How ecommerce helped the freight forwarding business

How ecommerce helped the freight forwarding business Introduction The implementation of internet and electronic communication systems is changing the traditional face of freight forwarding and the shipping industry has to change with it. It is evident that e-commerce is no longer an emerging technology and it has already conquered a major place in the heart of freight forwarding business. Electronic communication system has become one of the main trump card in shipping industry to live up the higher expectations of a customer. This paper will review briefly the applications of e-commerce in general and in particular to the transport sector especially freight forwarding business. E-Commerce Electronic commerce is defined as the electronic exchange (delivery or transaction) of information, goods, services, and payments over telecommunications networks.It involves mainly distribution, buying, selling, marketing and servicing of products or services through the use of electronic means such as the Internet, and other computer networks. E-commerce has grown exponentially due to the convergence of technological developments, the merging of the telecommunications and computing industries, and globalised business models. The universal adoption of the Internet not only led to further rapid growth of the B2B sector, but also created a new business-to-consumer (B2C) market.The main factor that put e-commerce towards the top of the public is the popularisation and commercialisation of internet. E-commerce now touches virtually all aspects of economic and social life.(Swamidass,2000) Freight Forwarding Freight forwarders acts as an intermediary between exporters, importers or other companies organising efficient transportation of goods. They makes arrangement for transportation of goods by satisfying the customer requirements using various services like Shipping lines, Airlines Road and Rail freight operators. There are a lot of companies involved in freight forwarding business and these varies according to the size and type. In some cases the freight forwarders will only deal with particular goods only and they will be confined to certain geographical areas. Following are the functions carried out in freight forwarding business Cargo consolidation and multimodal transport Transhipment Packing, warehousing and distribution. Arranging cargo insurance Documentation and customs clearance Payment of freight and local taxes Saved fax, phone and courier costs Possibility to reuse information and create templates Transport distribution analysis and transportations arrangements (UNESCAP,2011) Greater speed in transactions In e-commerce, transactions are faster than traditional commercial transactions. Before the advent of e-commerce, freight forwarders prepared the documents with the help of a lawyer and lot of stamps were used. The main advantage of e-commerce is that it allows electronic exchange of cargo documents through internet like bill of lading instructions, freight invoices, container status messages, motor carrier shipment instructions, and other documents with increased accuracy and efficiency by eliminating the need to re-key or reformat documents. It also enables streamline document handling for shippers, freight forwarders and trucking firms without the monetary and time investment required by the traditional document delivery systems and thus paperwork is significantly reduced and the shipping department will therefore be more efficient.(ELC,2011).For example US Customs Service supports an EDI-based system for ocean cargo which can report, electronically, the cargo manifest, bill of la ding and other shipping-related information. This online data system has proved to be beneficial in permitting quicker cargo release and increased carrier productivity through reduced cargo-processing time. It has also helped some port authorities to become more competitive by reducing cargo customs clearance and processing times.(GXS,2011) Use of e-commerce in cargo handling documentation helps in: Reducing costs Improving data accuracy Simplifying business processes Accelerating business cycles Enhancing customer service.(ELC,2011) Shipment tracking Clients need connectivity with the Freight Forwarding systems to access their files for status, to extract reports from Freight Forwarding databases, and have their shipments processed in an error free and timely manner. Shipment tracking engages global positioning systems(GPS), which keep track of vehicles so that customers can find out exact location of the shipment at a given time. This gives instant shipping information access to anyone in the company, from any location. The greatest demands for shipment tracking has developed in express or parcel delivery services.(ELC,2011) DHL is an example of a company where tracking has always been a crucial component to operations, which began with customers making calls to customer service to trace their goods. Now a number of options are available (Smith, 2002) Business Asia). Customer orientation E-commerce helps in delivering better services to their customers like providing websites which helps the customer to gather information about the freight forwarders whom they wish to transit their goods. The customers can make right decision regarding their selection of the right freight forwarders. Some companies provide tariff information on the Internet sometimes along with calculators, enabling the shipper to input details such as cargo origin and destination, cargo characteristics, etc., providing the required freight rate instantly. These systems provide considerable benefit to shippers by simplifying and expediting numerous tasks involved in freight rating, which would otherwise involve considerable time, cost and human resources to complete .Another fact is that these website helps in boosting, branding and building up the goodwill of the freight forwarders for the purpose of marketing.(Lai Wang,2008) FedEx uses their secure saver which helps the software to set up an online catalogue and the order-handling system hooks into a user interface which helps to register online customersà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ orders and make sure of confirmation numbers. With automatic inventory updating it is possible to pack the order.(Timmer 1999).. FedEx also has an E-Commerce Builder program, which offers Web design, hosting, order management, real-time financial settlement, and fulfillment to small and midsize companies, at no cost.(Business wire,2011) Shipping portals These have become a major strategic positioning exercise by liners, but internal strategies vary. The three major liner shipping portals online are GT Nexus, an e-logistics software company, using its portal to drive its strategy of becoming a global leader in e-logistics software and services; INTTRA, an industry portal rather than a software provider, aiming to facilitate the interaction between users and their carriers; CargoSmart, aiming to add value to core booking and tracking facilities and to provide a more complete solution to users.(Wn,2011) 3PL Logistics Increased adoption of logistic out-sourcing by manufacturing companies has led a steady growth of third party logistics (3PL) and in recent years, most of the traditional freight forwarders have transformed into 3PL.For the smooth operation of the organisation It is important to have successful information exchange between the parties involved in the business and to cooperate with remote warehouses and inland transport provider. Here e-commerce plays a vital role in helping the freight forwarders to sort out the problems with efficient communication systems and tools like EDI and ETF while they are emerging wholly as a 3PL. (Bumstead and Cannons,2002) ILG is a traditional freight forwarding company and now has emerged into a 3PL and provides services like shipping, e-commerce support, warehousing, fulfilment and the company believes that without the help of e-commerce they wouldnà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢t have emerged as a 3PL (ILG,2011) Crown logistics, a freight forwarding company in Hong Kong with the help of e-commerce have helped to improve the utilization of its resources, such as warehouse space transportation fleets, customs procedures, specialized packing and transports, on-time delivery and tracking technology. Company itself is in the process of expanding its operations across greater China, with the objective of becoming a full-pledged 3PL company (Crown logistics,2011). Port services Several maritime ports around the world, including those of New York, Rotterdam, Singapore and Hamburg have electronic systems which link up various parties engaged in the movement of freight through the port, including shippers, forwarders, customs, terminal operators, carriers and other port users. Singapore TradeNet, an EDI system that has dramatically reduced turnaround times for processing information about ship arrivals, loadings and unloadings and departures .(Applegate et al,1993) According to Lee and Whang in the near future, there will be an explosion of business-to-business applications of the Internet as visionary companies develop new paradigms of e-business for the future. This can be understood also to refer to new technologies that extend the ambit of e-business, such as mobile communications technology.(Lee Whang,2001) Conclusion: E-commerce is an essential requirement in modern business methodology that cuts costs and at the same time increases the quality of services and thus achieving greater efficiency in freight forwarding business. The scope and range of these benefits makes it clear that e-commerce in the form of e-business processes and systems can have an enormous impact in terms of benefits to the entire supply chain. Word Count: 1480

