Freight brokers are described quite simply as people who bridge the gap between a shipper (those that will need to transport goods) and a licensed and reliable logistics provider, in this case, truckers.

Categorically, freight brokers are called transportation intermediaries. In other words, they are the middle men who ensure a shipper gets reliable movers to do the job and help the carriers to get in touch with customers and earn money.

These brokers do not necessarily own the carriers that they supply to their shipper clients. They also source them out to logistics companies. However, some carriers are encroaching on the freight brokerage business to maximize opportunities. Still, most companies prefer to employ the services of freight brokers who have a vast network of carriers and can provide them at the best price.

The freight brokerage industry began in the early 1970s, when as businesses expanded worldwide, logistics became a vital part of that growth.
Strict guidelines and requirements imposed by the government at the beginning discouraged many from becoming brokers. Today, control has loosened a bit, and the business is thriving.

Freight brokers often play an important role in one of the shipper’s important aspect of the business: the timely and uninterrupted delivery of goods. Some companies ask their brokers to schedule the shipments for them since they are at the best vantage point to set all the requirements.

The success of a freight-brokerage business largely depends on the depth of shippers’ and carriers’ networks it has. Most brokers started working as carriers or shippers. There, they learned the ropes of shipping goods and established strong contacts. The freight brokers rely on their ability to ensure the delivery of products in their perfect condition at the time specified by the clients. To become a preferred broker, they have to gain the confidence of their clients.

Brokers provides detailed information on Brokers, Ticket Brokers, Mortgage Brokers, Freight Brokers and more. Brokers is affiliated with Discount Stock Brokers.

What many may not realize is that Emery Express was also a CF Company. You see John C. Emery, Sr. founded Emery Air Freight in 1946, when his company became the first air freight forwarder to apply for a common carrier license from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). While Emery envisioned his company working in partnership with scheduled airlines, the airlines considered freight forwarders as competitors and fought his license application until 1948, at which time the CAB granted Emery a license as a common air freight carrier. His plan worked. During that time, the company operated out of a New York office with a fleet of vehicles that consisted of two Ford station wagons. Since those beginnings a half-century ago, Emery has grown into a $2.9-billion global air, ocean, customs brokerage and logistics services company.

By 1956, Emery Air Freight had expanded overseas with its first international office in London and had inaugurated transatlantic service. The company moved
to the cutting edge of technology in 1969 with a computerized tracking and tracing system called EMCON, short for Emery Control. John Emery died that same year and his son, John Emery, Jr., assumed leadership of the company. The fuel crisis of the early 1970’s prompted the company to lease its own aircraft and launch the “Emery Air Force” in 1976. Emery now offered closed-loop control of shipments from pickup to delivery, with Emery trucks and aircraft overseeing every step of the transportation process. In a bid for expansion into the small package and letter market, the company acquired Purolator Courier in 1987. The acquisition proved disastrous and Emery struggled until Consolidated Freightways, Inc. purchased the company and merged it with CF Airfreight, CFI Inc.’s existing air cargo company. That was when CF became the parent of Emery. Over the next two years, from 1989 to 1991, the new Emery, now known as Emery Forwarding, struggled financially as did the original company in
its last several years of existence. In response, CFI Inc. implemented management restructuring and marketing plans that helped launch Emery to its position as a market share leader in the heavyweight, business-to-business airfreight industry. By early 1992, the new marketing and operations plan had started to turn the company around. Customer confidence increased, as evidenced by the award of several major “primary carrier” contracts from such companies as General Motors. In September of that year, Emery reported its first monthly profit since its acquisition by CFI Inc. Emery completed its financial turnaround in 1993, earning its first annual profit for Emery under any management since 1986. That same year, the company won a 10-year, $1-billion operations contract from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to operate its Express Mail air transportation system. They lost that contract due to non-performance and then Fed Ex picked up that volume. However once back on good financial
footing, Emery tried to position itself into a “one-stop” transportation and logistics provider. Thus it was happy to have the support of CF.

