Supply chain crisis and its impact on the global trading.

We leave a 2021 full of surprises behind. 

This year and for the first time, potential problems in the supply chain become general news. It was bound to happen on one given sector, sea shipping, which stands for 90% of cargo moved globally.

This ending year is marked with two main events regarding sea shipping. March, Ever Given gets stuck at the Suez Canal, causing a global stall and keeps the logistics industry at unease. Year’s end, right before Christmas Sales we suffer the supply crisis. It had to happen sooner or later on one given sector, sea international shipping, which stands for 90% of cargo moved globally.

 

eGlobe transitario barcelona

Sea shipping is both economical and practical. Since their creation in 1956, Cargo containers became the core of globalization. But, for that same reason, now it’s facing natural constraints; well-known limitations that affect considerably the shipped goods cost are:  Port operations, available fleet and, no wonder, timings. It’s only impossible to shorten the transit time between Shanghai and Barcelona.

These three conditioning factors set what we experience this year. The first hint came on March, with the Evergreen’s vessel getting stuck at the Suez Canal. Since then, it became clear how brittle the supply chain really is, that one sole event reaches global scale. It also revealed how much in terms of costs and provisioning an event like that can cost.

That affair became merely anecdotic when, not long after, workers started noticing that demand defies the carrying capacity. This outcome takes shape swiftly and the limitation previously stated face two unavoidable facts, after a 2020 ruled by contraction. First, the astonishing rise on goods demand. And, also, the vital need to make profit by the companies.

The outcome is easy to imagine. Ports are facing extreme peak loads. Vessels on the standby are a source of over costs. On top of that China, more reclusive by the day,  Hampers real-time tracking of cargo, which compromises its traceability.

All that is taking place alongside the rising in energy costs, making up for an unsettling scenario.

 

Shipping companies, the firsts beneficiaries

In those settings, the only benefiting are Shipping companies. Freight forwarders like eGlobe will make our best to palliate this situation, of course. But let’s not forget that in the last decade, many shipping companies have disappeared, for they could not compete against the sector giants.

The resulting sector is one under strict oligopoly regime, with its consequent toll on the price. Few things can be done by the remaining tiers in the chain, instead of relocating the increment in price to the final client. A situation that surely will take some time to settle.

But there’s more. This dominant situation preceding this year’s events and it has already risen suspicion and complaints among the providers of logistical. 

Short-term consequences are difficult to prevent. For some, everything will resolve thanks to market adjustments, where global commerce shall get used to: returning fruitful activities to import countries and taking more protective measures.

Others, support the idea of this current situation longing still for some years. Reoccurring problems are too numerous to foretell a quick recovery: energy, raw materials, production structures… All of them work against short or mid-term solutions. 

However, this point of view introduces advantages too. The apparition of new shipping companies that increases competitivity can be expected, and a change in prices downward.

So, in the meantime, ¿What do we do?

Logistic operators are left tasked with searching, foreseeing and preparing. And, on top of that, must focus on the clients and partners, against big multinationals, whose interests doesn’t always agree with importers and exporters.

Our focus is to facilitate tasks for clients and workers alike with dedicated technologic solutions, high reactivity focused on improvement and efficiency, also, proximity granted by our global correspondent network.

eGlobe

Freight forwarder from Barcelona offering full transport solutions from efficiency, transparency and professionalism. With a strong sense of closeness and custom service.

If you’re planning to ship your goods, at eGlobe we work with all kinds of portages, and very competitive prices. We encourage you to order a contribution without any obligation.

Talent is our organization’s main asset

   “Talent is our organization’s main asset”. Apart from an absolute truth, this is one of the most recurring statements in the speech of CEOs and business leaders when addressing employees in the frame of meetings and events’ celebrations.

barcelonatalentlogistics.com

   However, how does the activity look like when it comes to Talent Acquisition and Talent Management in the Logistics industry? Thorough studies on this subject, platforms like Glassdoor and several public/private institutions in the EMEA region seem to agree on certain trends and standards:

  • The average time from the moment a white collar vacancy comes up until the new talent is in place is around 90 days.
  • Staff turnover in the first 3 months from start date is near 22%.
  • Regarding the level of satisfaction of employees with their own role, survey metrics show a range between 60-70% of detractors/neutrals, 3 months after joining.

   The above, along with massive other data and indicators, reflects an immense cost in terms of productivity, work environment, staff turnover/burnout and employee’s lack of trust, while the financial impact for the organization is ultimately enormous.