The Motion Picture Industry: Executive Summary

The motion picture industry is a competitive business. More than 50 studios produce a total of 300 to 400 new movies each year. The financial success of each motion picture varies considerably. The opening weekend gross sales (in millions), the total gross sales (in millions), the number of theaters in which the movie was shown, and the number of weeks the motion picture was in the top 60 for gross sales are common variables use to measure the success of a movie. Data Collected for a sample of 100 movies produced in 2005 are contained in the file named Movies. xlsx. This file is attached to the assignment link on Blackboard. Using this data prepare an executive summary detailing how each of the variables help explain the total gross sales. In other words, your total gross sales is a function of opening gross sales, number of theaters, and number of weeks in the top 60. The executive summary will contain the following parts. 1. What are your initial assumptions or hypotheses? Which of the variables have the highest correlation with total gross sales? IE, which variables to you think make the most difference toward total gross sales? By studying the information, I believe the variable with the highest correlation with total gross is the opening gross sales. The movie with the highest opening gross also ends up with the highest total gross sale. 2. Develop the descriptive statistics for each of the four columns. 3. Develop tabular and graphical summaries for each of the four variables along with a description of what each summary tells us about the motion picture industry, if anything. 4. Develop a scatter diagram to explore the relationship between total gross sales (y) and opening weekend sales (x). Display the regression and slope equations with a trend line. . Develop a scatter diagram to explore the relationship between total gross sales (y) and Number of theaters(x). Display the regression and slope equations with a trend line. 6. Develop a scatter diagram to explore the relationship between total gross sales (y) Number of weeks in the top 60 (x). Display the regression and slope equations with a trend line. 7. Which of these three variables have the most effect on total gross sales? Does this make sense to you? Why or Why not? * T he variable that effects the total gross sales the most is the opening sales with R? = 0. 9298. It does make sense to me because usually If the movie does not start with a high opening gross, meaning people don’t go to premier, it will start falling behind as other movies are following to come out. 8. Does this final analysis square with your initial assumptions or hypothesis? Why or why not? -Yes it does, in my hypothesis I came to the conclusion that opening gross was the main variable and had the most effect as it was shown in the data given, and It made sense to me since I watch a lot of movies, usually if it doesn’t start with a high gross, it will not have a great total gross sales if comparing to other movies. . If you were the marketing executive in charge of spending $100 million to promote the new Iron Man 3 movie coming out this summer, where would you concentrate your money and efforts? Why there? -I would concentrate the money in trailers and commercials as this is how it will show consumers how the movie will be, a sneak peak which everyone loves, an d for the ones that don’t have an idea of what the movie is about, it will show them and will most likely encourage them to watch the movie, pretty much it pumps up people and excite them to watch the movie.

