Everything is Green

In our society today, environmental awareness plays a big role. For example the food production should be sustainable, plastics bags are banned from some stores in order to reduce waste and cars should have lower or even no (electric cars) emissions in order to be attractive to most customers. This “green” movement also has an impact on today’s logistics.

In general, the term green logistics describes a supply chain in which all activities are coordinated and carried out in such a way that their effect on the environment is as low as possible. The areas that are addressed include the means of transportation, the disposal of waste and residual material and the packaging which also makes the consumers’ contribution necessary since they are responsible for disposing and recycling a product’s packaging.

In regard to transportation this could start with just choosing the most efficient way to transport the goods, e.g., don’t drive with a half empty truck, but could also go as far as only using “green vehicles” for the transportation.

Also, during the production, green logistics includes efforts that are made in order to reduce the water consumption and keep it at a minimum by for example recycling processes that enable to reuse the water several times.  Sometimes, the production of goods (or the maintenance of vehicles and machinery) also results in water that also includes oil/grease, fuel and other waste that could harm the environment if this water is simply released into nature. To avoid this pollution, the installation of “interceptor tanks” can be helpful (see picture below).

This picture shows a simple version of such an interceptor tank or grease trap. The dirty water comes in on one side and several barriers are installed to stop the unwanted material. On the bottom, the solid particles accumulate and are then stopped by one of these barriers. At the same time, all fats and the fuel rise to the top and will float on the water due to their lower density and are also stopped by a barrier that is installed on the “ceiling” of this tank. The now relatively clean water continues to flow to outlet and exits the tank leaving all the unwanted stuff behind. This is one example of how a simple method can be used in order to make a production site more “green” and environmental friendly. This was just a small insight into “Green” logistics since it, of course, covers a much broader area and this blog would have to be way too big to describe it all in detail.

 

(Source for information of this blog: http://dlca.logcluster.org/display/LOG/Green+Logistics & https://www.glanvilleenvironmental.com/services/construction-civil-engineering/interceptor-tank-installation-drainage-sewer-diversions-manhole-construction/)

The Airbus A400, a plane built in Seville, Spain. Or is it?

Well to make it short, the A400 is actually not built in Seville, Seville is just the place where the final assembly of the aircraft takes place. The “building” of the aircraft involves far more than just one country and has a pretty crazy supply chain which requires heavy transportation measures, an excellent timing, a good communication between all partners and a well-matched logistical operation.

First let’s answer the question of where the A400 is being built.

The manufacturing process of the A400 is conducted by six countries in total. These are, Germany, France, Belgium, Turkey, the U.K. and last but not least Spain. The exact parts for which each country is responsible are shown in the picture below.

Basically the process “starts” in Turkey, Hamburg and the U.K and once the parts that are build there are finished they are transported to the next stop where they are needed to be joined together with other parts. These newly combined parts, e.g., the complete fuselage, are then again transported to the next stop until all finished parts reach Seville and are all added together in order to assembly and finish the plane. You can see the path of the parts in the illustration below.

This picture also shows the means of transportation that is needed to haul the big pieces in a fast way, the Beluga transportation plane which itself is pretty crazy but effective design.

Like I said in the beginning, the manufacturing of the A400 is done with a pretty crazy supply chain that definitely requires a very good coordination. If you would imagine that one step in the supply chain has delays and problems, the directly following steps are also impacted and in the end the whole production will take longer than planned.

To be honest, for me this concept of having so many parties involved in the production of one aircraft is a unnecessary complication that only begs for problems to happen. But who am I to judge, they probably had pretty capable people come up with that plan and thought things through.

