Swartz, 2015).

Demand for transportation service has increased significantly during the last 10 years with the expansion of global trade, but the investment in transportation- related infrastructure has not kept pace with the growth in traffic on a domestic basis or on a global basis. The declining fuel costs will present an opportunity for the state and federal governments to increase fuel taxes to alleviate the infrastructure problem. Congestion has become a major issue for the U.S. transportation system, causing delays and inconvenience to ordinary citizens and increased cost in operations for carriers and shippers. Shippers have also experienced increased inventory carrying cost and stock-outs because of the delays. Highway congestion has some significant costs associated with it for carriers. It is estimated that the top interchange bottlenecks cause an average of 1.5 million annual truck hours of delay. Rail and water carriers also are challenged by congestion and infrastructure problems. The projected growth in demand by 2035 will strain an already busy system of high- ways, railways, and waterways unless improvements are made (Coyle, 2016).

Sustainability

Sustainability will become even more important in the future, and transportation and related supply chain services will continue to be a focus for reducing carbon footprints to improve the environment, but there are opportunities to also reduce cost. The green supply chain focus of many companies has led them back to some old axioms for transportation efficiency, namely, “don’t ship air” and “don’t ship water.” The former refers to unused space or capacity in transportation equipment. The latter refers to the extra weight of water in products, which could be added in near the point of sale. Both axioms have an impact on sustainability and also on cost.

The federal government’s SmartWay Transport Partnership, initiated by the EPA, has solicited carriers to reach out to their customers in an effort to collaborate and to develop less costly transport options that are more environmentally friendly. SmartWay offers strategies to save fuel and help reduce carbon footprints. The volatility in fuel prices has been a challenge for carriers in terms of their costs and profits. This situation has led carriers to insert fuel surcharges into their price structure to protect their financial viability when fuel prices increase. The recent decreases in oil prices have dramatically changed the transportation market dynamics. Fuel cost was the first or second highest cost for motor carriers, airlines, and even some water carriers but the declining prices beginning in 2014 will change the competitive ratemaking in various market areas and will result in traffic shifts among modes of transportation during a shakeout period (Coyle, 2016).

Key Challenges

Hicks (2015), has found that key challenges and issues for global supply chains is that the supply chain team members and a large percentage of their leaders do not understand and are not familiar with the global economies they do business with and, are not up to date with current or future trends by being a member of one of many educational programs and/or professional groups. Actions to reduce the lack in understanding and education should not only be supported by the organizations executive leadership, but should be required – especially for the team members that attain promotions and have many years within that organization. Supply Chain Logistics management and staff should be required to stay competent on the plethora of pertinent information and trends in their supply chain industry whether it be locally or globally focused.

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References

Coyle, John J., Novack, Robert A., Gibson, Brian J. (2016). Transportation: A Supply Chain Perspective (8th Ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Hicks, R. (2013). An Exploration of Healthcare Inventory and Lean Management in Minimizing Medical Supply Waste in Healthcare Organizations. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest

Swartz, S. (2015). Challenges for Today’s Global Supply Chain: Cost, Profitability and Personalization. Inbound Logistics. Retrieved from http://www.inboundlogistics.com/cms/article/challenges-for-todays-global-supply-chain-cost-profitability-and-personalization/