Book Report Tangata O Le Moana - 2043 Words

Book Report Over Tangata O Le Moana As an exchange student from the United States of America, I knew next to nothing about New Zealand and its history. When I chose my classes for my semester abroad, I wanted to learn as much as I could about the country that would soon be my home. I decided to take PASI 101 because I knew that there would be no better way to learn about the history and culture of New Zealand. I come from a state that is nowhere near the pacific. I had not met a pacific islander in my lifetime. When I entered my first lecture in PASI 101, I found myself surrounded by people who I knew nothing about, and I became thrilled at the thought that this class would help me understand them. Tangata O Le Moana is the required text for PASI 101. It is about the history, lives, and hardships of the pacific people in New Zealand and the islands. This textbook has helped guide me through the class while also providing a way to help me understand the foreign country that is now my home. Throughout this essay, I will summarize the information that is given throughout the book. Then, I will select a few chapters that changed my way of thinking about the pacific while also giving outside sources that helped further my understanding of these chapters. Finally, I will conclude my report on how and why Tangata O Le Moana helped me have a firm grasp on what pacific heritage means to their people. Tangata O Le Moana is a textbook that includes a variety of essays that cover

EPR Paradox in Physics - Definition and Explanation

The EPR paradox (or the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Paradox) is a thought experiment intended to demonstrate an inherent paradox in the early formulations of quantum theory. It is among the best-known examples of quantum entanglement. The paradox involves two particles that are entangled with each other according to quantum mechanics. Under the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, each particle is individually in an uncertain state until it is measured, at which point the state of that particle becomes certain. At that exact same moment, the other particles state also becomes certain. The reason that this is classified as a paradox is that it seemingly involves communication between the two particles at speeds greater than the speed of light, which is a conflict with Albert Einsteins theory of relativity. The Paradoxs Origin The paradox was the focal point of a heated debate between Einstein and Niels Bohr. Einstein was never comfortable with the quantum mechanics being developed by Bohr and his colleagues (based, ironically, on work started by Einstein). Together with his colleagues Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen, Einstein developed the EPR paradox as a way of showing that the theory was inconsistent with other known laws of physics. At the time, there was no real way to carry out the experiment, so it was just a thought experiment or gedankenexperiment. Several years later, the physicist David Bohm modified the EPR paradox example so that things were a bit clearer. (The original way the paradox was presented was somewhat confusing, even to professional physicists.) In the more popular Bohm formulation, an unstable spin 0 particle decays into two different particles, Particle A and Particle B, heading in opposite directions. Because the initial particle had spin 0, the sum of the two new particle spins must equal zero. If Particle A has spin 1/2, then Particle B must have spin -1/2 (and vice versa). Again, according to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, until a measurement is made, neither particle has a definite state. They are both in a superposition of possible states, with an equal probability (in this case) of having a positive or negative spin. The Paradoxs Meaning There are two key points at work here which make this troubling: Quantum physics says that, until the moment of the measurement, the particles do not have a definite quantum spin but are in a superposition of possible states.As soon as we measure the spin of Particle A, we know for sure the value well get from measuring the spin of Particle B. If you measure Particle A, it seems like Particle As quantum spin gets set by the measurement, but somehow Particle B also instantly knows what spin it is supposed to take on. To Einstein, this was a clear violation of the theory of relativity. Hidden-Variables Theory No one ever really questioned the second point; the controversy lay entirely with the first point. Bohm and Einstein supported an alternative approach called the hidden-variables theory, which suggested that quantum mechanics was incomplete. In this viewpoint, there had to be some aspect of quantum mechanics that wasnt immediately obvious but which needed to be added into the theory to explain this sort of non-local effect. As an analogy, consider that you have two envelopes that each contain money. You have been told that one of them contains a $5 bill and the other contains a $10 bill. If you open one envelope and it contains a $5 bill, then you know for sure that the other envelope contains the $10 bill. The problem with this analogy is that quantum mechanics definitely doesnt appear to work this way. In the case of the money, each envelope contains a specific bill, even if I never get around to looking in them. Uncertainty in Quantum Mechanics The uncertainty in quantum mechanics doesnt just represent a lack of our knowledge but a fundamental lack of definite reality. Until the measurement is made, according to the Copenhagen interpretation, the particles are really in a superposition of all possible states (as in the case of the dead/alive cat in the Schroedingers Cat thought experiment). While most physicists would have preferred to have a universe with clearer rules, no one could figure out exactly what these hidden variables were or how they could be incorporated into the theory in a meaningful way. Bohr and others defended the standard Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, which continued to be supported by the experimental evidence. The explanation is that the wave function, which describes the superposition of possible quantum states, exists at all points simultaneously. The spin of Particle A and spin of Particle B are not independent quantities but are represented by the same term within the quantum physics equations. The instant that the measurement on Particle A is made, the entire wave function collapses into a single state. In this way, theres no distant communication taking place. Bells Theorem The major nail in the coffin of the hidden-variables theory came from the physicist John Stewart Bell, in what is known as Bells Theorem. He developed a series of inequalities (called Bell inequalities), which represent how measurements of the spin of Particle A and Particle B would distribute if they werent entangled. In experiment after experiment, the Bell inequalities are violated, meaning that quantum entanglement does seem to take place. Despite this evidence to the contrary, there are still some proponents of the hidden-variables theory, though this is mostly among amateur physicists rather than professionals. Edited by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.