TLC Logistics Program in Middle East - Welcome to the Executive Seminar - Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort - Sep 11

Dear Members of Middle East Logistics Community,

Can you redefine logistics leadership in Middle East ? High powered,fast-paced seminar will challenge "the best and the brightest" in the Middle East.

Mark the dates of the popular seminar series- Next one at Fujairah September 11 to 13, 2005 ( All sessions customized to participating groups).12 sessions in 3 full days.Expert faculty from industry and academia.

Register now to avoid disappointment later. Reserved on first come, first served basis only and take this LOGISTICS SERIVICE SURVEY
{Or please post this URL on your website http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB224KJS6HNSB
} supported by Dubai Logistics City.

Prof Philbert Suresh
+971-4-361 6287
info@translogistique.org

TWIMP: Unravelled For Young Business Professionals

TWIMP - The Integrated Supply Chain and Logistics Strategy
Prof Philbert Suresh, Chief Knowledge Officer, TransLogistique Canada, Dubai Knowledge Village, UAE

Whether your business is big or small, a sound business strategy will always include building customer satisfaction through an effective delivery system. The logistical strategy that I will discuss in this article, under the acronym TWIMP©, is not something that you will find in any textbook. I have found TWIMP© a very convenient way to explain the integrated nature of the elements that go to make up the logistics process. Understanding the steps described in TWIMP© will remove the confusion that prevails in the mind of even the most accomplished logistician.

TWIMP© is an acronym for Transportation + Warehousing & Inventory Management + Information Technology + Materials Handling + Packaging, Marking and Labeling. All these disparate logistical elements must be integrated to produce a supple supply chain - something that is critical to the success of your business.

T = Transportation: A competent logistician knows exactly how to use different modes of transport (air, sea. and land) to move cargo in a seamless manner and keep costs low.

W = Warehousing & Inventory Management: This is a challenge for every logistics professional. Your business must be efficient - while at the same time costs must be kept low so your service/product will be affordable to the customer. Should a business hold all kinds of cargo in any quantity to satisfy a customer? Only experience can tell you how profitable it would be to manage under the just-in-time concept. This is one area where a business would do well to outsource to a third party so the business can focus on its core competency – whatever that may be – to remain lean and open to market opportunities.

I = Information Technology: This is the glue of the business process. It demands that all partners in a supply chain share data for the overall efficiency and profits of the enterprise. The new logistics is all about data management and sharing on an open platform – all along the supply chain - from the customer who has a variety of preferences, to the supplier of raw materials or finished goods.

M = Materials Handling: Often mistaken for materials management, materials handling refers to everything from the proper use of forklift trucks within a warehouse to the loading / unloading devices at ports. In other words, it encompasses all the matters involved in the safe delivery of the cargo to the customer in the proper condition, without any damages.

P = Packaging: This refers to the packaging of a product in a carton, onto a pallet, and into a container. Packaging is important to both the distribution function and to the preservation of the quality of the product - loading and unloading in good and bad weather while it moves on the ocean, land or in the air. Within this function is the use of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) that tags a product intelligently so that the logistician will have complete control of the inventory in motion or at rest. Marking and labeling are important activities within an automated warehouse.

Understanding the supply chain process in your business enterprise is fundamental to securing customer satisfaction. Modern-day competition for customer satisfaction is not between company and company but between one supply chain and another. Developing an efficient supply chain is often a complex task – but that makes sense, as the supply chain is at the crux of any business that wishes to deliver goods on time and to provide superlative service. These in turn are the things that shore up the fortune of a company.

[836 words]

REFERENCES
(1) Hayden, M. Executive Managers Preference Workbook, 2004
(2) Peters,T.J. and Robert H.Waterman, In Search of Excellence,Warner Books, N.Y. 1982
(3) Rumelt,R, Strategy, Structure and Economic Performance, Doctoral Dissertation, Harvard Business School, 1974
(4) Kotter, J.P., A Force For Change: How Leadership Differs from Management, Maxwell MacMillan Canada, 1990


The Definition of Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management is the systemic, strategic coordination of the traditional business functions and the tactics across these business functions within a particular company and across businesses within the supply chain for the purposes of improving the long-term performance of the individual companies and the supply chain as a whole. The supply chain of a manufacturing enterprise is a world-wide network of suppliers, factories, warehouses, distribution centres and retailers through which raw materials are acquired, transformed and delivered to customers. In order to optimize performance, supply chain functions must operate in a coordinated manner. But the dynamics of the enterprise and the market make this difficult: bank rates change overnignt, political situations change, materials do not arrive on time, production facilities fail, workers are ill, customers change or cancel orders, etc. causing deviations from plan. In some cases, these events may be dealt with locally, i.e. they lie within the scope of a supply chain function. In other cases, the problem can not be "locally contained" and modifications across many functions are required.