   “Talent is our organization’s main asset” should not be just a declaration of will, but serve as the kick-off of a well-developed plan to acquire and nurture talent to the highest level according to the business needs. No excuses, no appeals. Logistics enterprises need to further develop their vision towards this subject and make a commitment to upgrading its level of professionalism so as to improve competitiveness in the market.

   Making logistics enterprises increase competitiveness, by upgrading their standards in Talent Acquisition and Talent Management. This is the exact goal Barcelona Talent Logistics is established for, while delivering excellence in 5 key stages along the way:

 

  1. Talent Need Analysis: this is where one of the main problems usually lays. The lack of in-depth understanding regarding the exact need that the business requires, makes the purpose of acquiring the right talent unfeasible. A clear insight into the role, its requirements, work environment, organizational culture, reporting lines, department’s structure or company’s concept must be the base line for each single process to acquire talent.
  2. Talent Mapping and Segmentation: this activity should be always conducted previous to the recruiting need coming up. A proper identification of all potential candidates for a particular role is a work to be done upfront, not to delay the process for the acquisition of talent later on. A thorough knowledge of the logistics talent community and powerful software for talent segmentation and lead nurturing is crucial for the success of the strategy in Talent Acquisition.
  3. Candidate Assessment: behavioural patterns are far better predictors of future performance than any other indicator in most of the roles in Logistics. However, are we assessing behaviours properly, along with traits, qualities, hard skills, cognitive capabilities, expectations, motivations, financial needs,…? Once again, a great part of this activity must be performed upfront, not to lose efficiency afterwards, throughout the process. Additionally, technology and artificial intelligence need to be applied within this stage, as we will need massive data to be exchanged with leads and candidates, while avoiding time-consuming tasks for them.
  4. Decision-Making Process: hiring managers and business leaders are the ones to decide what exact talent to be hired for a particular role. However, decisions made in this stage may lead to losses/profits in dozens of thousands of euros. Therefore, this is actually the stage where more clearly Talent Acquisition experts must provide valuable and structured information to the business, so as to maximize the chances of making the right choice.
  5. Appraisal and Performance Management: certainly, acquiring the right talent, at the right moment, in the right place is a great advantage to make the business succeed. However, employees life-cycle is influenced by a wide range of factors, which need to be assessed on a regular basis by experts in Talent Management. Thus, managers will have access to up-to-date data and thorough analysis concerning the talent under their scope, for them to lead their teams appropriately and create, consequently, a positive impact on the financial performance of the business.

      Logistics is one of the most added value activities across companies, thus it must be left to Logistics experts. Talent is the most valuable asset in your company, thus it must be left to Talent Acquisition experts.

 

José del Moral

Chief Executive Officer

Barcelona Talent Logistics

Travel smart, travel with Bags & Go

The last day of vacation is supposed to be done to relax, but from the moment you have to worry about finding a way to get to the airport on time, until you make sure you have packed all your luggage, finishing the vacation is everything less relaxing. Why put up with the stress to travel when you have the easiest way to reduce this stress within reach? 

Once you have decided to say goodbye to all the frustrations that come with going to the airport or train station dragging suitcases and wasting all day without taking advantage of your last hours, you will realize that luggage shipping is increasingly popular and intelligent. With Bags & Go it has never been so easy to travel without worries and especially without suitcases. 

Imagine for a moment a perfect last day of vacation. You wake up in your hotel or apartment and you realize that your last day of vacation has arrived. You take it very calmly because you know that Bags&Go will pick up your bags wherever you are and that it will return them to you at the agreed time and place that you have decided. From here, you have a whole day ahead to enjoy Barcelona. Thanks to Bags&Go you have been able to visit the city, eat quietly on a terrace and do the last shopping without dragging any suitcase. When you use Bags&Go, your getaway can be that easy. Don’t be the only one dragging your luggage. Travel smart and you will enjoy more.

 

WEB: bagsandgo.com

El creuer MSC arriba a Barcelona

Bags&Go welcomes MSC Grandiosa and all its passengers, giving them the opportunity to visit Barcelona without luggage. MSC Grandiosa wakes up in the port of Barcelona around 6:00 am with more enthusiasm than ever. The leading cruise company, in the Spanish market, resumes operations in the port of Barcelona, being the first cruise with an international itinerary that operates since the cruise activity stopped in 2020.

