Daily Archives: March 6, 2014

Time Critical Transport – Is it Still Needed?

A recent article over on Inbound Logistics on Time-Critical Transport: Devising a Master Plan makes it sound like expedited or time-critical transport is still difficult or even needed regularly. The reality is that, for any Procurement and Logistics organization that is with the times and using the right technology, it’s easy and rarely needed.

Traditionally, time critical transport was needed when something went awry in the supply chain and a shipment had to be expedited to prevent a disruption or stock-out that could be disastrous to a company’s bottom line. Otherwise, unless you were talking about perishable deliveries on a non-refridgerated truck, proper planning mitigated the need for expedited shipment. This situation, of course, worsened with the introduction of JIT (Just in Time) Manufacturing and delivery in the supply chain, especially considering that not only have natural and financial disasters been on the rise since this paradigm became popular, but, as expected, so did disruptions as there were no longer weeks worth of buffer inventory to absorb a minor supply chain shock.

But if you have good visibility, proper planning, and the right tools at your disposal, whether or not you are JIT makes no difference — the odds of a disruption being so significant as to require expedited shipping are low.

Specifically, if you have:

  • multi-tier supply chain visibility,
    like the kind Resilinc gives you, and know about a disruption the minute it happens three levels down in your supply chain, and not the day after a product was supposed to reach your warehouse
  • access to modern platforms to find and secure transport in real time,
    like BuyTruckload.com and FreightOS, then you can quickly get a truck when you need a truck and
  • license to global trade document platforms,
    like Integration Point or Amber Road that handle import and export compliance, including advance notification, that help you to insure there are no delays at the border

then you will be notified of potential disruptions well in advance and in time to take appropriate actions, and in the situation where it was an unpredictable disaster (such as a fire, earthquake, or flood) at your supplier’s DC just as product was about to ship, and a new shipment has to be made immediately from another location, your immediate ability to secure a new truck almost always alleviates the need for an expedited shipment — a need which is further alleviated by your ability to get your import, export, and compliance documents in order before the product ships, preventing unnecessary delays at the border.

Basically, about the only time you would have to do an expedited shipment is if you were a medical organ transport company and a new doner heart, needed halfway across the country, just became available. Other than that, with all of the options available to you to prevent the need for unanticipated shipments, or to get them under control as soon as the need arises, there just isn’t that much of a need for time-critical transport anymore. (Unless you’re still living in the eighties and using paper and fax to manage your logistics.)

Your thoughts?