The Company introduced its logistics subsidiary in 1992 and strengthened its ocean services and customs brokerage divisions, both of which Emery had owned since 1976. The company also committed more than $75 million for information technology upgrades to meet customer needs beyond the year 2000. Emery’s parent company, Consolidated Freightways, Inc., restructured itself toward the end of 1996 with the spin-off of its national long-haul motor carrier unit. The parent company was renamed CNF Inc. and consisted of Emery, Con-Way Transportation Services and Menlo Logistics. Con Way was the Non-Union part of CF.

In December 2001, Emery was combined with the former Menlo Logistics and Vector SCM. As part of the Menlo Worldwide group of integrated service providers, Emery Forwarding now looks forward to working with our customers in new
directions to design an even greater range of supply chain solutions than ever before. Menlo Worldwide is the acknowledged industry leader in global 3PL solutions, and launched the first successful 4PL program. I know this sounds very official however realize that this is the project of the Bell Labs Think Tank and is partly improvised from the theory of Net-Centric Warfare with a slice of Fred smiths, Hub System thoughts, implementing every type of known transportation to deliver the packages and shipments. Emery Forwarding, part of the Menlo Worldwide group of integrated business solution providers, offers international air and ocean forwarding, North American overnight, expedited, second-day and deferred air freight, customs brokerage and project management services. Menlo Worldwide, based in Redwood City, Calif., is a $2.9 billion company with 12,000 employees and global supply chain services in more than 200 countries. Menlo Worldwide was formed in December 2001.

Few
realize the connection between Emery and Consolidated Freight, but those who do realize that more was lost when CF filed bankruptcy as there were synergies in the entire logistic chain spanning nearly 7 and a half decades.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

Fittipaldi Logistics, Inc., the market leader in software development focusing on the freight transportation industry, announced that Commodity Express Transportation, which is a wholly owned affiliate of Fittipaldi Carriers, Inc., the Company’s trucking arm, has selected the patented Global Locating System (GLS) asset tracking technology from SkyBitz for the trailers in its local trucking market.

This new initiative enables Fittipaldi Logistics to track non-powered assets in the most efficient and reliable manner. SkyBitz provides a key link in Fittipaldi Carriers’ strategy, which calls for total asset visibility.

Fittipaldi’s Carrier division, which will provide an estimated $32 million in revenues to Fittipaldi Logistics this year, has been evaluating asset tracking technologies for several months, and has concluded that the SkyBitz solution would enable them to perform in a significantly more efficient manner.

Orin Neiman, the CEO of Fittipaldi Carriers said
that the main focus of their business to provide their customers with exceptional and cost effective service. He further said the SkyBitz GLS solution is easy to install and would allow them to more efficiently utilize their trailer fleet while giving the customers enhanced visibility.

According to Kevin Yates, the COO of Fittipaldi Logistics, they are very pleased to be implementing the SkyBitz trailer tracking technology into the market at Fittipaldi Carriers. The technology has proven to be cost effective. It also integrates seamlessly with their proprietary telematics and sells management software, which is the EMMOLogic. Trailer visibility joins their growing portfolio of cutting-edge technology solutions.

SkyBitz CEO Rick Burtner commented they were delighted to partner with Fittipaldi Logistics. He said patented GLS technology empowers fleets of all sizes to improve their bottom line while enhancing their customer service.

Fittipaldi Logistics, Inc. is a
technology company that specializes in providing pertinent, real-time information to the worldwide transportation and security industries. Their telematics solutions collect vehicle and container-based data and integrate it with information gathered from various disparate legacy systems across the supply chain. The data is then synthesized and reformatted into valuable and actionable information, and delivered to appropriate end-users across the logistics value chain through secured web-based applications. Specific offerings include: vehicle tracking, inventory/asset visibility, secure trucking, matching available freight with available trucks, truck accessories and many others.

