TTS logistics in action

Many routes lead from China to Germany

In the global economy, transport chains are optimized around the world in order to quickly, flexibly and cost-efficiently fulfill customer needs. As part of their daily operations, TTS companies offer an array of transport services that use diverse means of transport - frequently combined with additional services such as customs clearing or track and trace in order to create a competitive edge. As a result, a dress can take many different routes on its way from China to Germany.

International transports are growing

The spread of globalization makes it possible to buy reasonably priced goods around the world - particularly in Asia. Many products such as textiles, consumer electronics and toys are manufactured in Asia. They are then transported and sold throughout the world. The great distances that must be covered to bring these goods to market pose a challenge to the logistics sector.
For a customer to be able to conveniently order an item like a designer dress from her personal computer at home and then receive it at the front door a short time later, a transport chain that may stretch more than 10,000 kilometers is necessary.

The transshipping and storage centers in the supply chain

On its way from China to Germany, the designer dress has to be transshipped several times and possibly stored for short periods of time. The transshipping centers of the more reasonably priced, but slower sea transport could be:

• from forwarding center → truck at the manufacturer
• from truck → ship at the port terminal in Shanghai
• from ship → truck at the port terminal in Hamburg
• from truck → warehouse of the distribution center near the customer
• from warehouse → truck to customer

Generally speaking, logistics transshipping services are not restricted to pure logistics-service providers. The manufacturing company itself also has a number of transshipping needs. A typical example of intra-company transshipping is the use of a freight crane.
Goods are also frequently stored at the manufacturing company before they are shipped. These internal warehouses are usually stocked manually - with the help of forklifts or special conveyor technology.
A critical role is played by the interface between the internal warehouse and the external flow of material. Road haulage is generally the first stage of the transport chain following manufacturing. The companies’ primary need here is to optimize the loading of the trucks by providing suitable ramp design. Forklifts and roller conveyors are frequently used to perform loading tasks here.
The transshipping systems of external transport of goods are extremely complex. The following transshipping operations play a major role in transshipping logistics:

• Road - rail at the transshipping terminal of the railroad
• Road - air at the airport terminal
• Road / rail - water at the sea port or inland shipping terminal

A warehouse is a hub in a transport chain. This warehouse is used to store, transship or distribute goods.

The TTS services of logistics providers

TTS services form the basis of nearly all logistics services. Distinctions can be drawn among the TTS services offered by a logistics company - into road and rail shipments for continental deliveries and into air and sea freight for intercontinental deliveries. Logistics companies develop an array of solutions to meet their customers’ diverse needs. These solutions range from flexible door-to-door shipments of merchandise to combinations using several carriers such as air and sea freight:

• Flexible door-to-door shipment of merchandise
• Express service of parcels
• Traditional and individualized transport and warehousing solutions for partial and complete shipments
• Specific transport and warehousing of high-quality products, perishable goods, hazardous goods etc.
• Rapid intercontinental transport by air freight
• Reasonably priced intercontinental transport by sea freight
• Combination of road and rail transports
• Combination of air and sea freight

Additional services are offered as well, including “value-added services” such as customs clearance, “track and trace” and pallet management.
Large multinational logistics-service providers can offer a huge number of products thanks to their global networks. Small and mid-sized logistics-service providers, on the other hand, can offer specific sector or technical services in niche markets or work as subcontractors within the networks of larger logistics-service providers.

Recommended reading

Handbook of Logistics and Supply-Chain Management (Handbooks in Transport) | Brewer / Button / Hensher 2001

References

Transport- und Lagerlogistik | Martin 2006
Materialflußsysteme | Jünemann / Schmidt 2000

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