Empties Management in Logistics: Managing Right
“Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them.” – Paul Hawken
Today is the last day of the month of May and being a Monday makes it feels pretty odd, don’t you think? I actually woke up this morning thinking it was the start of June for a moment I had a reality check. Anyway, in a few hours we would be in June and this should be that time you cast your mind back to the time spent so far in the year. What progress have you made so far? What are the mistakes you have made? What are the lessons learnt and how do you get to achieve that needed balance? Whatever your final analysis produces, one thing remains certain – you still have time to accomplish the objectives you set at the start of the year, so do what you need to do. Welcome to Logistics Monday.
Containers have changed sea transport exercises from a port-to-port to a house-to-house service. In single word, from single to multi-modal transportation: sea, road, rail, and air transport. Additionally, the significant expense of getting, holding, and taking care of containers makes it a great resource, and if not painstakingly dealt with, the entire system of liner shipping gets wasteful. The imbalance in trade flows, the accessibility and capacity constraints of containers, and above all, poor empties management are among the issues that make it difficult to fully enjoy the benefits of container shipping.
The management of empties is thus done at different levels. Empties management can be complicated because of dynamic activity, vulnerability, and request imbalance. Significant decisions in empties management include:
- Container sizing
- Container leasing
- Laden container distribution
- Empty container repositioning
Strategies in Empties Management
Logistics strategies design must maintain inventory costs at their lowest possible level. It must control asset and turnaround speed. Empties management is one of the most important issues in the liner shipping industry.
In empties management, several strategies should be taken into consideration and they include:
- Foreign trade imbalances, in particular the relative role played by region as importer or exporter.
- Repositioning cost should include local inland and international transport cost.
- Manufacturing and lease cost versus repositioning: when the former is cheaper, than the container is left empty to accumulate in the terminal.
Challenges in Empties Management
- Port Authority and liner companies’ inadequate policies and regulations.
- The inefficiency of the transportation network
- The high cost of moving cargo in the area.
In line with everything said, it is significant that containers are repositioned to fulfill client interest in the resulting planning periods. The most effective method to assign empty containers from the inventory side to the interest side has become the business’ bottleneck. In contrast to stacked containers, empties don’t have fixed origins and destinations. Empty management has become a fundamental sea transport management apparatus, which discovers its answer in logistics management.
At TGL, we understand the significance of empties management and that is why we provide solutions that fit your needs when we are dealing with your empties. Also, whether inbound or outbound, TGL provide multi-modal end to end haulage solutions which is dedicated in ensuring that your goods leave or arrive in a time and cost efficient and effective manner. TGL works around the infrastructure challenges in Africa to give you that optimal logistics solution.
Get in touch with our Experts to discuss your Logistics requirements
Email: info@tgl.ng
Phone Number: 0804 TGL DESK
WhatsApp: +234 – 804- 845 – 3375