Supply chain management in the modern world demands a new approach towards shipping not only to reduce production costs but also to be reasonable in terms of fuel expenditure. Indeed, “do not ship air” and “do not ship water” are now the foundational principles of many successful businesses. These ideas indicate the need to organize product transportation so that there will be minimum or no empty space and unnecessary items will not be placed. The essential elements of Porter’s value chain, which views business activities in systems, are inbound and outbound logistics as well as internal operations (Mind Tools, n.d.). The logistics part ensures that the storage and transportation of raw items and ready products are performed in the most efficient way (Mind Tools, n.d.). It means that the maximum number of required commodities should be sent in one delivery.
The same logistics and organization principles used nowadays were relevant in the past. One such example is the Silk Road, which was one of the major supply chains and cultural exchange sites of the ancient and medieval world (Coates, 2012). Specifically, merchants and agents sold various valuable products along the road or delivered them to foreign states (Coates, 2012). Since transportation took a relatively long time during that period, people strived to utilize the available space effectively. If individual merchants had to consider practical packing, the leaders of caravans were obliged to think about the safest routes and transportation methods (Mhugos, 2019). For instance, they had to choose camels wisely depending on the climate of the places they traversed (Mhugos, 2019). Overall, the supply chain management of the past and present have many common features, especially regarding the wise use of space and routes.
References
Coates, R. (2012). The Silk Road – The first global supply chain. Supply Chain. Web.
Mhugos. (2019). Ancient Silk Road – First global supply chain. SCM Global. Web.
Mind Tools. (n.d.). Porter’s value chain. Web.