For seven nights, the cruise will visit the most symbolic cities of the Mediterranean in which passengers will once again feel the experience of traveling together with safe health measures. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated people will be able to enjoy the wide variety of activities offered by the cruise. Sales of this route with departures from Barcelona have been open since June 7, 2021 and includes carrying out an antigen test on passengers who disembark in Barcelona. The General Director of MSC cruises in Spain highlights that he is very happy to have one of the newest MSC cruises ships in Barcelona after more than a year without operations in our country.

Barcelona is one of the most important ports for the company in the Mediterranean and that is why MSC Cruises maintains a commitment to the city, Barcelona, and the entire region of Catalonia.

Six proposals to promote the rail freight transport

Barcelona-Catalunya Logistics Center (BCL) has written a document with six proposals for infrastructure improvement and management that are easily executable so that rail transport becomes competitive. The document raises easily executable actions that facilitate the development of efficient and competitive rail services that respond to the intermodal and transport needs of Catalan companies.

At a time when digitization and logistics drive commerce and competitiveness, the promoters of this document consider urgent advances to be needed so that rail freight transport is aligned with economic needs. Also because it helps the declared continental and intercontinental logistics vocation of Spain, the modal rebalancing and the environmental improvement.

At present, the modal share of the railroad in Spain considering the terrestrial modes is very low, of the order of 5% in t-km. However, and in spite of the orographic conditions and other limitations, as stated in “Report on the supervision of the rail freight market” of December 2016 of the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC, hereinafter), this The quota could be between 13-15%, at the level of countries like the United Kingdom and France that have relative relative weights of industrial GDP in their economies. The growth potential of rail freight transport is multiplied in Catalonia, which accounts for almost a quarter of industrial production, which is the industrial engine of Spain according to recent statistics from the INE. In addition, Madrid and Catalonia are the two most logistical communities in the Iberian Peninsula, which is why they need to have competitive rail services between them and with the rest of Europe.

You can read the manifesto below:

[gview file=”https://clusterlogistic.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/MANIFEST-PER-A-LIMPULS-A-CURT-TERMINI-DEL-TRANSPORT-MULTIMODAL-JUNY-2017-CATALÀ-Versió-Definitiva.pdf”]

Contribution of the logistics to the economy

This report gives continuity and updates a previous one that was born of the concern of a group of businessmen and professionals related to the logistics sector when they interpreted that the economic weight of the activities developed for this sector was not collected in a way sufficiently adjusted or exhaustive to official statistics. In this case, what is the real contribution of the logistics to the economy?

Based on the known data, we can conclude that the lower threshold of the contribution of logistics to the economy is 12.63% of GDP. This 12.63% is explained by the contribution of the VAB of the sectors that traditionally identify themselves as logistics activities (4.84%) and the intermediate consumption (purchases) carried out by companies of these activities to companies of others Sectors (7.79%).

Contribution of logistics to the economy

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Evolution of logistics during the last century

Let’s review the evolution of logistics since the 30s until now.

Years 30 “Military logistics”

After the Second World War, the interest of business by the logistics process arises and an analogy is established between military logistics and technical material supply and military logistics is begun to be related to industrial production.

Years 50 “Conceptualization of logistics”

Logistics becomes more important due to the transition that goes through the most developed countries, from an economy characterized by excessive demand to an economy with excess supply, with these being their main characteristics:

  • First developments of the total cost of logistics operations.
  • It focuses on the concern to satisfy the customer.
  • Distribution channels are of particular importance. You want to sell any product anywhere.
  • Increase new products, as a result the product lines are originated.

60 Years “Outsourcing”

Logistics took a new approach where “outsourcing” was the most appropriate mechanism to reach customers, since it had as its main objective the subcontracting of other companies because the flow of goods or information was efficient and reached all parts That were within the reach of the company.

Years 70 “The concept of trial logistics”

  • Customer service becomes an indispensable requirement to continue competing with market leaders.
  • Progress in the concept of physical distribution.
  • There are periods of recession and growth in the world economy.
  • Development of the inventory management strategy.
  • The technology for the industrial revolution that occurred during these times began to emerge, and the cost of information technology was reduced to improve the quality, which brought about an improved mechanism for the supply of the goods Or information accurately and precisely at the time the customer made their order, this mechanism is called “Just in Time”, that is just in time

Since the 80’s “Modification of preferences” 

  • The energy crisis of the moment drives the movement towards the improvement of transport and storage.
  • Just in Time’s approach was modified by Quick Response (QR) and Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) with the sole purpose of seeking a precise delivery with the exact amount, when and where needed, to meet To the customer.
  • Changes in supply chain preferences where special attention is paid to suppliers, distributors and customer service, defining the end-user’s demand.
  • Inventories, total logistics costs are reduced, and delivery times are shorter.
  • Logistics operations are energy-intensive: environmental-ecological concern is born.