Consequently, the supply chain management system must coordinate the revision of plans/schedules across supply chain functions. The agility with which the supply chain is managed at the tactical and operational levels in order to enable timely dissemination of information, accurate coordination of decisions and management of actions among people and systems, is what will ultimately determine the efficient, coordinated achievement of enterprise goals

Dubai and Toronto: The Difference in the Dream of an Entrepreneur

Toronto and Dubai: The differences in the dream of an entrepreneur
Prof Philbert Suresh, Chief Knowledge Officer, TransLogistique Canada - August 11, 2005

A couple of summers ago I visited Toronto to study the global logistics of this world-class city. Toronto has provided inspiration and direction to the economic development strategies of a bustling metropolitan city in the Arab region – Dubai. Dubai shot into the limelight primarily due to its ability to manage large events such as the IMF conference in mid-September 2003, which drew 27,500 participants from 184 countries. Even against the backdrop of the Iraq war, Dubai was an oasis of peace where normal business and trade was undertaken in spite of the regional concern for safety and security.

Indeed, this is the hallmark of an intrepid entrepreneurial state – it creates a business climate conducive to the success of global entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurial dreams are fulfilled thanks to the active and proactive policies of the Dubai government. Visions are transformed into economic realities, and strategies for global trade evolve.

The linking of cities with the processes of globalization is a critical area of the logistics research done by the author. Cities are where globalization takes place. Urban geographers and sociologists, among others, have attempted to give meaning and coherence to the rapid and dramatic changes to cities in the past 30 years. There appears to be consensus that cities and the dynamics of urbanization have been changed by the intensification of globalization.

Cities that command and control global economic, political or cultural processes are called world cities. World cities have been defined as: major sites for the accumulation of capital; command points in the world economy; headquarters for corporations; important hubs of global transportation and communication; intensified areas of social polarization, and destinations for domestic and international migrants.

Toronto is classified as a city by the study as follows:

Alpha Cities
London, New York, Tokyo, Paris, Chicago, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Milan,
Singapore

Beta Cities
San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto, Zurich, Brussels, Madrid, Mexico City, Sao Paolo, Moscow, Seoul

Gamma Cities
Amsterdam, Boston, Caracas, Dallas, Düsseldorf, Geneva, Houston, Jakarta, Johannesburg, Melbourne, Osaka, Prague, Santiago, Taipei, Washington DC, Bangkok, Beijing, Montreal, Rome, Stockholm, Warsaw, Atlanta, Barcelona, Berlin, Budapest, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Miami, Minneapolis -St. Paul, Munich, Shanghai (Source: Globalization and World Cities Study Group (GaWC))

Although the city of Dubai does not figure in the above study, it is a new city in the Arabian Gulf with the potential to become an alpha city like New York and Tokyo. A real estate and construction boom is drastically changing the landscape of the emirate.

The popular notion exists that oil reserves are fuelling the economic growth of the region. However, Dubai is an exception, as its non-oil trade jumped by 41 per cent last year, reaching Dh215.72 billion compared to the previous year's Dh153.06 billion, according to Dubai Customs. This is about 220 per cent more than the emirate's GDP, which last year reached Dh97.98 billion. The UAE Dirham is pegged to the US Dollar at the exchange rate of 3.65 Dirhams to the dollar.

Embedded in the city plan are clusters –“Free Zones” – that have given birth to free trade without any tariff or non-tariff barriers to the movement of goods or services within these cities. Among these Free Zones are: Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (JAFZA); Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority (DAFZA); Dubai Internet City; and many more. Dubai is a city with a population estimated at 971,000 in 2001 (Source: Ministry of Planning), within the country’s total of 3.2 million people.

The city’s entrepreneurial dream is being fulfilled by the hard and industrious work of people from neighbouring countries – 45 percent from Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka), 20 percent from Arab countries (Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Palestine etc), 20 percent from the Western world (UK dominant), and 15 percent from other African countries.

In 2004, Dubai recorded trade with 210 countries - almost all the independent countries on earth. Dubai's imports, which make up 69.1 per cent of the emirate's total non-oil trade, increased by 37.1 per cent, to reach Dh179.04 billion last year compared to Dh108.723 billion in 2003.
The door to young entrepreneurs, professionals and small and medium businesses in Canada is now open to share in the dream of Dubai – which beckons technological partnerships and trade on mutually acceptable terms. The time is right now for forging these alliances and enhancing trade relationships across the Atlantic and into the heart of the desert region where life is vibrant and abundant. [805 words]

References

(1) Suresh,P, Logistics in Emerging Economies, Research Paper, Aston University, Department of Civil Engineering, Birmingham, UK, 2001
(2) Benton,L, Price,M and Friedman,S, Global Perspective on the Connections between Immigrants and World Cities, GW Center for the Study of Globalization, 2001
(3) Gulf Newspaper July 17, 2005