SkyBitz Inc. on the other hand developed the revolutionary Global Locating System (GLS) technology to give customers the ability to track un-powered assets by utilizing wireless satellite technology and centralized position calculations. The two-way GLS mobile communicator is compact, easy to install
and provides multi-year battery life. More than 340 arenas currently rely on the cost-effective SkyBitz GLS technology to track more than 130,000 trailers and containers and achieve total asset visibility, improved security, lower operating costs and enhanced customer service. Headquartered in Sterling, Va., SkyBitz is a privately held company financially backed by CIBC, AIG Highstar Capital, Inverness Capital Partners, Motorola Ventures and ITV, a fund of Cordova Ventures.

For more about your Truck accesory needs like truck accessories, visit your trusted online source.

Gertrude Sayzer finished her degree in Marketing at Western New England College. She is passionate about writing and loves to travel as well. At present, this 32 year-old mother of three works full-time at an Ad agency in Boston.

Most businesses, especially small companies or villages in rural locations, don’t have the know-how, or can’t afford to manage a complex supply chain of the scale and scope of the larger local and international industry players on their own.

They need support on how to get in touch with suppliers, buy raw materials in a more efficient way, as well as manufacture and sell their goods to regional and international clients. Further needs include control mechanisms for quality consistency, price stability, package design, packaging, storage, distribution centers, logistics, after sales support, feedback on quality improvements, financial support and access to materials and export markets. Another vital factor is how to encourage continuous improvement and foster creativity and innovation.

Supply chaining is a way of collaborating horizontally among suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and customers to create additional value through economies of scale and efficiencies. The
more these supply chains are actively integrated and utilized, the more they encourage and foster the adoption of common standards and practices between companies, so that every step of the supply chain can interface with the next encouraging cooperation, development and finally economic growth. Even developed nations have problems properly implementing these procedures, but they provide substantial value and should be implemented in every economy.

Peter Kopitz is currently living in Bangkok, Thailand after graduating with Honors from the University Of Chicago Graduate School Of Business with a Masters Degree in Business Administration. He is actively involved in researching economic and political development in Thailand, focusing primarily on property development, security analysis and investment banking. Hawaii Home Loans | Honolulu
Realtor | Hawaii Rentals

Under the LOGCAP program, the contractor is responsible for providing a “full spectrum” of services to U.S. troops in the field, including dining facilities, living quarters, base camp operations and maintenance, facilities management, transportation and distribution of supplies, water and ice, laundry and bath, airfield operations, detainee camp construction, and firefighting [1]. “LOGCAP” is an acronym for “Logistics Civil Augmentation Program.”

Now, the LOGCAP program enters in phase IV and The Army awarded a contract worth up to $150 billion to feed, house and provide other services to U.S. troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, spreading among three companies work that recently had been linked to a single, controversial contractor: Halliburton.

According to an article published in the Washington Post [2], Fluor Intercontinental of Greenville, S.C., DynCorp International of Fort Worth and KBR of Houston were chosen from among a half-dozen competitors. Each
company’s part of the contract is worth up to $5 billion a year and can be extended for up to nine more years. The contract award was a particular victory for KBR, Halliburton’s former contracting arm, after the firm was accused of misdeeds under the past contract, one contracting expert said.

“This is potentially the biggest battlefield services contract that any company is going to win for the remainder of this decade,” Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute, a defense research organization in Arlington.

Background of the LOGCAP Program

The U.S. Army continually seeks to increase its combat potential within programmed resource allocations. This occasionally requires pursuit of external sources to provide adequate logistics support for the force [1].

LOGCAP is a U.S. Army initiative for peacetime planning for the use of civilian contractors in wartime and other contingencies. These contractors will perform
selected services to support U.S. forces in support of Department of Defense (DoD) missions. Use of contractors in a theater of operations allows the release of military units for other missions or to fill support shortfalls. This program provides the Army with additional means to adequately support the current and programmed forces.

According to the Army Material Command [1], LOGCAP is primarily designed for use in areas where no bilateral or multilateral agreements exist. However, LOGCAP may provide additional support in areas with formal Host Nation Support (HNS) agreements, where other contractors are involved, or where peacetime support contracts exist. LOGCAP is also available during Continental United States (CONUS) mobilizations to assist the CONUS support base and help units get ready for war.