1990 “Promotion of logistics

Logistics went on to become a more integrated process in terms of its external and internal environment, in other words, its internal processes within the company were managed according to the relationships that were with its customers and suppliers.

This process of integration causes logistics management to begin with a strategic plan regarding the design of how to reach the final customers, in order to go out and minimize competition, establishing efficient plans for the supply of the products.

  • Technology continues to position itself in conventional Logistics processes and Distribution channels
  • Outsourcing services
  • Demand for logistics services expands

Conclusions

Day by day it is observed that to put into practice a good business logistics management is essential, it has developed over time and is now a basic aspect.

A perfectly designed logistics project is the most strategic tool to compete with the demanding current market, achieving customer loyalty.

All these changes that were adapted over time in the administration of the logistics caused not only to administer an internal process that goes from the manufacture of the product until it acquires the client, but now it is ‘They analyze a whole network of supplies that involve various process flows, which is now known as the supply chain management, which must also take into account intermediate customers such as distributors and retailers in the process What is done because the product arrives at the customer.

This supply chain involves several stages such as suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and clients, which the new administration integrates them interconnectively, since each one is self-sufficient in an increasingly competitive market. Supply chain management currently seeks integration into all the decision phases in its Chain, which has had a great growth for the revolution of technology, which has led to the strategies being based on the quality of the relations between the participants in the supply chain, which seeks to align them with the objectives Of the company. All in order to give a better service to the end customer, in addition to giving greater satisfaction value and the customer to become loyal to the company.

What do we mean when we talk about “Logistics”?

Definitions to be taken into account in the field of logistics:

COMMERCIAL LOGISTICS : It is key to the value chain since it incorporates the product, designs and identifies the need for new products or services.

DISTRIBUTION : Refers to the external movement of products from the seller to the customer or buyer. Distribution logistics and the physical distribution of the product are equivalent terms.

BUSINESS LOGISTICS : Since its origins in the military field, business logistics has evolved and has become a branch of industry and services, providing solutions for management in almost all business areas.

INTEGRATED : It is the set of resources and tools to improve business management:

  • reduces the costs of maintaining inventories
  • helps deliver better customer service
  • decreases capital investments

INTERNAL : Internal is the internal operating activities of the company.

INVERSE : It is responsible for recovering and recycling dangerous packaging, packaging and waste. It also deals with the processes of returning excess inventory, customer returns, obsolete products and seasonal inventories.

PORT LOGISTICS : Its efficiency in procedures and the costs associated with the operation of the cargo, are very important for the growth of a national economy, being a fundamental part of the port logistics strategy in the markets Countries.

History of logistics

The birth of logistics goes back to when people stored food in caves for the purpose of having food during the cold and long winter, managing what we now know as the procurement process and inventory control.

At that time the products were not transported, so humans were forced to live near the places of production maximizing the present and future profitability of civilization in terms of costs and effectiveness.

The Romans always had a logistic as administrator of material resources in their armies

In ancient times of Western civilization between the years 500 and 430 BC, the Greeks used the term logistic to define the kind of reasoning that used mathematical symbols and numbers. On the other hand, in Athens, the officials who calculated the needs of the State

We think that the so-called modern logistics has its origin in the field of military engineering :

  • troop movement organization
  • hosting
  • transport
  • victualling

In war situations, the efficiency to transport and store materials and food is vital and military logistics is incorporated into the business world from where logistics techniques evolved to their current concept.

With the appearance of the trade is when the logistics becomes essential, as they begin to present problems:

  • coordination on the production line
  • Raw material supply
  • Product storage and distribution

And at the same time that production increased, it became necessary to invest in:

  • Infrastructure
  • communication networks
  • transport

The Industrial Age and Modern Business

During the process of industrialization, companies began to work in a more complex logistics chain to reduce the essential objectives of the industrial company in the most efficient way possible with minimal effort. The companies that adapted to the changes in the logistics of their production chain were positioned as leaders during this time, acquiring great competitive advantages.

Origin of the word “Logistics”

The word logistical comes from the Greek root Logis, which means calculation and Logistic Latin, term with which was identified in times of the Ancient Rome to the administrator or Intendant of the armies of the Empire.

It is also believed that it comes from the word loger, of French origin, the meaning is to inhabit or to house.

Also referred to the Major General des Logis, member of a staff, in charge of accommodating or cantonment of troops in different campaigns.