(Source for all information and pictures: https://extendaplus.es/aeroespacial/files/2013/05/1.Alberto-Guti%C3%A9rrez-Industrial-aspects-and-GSC-A400M-Programme-23-May-2013-v-final_Alberto-Gutierrez.pdf)

Swimming Cities & Airports

Aircraft Carriers, the pride of the navy, are like small, swimming cities with an airport. These “cities” have to be more or less self-sustaining for a long period of time. This means they have everything on board to keep the operations and the daily life of the crew running. Alongside the needed military equipment, this for example includes a medical center, a gym & stores just to name a few. All this is necessary to keep the crew of 3000 to 6000 people, depending on the class of the aircraft carrier, healthy, motivated and as happy as possible (3000 to 6000 people…that is about the size of my hometown’s population :D).

To achieve this, a lot of logistical effort is necessary since not all supply for the whole duration of the deployment can be stored on the ship from the start on. Food for the crew and fuel for the aircraft have to be delivered several times. This is either done by plane, helicopter or other ships. All methods are possibly dangerous since it is neither an easy feat to land a plane on a moving ship nor is it without difficulties to drive along the ship with another ship close enough to exchange fuel.

Another logistical effort that is being made on an aircraft carrier is the conduction of the operations on the flight deck (and below it). With around 80 aircraft on board the flight deck and its lower hanger storage level more or less resemble a very tiny but extremely busy airport. Therefore, a carful coordination of the airplanes’ starts and landings is crucial to avoid any accidents.

Since the flight deck is fairly small, the amount of launches and recoveries of aircrafts is limited but modern aircraft carriers have an angled deck (see main image) which increases this amount and also makes simultaneous launches and recoveries possible

Additionally, in order to make the busy work on the flight deck easier to coordinate the personal is wearing different colored clothes, depending on their function.(see picture below)

For example, the people that are responsible for coordinating all movements of planes, the “shooters”, wear yellow clothes (see image below).

The different colored clothes might seem like a very simple method for such an advanced technology but they are certainly effective.

Aircraft carriers are a technological masterpiece and definitely require a large amount of logistics in many different areas so they are kept running and their crews can carry on with conducting their operations. Like it was said in the beginning, they are more or less cities and airports combined. The only difference is, everything has to be done on a much smaller space.

If you want to take a look at the daily life on an aircraft carrier follow this link:

http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-life-aboard-us-aircraft-carrier-2016-6

(Sources for information on this blog: https://science.howstuffworks.com/aircraft-carrier.htm & https://mashable.com/2016/06/23/what-its-really-like-to-live-and-work-on-an-aircraft-carrier/#vzy6Y47XdPqX )

The little shrimp’s journey

If you visit the North Sea coast in northern Germany you can enjoy a local specialty which is called “Krabbenbrot”. Basically it is a “Schwarzbrot” (a pretty dark kind of whole wheat bread), smeared with butter and topped with a heaping pile of small “Nordseekrabben” or brown shrimp, as they are called in English, native to the North Sea. Sometimes it is also topped with a fried egg and looks something like this:

Actually you can also enjoy the delicious shrimps in all kinds other of ways…the northern Germans sure love their shrimp:

Shrimps on toast:

Shrimp Salad:

Shrimp soup:

Mmmmmh tasty

Since those tiny shrimps live in the North Sea you might think the distance they traveled from the catch to your “Krabbenbrot” was probably pretty short…well in many cases this assumption is sadly wrong.

In order to be devoured by you, the shrimp had to travel from the place they were caught in Germany (which is where you want to eat them) through Europe, continued their odyssey by crossing the Mediterranean Sea just to end up in Northern Africa, in Morocco to be precise . Here they are peeled because it is way cheaper than it would be in Germany. Once this is completed they start to get going again and make the whole trip again, just in the opposite direction. In the end the little shrimps traveled 6000 km!! While this certainly requires a perfectly planned and executed logistics and transportation system it is also a nightmare that is unsustainable. First, the “fresh” shrimps aren’t nearly as fresh as you would expect them to be, second the pollution and fuel consumption is horrendous. Still, apparently it is more lucrative this way then to pay a little more to some people in Germany to do it. (https://www.abendblatt.de/region/schleswig-holstein/article206301807/Die-lange-Reise-der-Krabben-nach-Marokko-und-zurueck.html)