LOGCAP is a Department of the Army Program which includes all pre-planned logistics and engineering/construction oriented contingency contracts actually awarded and
peacetime contracts which include contingency clauses that:

• Leverage civilian corporate resources as logistics services support and engineering/construction support multipliers (Civilian Resources)

• Provide a rapid and responsive contract capability which augments US Forces capability by meeting logistics and engineering/construction requirements (Rapid and Responsive Contract Capability).

• Focus on prioritized peacetime contingency planning for augmentation logistics and engineering/construction services as determined by the customer (Prioritized Peacetime Contingency Planning).

Working in Iraq

There is still a lot of interest to work in Iraq, despite the danger. Salaries are much higher than in the US and the opportunity to make a little fortune in one or two years of service is hard to resist. An experienced worker easily makes $80.000 to $100.000 a year and for experts in one of the required technical-administrative fields, amounts of $25.000 a month (!) are no exception. In most cases, housing and meals are free and if you work more than 330 days overseas, income is excluded from United States taxes [3].

Job seekers can apply online for Iraq employment. The 2ajobguide for instance is supporting the U.S. Armed Forces by providing staff for the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program (LOGCAP) in Iraq [4]. The work primarily
involves vehicle and other equipment maintenance, as well as some logistical work. If you want to check out your chances to get such a challenging job, take a proactive approach and send your resume and a brief cover letter to this hiring agency by e-mail. You can be sure that your documents will be reviewed very carefully in order to find the best fit according to your experience and background.

Job listings for countries like Iraq, Afghanistan or Kuwait can be found also by typing the country name in an “all-in-one” human resources bank like Indeed [5]. Current listings include Iraq defense contractor, intelligence, communications, and administrative openings.

Literature

[1] Introduction to the LOGCAP program, United States Army brochure, Army Material Command, 2007

[2] Washington Post, Army Splits Award Among 3 Firms. Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, June 28, 2007; Page A08

[3] IRS Guidelines, Publication 54, Tax Guide for U.S. Citizens and Resident Aliens Abroad

[4] Staffing in Iraq - Top paid job opportunities

[5] All-in-one US Job Search Engine

About the Author:
Oswald J. Eppers, PhD is manager of the consulting firm E&R InterConsult and founder of the Two-Approach Guidefor easy and effective Job Searching and Career Assessment. He has more than 10 years experience as freelance consultant in the field of outsourcing, environmental and quality management.

When the margins get tough, efficiencies are crucial. Whether in airlines, fighting a war or maximizing company and logistical assets.

Problem is efficiency are common and occasional quite frustrating to the Airline Industry, it is a matter of survival, literally. Let us take the “Quick Change Concept” for Commercial Aviation. Recently in Dayton OH the seminar about quick-change problems revealed the inability to adapt such concept to make the most of resources. We believe in efficiencies obviously.

Air Mail has been going on for as long as Commercial Aviation has existed when in Wichita Kansas “Commercial Aviation” was born. Aircraft make good tools for moving freight fast. The first multiple purpose aircraft, which could move people and freight and go from one to the other was the DC-10. Calling it a Convertible concept

http://www.aerosite.net/dc10.htm

Where seats could be removed and then it was able to be used for cargo. The DC-6C also was made
convertible, but was not really a huge hit. The DC-8 also has some convertible Aircraft uses;

http://www.cargolion.com/acinfo.htm

The DC-10 came about when American Airlines put out to bid an aircraft which was roomy like the 747, but could maneuver in tight areas and fly on older runways with less take off space and need to be airborne faster. Also AA wanted a plane, which could carry 250 people.

