European and North American Logistics – Present Versus Future
TLMT311, November 3, 2014 – December 28, 2014
American Public University
Professor David DeBoer
December 14, 2014
European and North American Logistics – Present Versus Future
Successful logistics evolves around moving the right product, to the right place, at the right time, in the right condition, and at the right cost (Leinbach & Capineri, 2007). In today’s world, companies must be very agile to remain competitive as a result of the constant changes in technology, regulatory policies, and consumer demands. Europe and North America are currently two major players in this arena, but if they are to continue to lead the world in global logistics, each country will need to adapt to the changing needs and demands of the consumer.
Similarities
Although Europe and North American are competitors in the global trade marketplace, they do have some similarities. For both countries, fuel costs are a major concern. Fuel accounts for the largest portion of transportation costs, followed by labor, and vehicle cost and maintenance. Future success for any company in either country will depend on minimizing this expense without sacrificing the timely delivery of goods.
Deregulation, as well as global outsourcing and Internet shopping, has caused an increase in the global product flow for both Europe and North America. The number of gateways in both countries remains the same, so while good for the economy and businesses, the added freight flow creates problems for logistics teams. These problems show up in the form of congestion, backups, and delays, at shipping ports as well as at the railroad hubs. Companies dealing with European terminals have built smaller, satellite distributions centers close to the maritime terminals to help ease this congestion and process shipments quicker and North America is just beginning to adapt...