Luckily, this trend may be about to change so I can enjoy my “Krabbenbrot” again with a clean conscience.  (https://www.n-tv.de/wirtschaft/Ostfriesland-will-wieder-selbst-Krabben-pulen-article20317438.html)

Port Logistics

Ports could be regarded as a vital economic hub for a city and thus its country. Without ports the international trade, import and export, would not be achievable. While also planes can be used to transport goods across long distances and the ocean, it is way more expensive than ships and additionally, ships are able to carry bigger as well as more cargo. This makes them an efficient means of transport albeit not timewise.

The sheer amount of goods that enters and exits ports on a daily basis in enormous and demands a highly effective and complex logistics system. First, the arrival and the departure of ships have to be organized and planned so that no “traffic jams” and accidents occur. For this aspect ship ports are not so different from airports. Second, the ships have to be loaded and unloaded with heavy and big containers that ask for a variety of transportation vehicles, which also make a large number of highly skilled, licensed operators necessary. Most notably among those vehicles are the big container cranes (figure 1) that move along the wharf on rails, parallel to the docking site for the ships. They are the heart for moving the big containers from the port area to the ship’s cargo area.

Figure 1 – Container Crane

It is of course necessary to load the right containers onto the correct ship which asks for a highly sophisticated and, ideally, digital logistics system (http://www.hafen-wismar.de/de/seehafen_wismar/digitalisierung) which also has to take the import and export regulations into account. Therefore, customs and border control (figure 2) are also implemented in the complete logistics process of ports.

Ports are also part of a multimodal transport system since the goods that leave or enter the port have to be further carried by other means of transport including trains or trucks.

Here again, it is crucial to make sure that the cargo is loaded onto the correct truck or train in order for it to reach its desired destination.

(https://www.hafen-hamburg.de/de/news/von-der-fabrik-aufs-spielfeld-die-reise-eines-fussballs—31322)

All these aspects make ports an extremely busy place for logistics and therefore also a big challenge.

The historical Roots of Logistics and Supply Chain Management.

Apart from actually being a part of life ever since humans exist, logistics, like many other things (e.g. computers), has its “professional” roots in the military and in particular in the military of ancient Rome. (http://www.supplychainopz.com/2013/05/logistics.html)

(https://logistikknowhow.com/logistik-definition/)

Since the logistic corps is neither directly involved in fighting battles nor present on the frontline, it is sometimes smiled at by the other branches of the military, especially by the infantry. However, if you would stop to think about it for a minute, you and every soldier would quickly realize that the logistics corps is actually what keeps the wheels turning in every branch of the military. Without logistics the infantry would not have any ammunition for their weapons they would not have any food or water and as a matter of fact they would not even be at the location they are supposed to be. This underlines the importance of the logistics corps within the military because without it not a single soldier would be able to perform his or her job. So instead of smiling at it, every soldier should be thankful for the logistics corps.

The logistics corps is responsible for the “…acquisition, allocation, preparation, transport and storage of the numerous supplies and materials needed to conduct Military operations.”. (https://www.todaysmilitary.com/working/career-fields/transportation-supply-and-logistics)

This not only includes vehicles, weapons and ammunition but also food, medicine, spare parts for all the other equipment and of course, in terms of transport, the soldiers themselves. Based on this, one could argue that the logistics corps is more or less the backbone of the military in general and without it, no military would be able to conduct any deployment and operation which would render it useless. This should, once again, prove the importance of logistics, not only for the military, but also in general.

 

The following video gives you a small insight at the logistics of the British military:

Fresh Fish for Everybody

It might not be a big deal to have access to fresh fish and seafood if you live in Valencia (or any other city that is located near the coast) but where I come from the next coast is over 600 km away. Still, there are supermarkets in my home area with fresh saltwater fish in their counters. So I began to ask myself, how do they manage to get the fish from all over the world to the supermarkets in the middle of Germany and what are the important aspects of the journey the fish make.