Both Lockheed and McDonald Douglas decided to meet the offer. The Lockheed Aircraft of course was the L1011. The L1011 sold just about as many as the DC-10 for passenger flight. Eastern, TWA, Delta bought and loved the L1011 as did pilots and those who were scared after some crashes with the DC-10. Even so the US military bought the 10 and used it for flying gas stations, troop and cargo carriers and the airlines bought 30 convertible aircraft and later the Military seeing that Airline industry was cyclical decided to offer incentives when airlines bought DC-10s which
could also be used as cargo planes in times of war. That was great until one aircraft had a cargo door come off at altitude and cause all the passengers and aircraft to crash.

In more recent times many 727s and 737s were built to be convertible under the theories of “Quick Change” where aircraft were used during the day for passengers and the seats taken out at night for cargo, then back again every day. This made it easy for airlines to lease their aircraft out at night. Sounds like a wonderful idea to save money, pay for aircraft and maximize utilization. The change over could be accomplished in 2-3 hours or so.

And their have been many different combos called such things as “Combo-Aircraft.” Combo Configurations, Convertible Aircraft and Quick Change Aircraft. Some of the Europeans called them Rapid Change Aircraft. In Rapid Change Aircraft used pallet type seating, although it is doubtful that the average passenger would see that they were sitting on one of four
seats per pallet, but that is exactly what they were doing. Israel Aircraft Industries still do this with Jacob Netz. They use the 737 SF. Some turbo Props with regional airlines still do this with C235, DHC 8 –100 and –300s. Also the C-17 and ATR 42/72. even the Russians have been doing this for some time with their Ukraine Antonov 74. The newer Boeing 737-700 w/Cargo can quick change to a 149 passenger airline or 41,420 lbs. On eight pallets

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/news/feature/737qc.html

The US Navy also has some 737-700s C-40 with Quick Change Configuration. One company working with these airlines is Pemco, which seems to be one of the experts in the area of “QC-Quick Change.” The problems of course come into play when a different company runs the aircraft at night running freight while the other company owning the aircraft flys people during the day.

What is the biggest problems are include aircraft not reaching its next day departure airport due to
weather. Problems in damage during freight operations. Excessive wear on interiors, since the freight would fly one way and then load interior for passengers, leaving the other interior at the other airport. Of course once the interior is out it is much easier to clean while out of the plane without the worry of mold forming. Mold issues have been manipulated by class action attorneys lately and when you are exchanging the interior in the middle of the night or on a dewy morning, expect some issues.

Problems also occur when or if the aircraft is diverted because of weather to a third airport where no interior is located. Meanwhile first flight the next morning gets cancelled and scheduling gets screwed up and people are upset and the finicky consumer cannot accept this, they have places to be and things to do. An airline in BK or stressed to make payments on the aircraft may have no choice and have to do this program of airfreight at night. It works better when it is the same
company, but many times there is no choice. Such quick solutions are usually ill thought and fail, but work short term to get the airline over a hump in a cyclical sector rotation. These time periods due to fuel costs, economic conditions are the bust years for airlines and they must make it through them to make big money on the boom years, if you look at the current fuel prices we will see Bankruptsies anyway in the Airline Sector and many have not fully recovered from previous situations after 9-11. Having a father involved in the Deregulation, and airline for some 20 years after leaving military aviation, it is more real than you can imagine.

In other countries and specifically China and Europe this concept is much more widely accepted and expected to help pay for the aircraft while their markets are more cost competitive for freight. If you will recall Nippon Express, DHL wars and Federal Express. Some much larger aircraft are used for this over there. BA has had many
tries at this concept and is currently running a few aircraft in this fashion.

The US Military has aircraft such as the C-17 can carry 102 troops, or be used as a hospital with 54 patients, three helicopters, three tanks or 40 airdrop containers. What we see is a need in aircraft to be multi-use for missions. Some such as the KC-10 can carry people, cargo, or even fuel tanks, or some of each or all of one. This is a completely smart way to run logistics and complete tasks without the huge number of hibernated aircraft sitting and rotting in the desert. Many times components and changes can be made possible by several aviation companies. Even the idea of fighting fires using military aircraft such as C-130s using systems such as AFFS-Modular fire fighting systems is a great example of the need for convertible aircraft.

Now I want everyone to understand that this thought process is my example of my next point. My major point of course is that I believe we can do more with
less, faster with the latest computer decision matrix and real time 4-D imaging and respond to threats as fast as they occur and turn off the problems before the get full blown by studying the needs and logistical flows and disruptions prior to the signal. Kind of like preventing an imploding vortex in a hydro-electric power plant or turning off a switch sending a signal at the speed of light before the entire signal has started, simply by using the disruption caused by the event to signal in advance the need to turn it off.

You can solve the worlds problems by watching flows and needs, staying efficient and adapting your strategy for crisis management and continually improving your finite capacity scheduling model to win the missions goals while simultaneously being prepared to take advantage of opportunities when everything appears to be in perpetual Chaos.

All Military equipment no matter what agency should be multi-use whenever possible, without regard to personal
egos of any particular agency or inner fighting between Army, Navy, Air force, Marines, Coast Guard or other. Even the DEA, FBI, Border Patrol and now under umbrellas of Homeland Security should be streamlined to pursue such a pattern of operations when ever possible.

Why? Because it leaves us the money to do more R and D and afford more things necessary to accomplish additional and ever increasing missions of public safety. Why am I so intent on this theory? Because I see it in business and because it works. Take Fed Ex as a perfect example, no waste. A pilot will also load a container and a manager will also drive a delivery truck if needed, thus no wasted labor.

We need to have depots in key positions and even in other countries with warehoused equipment. For instance a Humvee is a universal tool. Once used it should be completely cleaned and put in storage in a warehouse. The vehicle should be totally universal no matter what is to be attached. For instance an ELF
antenna, 50 Cal Machine Gun, GPS System, whatever can installed rapidly and the hook ups are all the same for all agencies and universal. Plug and play components always using the same adapters, like a PCMIA card slot, USB Port, Parallel Port. Like a 110V outlet in a house or a garden hose thread. Since the DOD has got smart and logistically looked at Wal-Mart Distribution for answers with RFID Chips why not go to the next step? Why waste efficiencies? Economies of scale are what won WWII. Bar coding and satellite pinging GPS location positioning will make it easy to know where each piece of equipment is at all times, anywhere in the world.

It is now possible to keep control of every piece of equipment in the entire military and once all components are the same, then any department can use them, plus once everything is standardized the Microsoft way, the economies of scale come into play and that means cost savings on contracts. It means universal systems, it means easier
training and even privatized training. The person no matter what agency department or rank can be trained to use certain types of equipment, most in a simulator department. Such as driving a truck, Humvee, SUV, Generator, Computer, etc. Then when he, she or it needs to learn the specialty stuff that can be done as per local protocols of the Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard they can do that after wards. This means better training on the basics and specific training on the components. You see?

The most excellent factor in this is the basic life skills such as driving, computers, driving a truck are of value in the civilian force. I like this idea since in any given year 50,000 – 250,000 leave the military for civilian life. Wouldn’t it be great to know that a more disciplined workforce was also able to get work faster thus higher quality people might join our volunteer military. Also the issues with unskilled labor being complained about in places like AZ, NM, CA, GA, MS,
LA, TN, FL and even CO might be ended. If you look at the globe and see the most likely future problems and safest and most friendly trading partners you can already see we have bases and areas to do such storage with adequate logistical infrastructure such as shipping, rail, large run ways to rapidly deploy equipment without duplication for each squadron, battalion, division, team. Certain items are specialty, but for most things they just need a troop carrier, Humvee, vehicle, etc. And they can have it faster and we can deliver the same number of units without having all the units or have to replace all the units.

Hibernation services contracts can be awarded to keep everything totally operational ready. We may have to pay more for these services than prior prime contractors have bid to make sure it is done correctly with no hiccups, but in the end we will have saved billions and we can re-invest our savings on the latest materials and R and D on the latest technologies. The
delivery system, warehouse systems, standardization and commitment to work together is the key. We can do this and it could be done with simple components first and eventually with nearly everything.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

Imagine that the view you have is of the earth’s surface, like a

Google satellite map, and with a single click you can zoom in to

any portion of the world where you have logistics or resupply

responsibilities. A single click and you can instantly obtain an

accurate logistics situational assessment of a broad,

wide-ranging area.