Since fresh fish is a highly perishable good and spoils very fast if it is not stored under the right conditions, its transport to the stores and markets is one of the biggest challenges for the food industry and its logistic.

One of the leading European fish-wholesales, METRO Cash & Carry, claims to deliver the fish in only 48 hours at the maximum. These 48 hours include the whole timespan from the moment the fish has been caught to the point it is placed into the counter. This is a quite impressive feat and also very important because only a fast transportation ensures that the fish retains its good quality.

The distribution center of METRO receives fish from several European countries, including Spain, but also from overseas, for example from Sri-Lanka, New Zealand and Australia. Every fish, regardless of its origin, is treated the same.

During its complete travel, the fish is stored in polystyrene boxes filled with ice and is transported in special refrigerated trucks.

First stop: Logistics center

During these hours, several quality and hygiene regulations have to be adhered to.For example, the temperature of the fish at the time of arrival at the logistics center must not be over 2° Celsius. Directly after the arrival the fish is checked by inspectors in regard to looks, smell, temperature, firmness etc. Additionally, a laboratory specialized on fish performs microbiological, physical and sensorial test on a regular basis.

Second stop: Wholesale store

The next step the fish takes is the tour from the logistics center to wholesale store which is done in less than 12 hours. Again, several quality inspections are conducted once the fish arrives.

Third stop: Supermarket

Finally, the fish arrives in the supermarket where it can be purchased by you. Here, too, it has to be cooled constantly in order to keep it fresh.

Final stop: Your Kitchen

Before you can cook your fish you have to transport it from the store to your kitchen. Make sure you have any means of cooling your fish on hand when you buy it. Only if you keep your fish cool during its final journey it will retain its quality and you can enjoy your meal without any negative side effects. Keep that in mind and then there is nothing else to do but enjoy your meal.

Fish logistics = Not your average logistics

https://www.metro.de/produktwelten/frischfisch/fischgrosshandel

Logistics as a part of my everyday life / Inventory Management

Inventory Management is a part of Supply Chain management/Logistics.  It is supposed to keep track of what goes in and what goes out of company’s inventory. The inventory can be separated into a stock area of the single components and an area for the finish product. In total this would mean that there are two “Stock In” and also two “Stock Out” sides. The first “Stock In” is for the incoming single components or raw materials of the product that is manufactured in the company whereas the first “Stock Out” is from the storage area of single components to the production department. The next “Stock In” is for the finished product going into the storage area and the next “Stock out” is from storage to sales department. There are several ways of performing Inventory management. Especially big companies use software based Inventory management. Three possible Methods are for example:

• Stock Review
• Just-In-Time methodology
• ABC analysis

Why am I talking about this topic? Because today I realized that inventory management is part of my daily life. For example, let’s assume I own and run a company that is active in the “Sandwich Assembly” business. In order to be able to consistently put out sandwiches of the same quality, it is necessary to always have a complete stock of all the single components like bread, salad, ham, cheese and in my case also mustard. So all these components are procured from a supplier (mercadona) and are delivered to me also by me. So there is a product flow from mercadona to me and a financial flow from me to mercadona.  These products resemble the raw material coming into my storage area for raw materials and are then assembled for the later distribution to the consumer.  Now if I wouldn’t keep track of my stock and would run out of one component, my customer would not be very happy so I have to always know how much of each material is in my inventory and when it is time to restock on a single component. Now let’s get back to that mustard that started this whole thing. I just realized that my mustard bottle is actually helping me keep track of my mustard stock.

It tells me when I am half down and also when it is time to go out and buy a new bottle. This greatly helps my ability to produce sandwiches with the quality my customer expects and therefore it (hence inventory management) is crucial for the success of my or any company. Sadly, I am my only customer so my business is not very lucrative but nonetheless it is a great example of how the very basic aspects of logistics are a part of my everyday life.

 

http://searcherp.techtarget.com/definition/inventory-management