Click again and your view and focus narrows even more. At this

new level, you get a more detailed, local assessment of the

logistic situation, say of a particular country. Click once more

and you’re presented with a picture of the logistical situation

of a particular city or perhaps a company within that

municipality.

Sound like the far off future? Not at all.

The hardware and software to accomplish the “futuristic” scenario

just described has been developed and is available for use

practically worldwide. And the implications are phenomenal in

terms of the production, moving and storing whatever types of

materials a given company might require. But there’s a big

problem looming for those who might mistake these modern tools

for cure-all logistic wonders.

Granted, much of the hardware and software capabilities available

in today’s marketplace comes to industry from military

applications where the concepts were battle-tested and proven

effective in all types of terrain and environments. And the

software and hardware has been refined to the point that now most

of these “futuristic” applications can be run on a simple hand

held device like a Palm pilot.

These applications literally allow the operator to “see” the

logistic situation of the entity that is being examined and to

quickly assess and make reliable logistic estimates based upon

the scenario presented. But, guess what. The system isn’t

perfect.

In fact, the system is far from perfect because it’s reliability

hinges on something that often times proves quite unreliable –

the human being.

Any logistic system such as the one envisioned above requires

three distinct and separate components to provide useful logistic

data to the end user. First, the person designing the system has

to have a thorough understanding of the organizational needs of

the company or entity that will utilize the system. A

miscalculation in this vital area can have devastating effects on

the system’s overall reliability and usefulness.

But let’s say the planners get it right and the logistician now

holds the “perfect” hardware and software combination required to

produce an accurate logistics assessment for his particular

needs. That leads us to our secondary concern – the person

inputting the logistics data at the organizational level where

the goods are required. If that data is faulty, then the

information others in the supply chain rely on is equally suspect

and prone to inaccuracies.

But let’s say we’ve got the perfect system, and our logistic

operator at the organization level inputs accurate data. That

still leaves one final area of concern - the recipient of the

logistic estimate.

In other words, the logistician on the receiving end of this

equation must make reasonable judgments when interpreting the

data the system provides. That’s the reason it’s called a

logistics “estimate.” And if he doesn’t interpret the data he

receives correctly and develop a reasonable resupply strategy

based upon it and his logistical experience – no amount of

“futuristic” software or hardware will help.

A prudent logistician will realize that software and hardware

tools are just that. Tools to help him make better supply

decisions. No tool yet has been developed that can replicate

human experience and common sense. Perhaps that’s a good thing.

George Whitecraft

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Is it possible to use tunneling robots to attack the enemy and protect our troops while in combat in urban settings? That is to say to tunnel under an insurgent, an enemy or an international terrorist’s location and then attack. Sure one would suppose that anything is indeed possible right? But can we design such a unit? It would have more than just military applications for instance; it would be great for looking for survivors of a flood, a major earthquake or a huge severe weather event like a hurricane. It therefore makes sense to look more closely at some of the logistical needs involved.

Recently this concept came up in an online think tank and one member stated; “Lets look at some of the Logistics involved. The electrical power to run those motors. I suggest a three-fold approach, Solar for charring batteries, batteries, and then a basic quiet generator tied into the electrical system of the Subterranean Attack and Reconnaissance Drone.”

Indeed this would make
sense, as no matter which application you consider you will need to have power. An ultra quiet would makes sense for military operations or for FBI or DHS hostage situations. But any case of looking for survivors of an earthquake, flood for hurricane it might makes sense to have the unit make a sound and thus if someone here is it the two would make a sound giving clues to the robot and alerting authorities that someone is still a live down there.

Power is indeed an important factor, as in the battlefield or a combat situation you cannot just plug in and in a natural disaster power would most certainly be out. Perhaps a tunneling robots makes sense for so many roles and reasons. So consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is a guest writer for Our Spokane Magazine in Spokane, Washington

In this modern world of logistics, technology and big business, crate rental has become an important and useful factor to provide easy packaging, handling, shipping and logistics of industries, businesses and sectors. Using crates supplies a no fuss, efficient, convenient and generally secure method of transportation for almost any thing. No longer are business and personal items being packed into undersized cardboard boxes, which usually fall apart after time. Now consumers and businesses can benefit from companies providing the useful method of transportation of items – crates.

There are reputable crate rental companies to choose from, choose a company with plenty of experience; this will ensure you receive fast, efficient and reliable services. A professional crate rental company will ensure customer satisfaction and will generally strive to deliver comprehensive solutions to their clients. Choosing a reputable and long-standing industry crate rental professional will
also help for advice on removals services, respected shipping companies and prompt and speedy delivery services through long-standing industry knowledge and contacts. Choose a leader in packaging products, containers and consumable accessories for industrial and commercial storage, and professionals in handling and logistics.

The internet is often a good source of information on crate rental companies, giving clients time to peruse crate rental company web sites – checking services and experience in the industry. Choose a crate rental company that can provide you with your desired solution for logistics, delivery and pick-up. Most expert crate rental companies can provide different types of crates, from versatile plastic pallets, plastic storage boxes, wooden pallets, sturdy crates and ranges of warehouse accessories. Depending on your individual requirements, your chosen crate rental company should be able to provide you with your required crate or container, including
industrial liquid storage tanks, safety flooring, complete racking, commercial food storage systems and more.

Or if you are perhaps just running a small business, or moving from flat to flat, consider the advantages and ease supplied by crate rental. Make your life, work and business easier with a crate solution. So, for any project or logistic problem, use a crate rental solution to ensure safely and efficiently delivered products. Find a reputable company that can offer crate solutions to suit your individual needs.

Dylan Brent wrote this article for the online marketers at Rent a Crate (Product Range).

When people go into a grocery store or some kind of retail outlet there are many factors that go into their decision on whether they buy a particular item or whether they decide to go to a competitor’s store. Some of the most important factors in a consumer’s mind are price, customer service, appearance of the store and how easy it is to find a particular item. When the customer evaluates all these aspects of the store they usually relate each aspect to management, how hard the employees work, or even the skill of the employees. One thing they do not associate these characteristics with is the logistical system that is in place that allows these characteristics to be excellent or below par. It may be hard to imagine how logistics can have such a large role in these characteristics of the store, but when one thinks about it they clearly have a tremendous role in every last one of them.

For instance, when the customer thinks of how competitive the particular store’s
prices are, the customer rarely thinks of how the company can cut prices by reducing the number of trucks that it has to use to ship particular products. They rarely think of how the company can come up with a system to limit the number of employees it needs to keep everything in stock. Both of these activities cost money and if the company can keep these activities to a minimum then they can keep their prices down.

In the customer’s mind the only factor that determines the price of a particular item is the company’s greed or lack of greed for profit. This however is far from how things work. When a customer looks at a store and sees products that are disorganized, under-stocked, or messy in appearance, they usually associate these characteristics with laziness or sloppy work on behalf of the employees. This, however, is simply not how things work. The appearance of the store is determined by the efficiency with which the stockroom employees can stock the store. If
there is an efficient system in which the stockroom employees can transport the items from the loading truck to the store floor then they will have time to make sure the items are neat and organized. If there is not an efficient system in place than the employees will struggle to move products to the floor and they will become sloppy and frustrated. This causes them to put products in the wrong places and since there is so much pressure for them to transport products from the truck to the floor of the store; they will struggle to keep the organization and appearance of the store at an acceptable level.

When there is not an efficient logistical system in place to stock the store, this makes employees become less efficient. This decrease of efficiency also decreases productivity and causes them to cut corners in order to complete their jobs. The employees are working just as hard as they would be if prices were low, things were easy to find and the store was in pristine
condition they just aren’t getting the same results.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Logistics