Multimodal Transportation Logistics is pervasive and involves complex decision problems:

Freight transportation planning: efficiency in operations (e.g., large national/international networks) high service levels (e.g., quality, time, costs constraints) sustainability (e.g., impacts on environment and society).

Several actors involved:

Logistic Service Providers (e.g., 1LSP, 2LSP, 3LSP, 4LSP) Infrastructure managers Transportation service managers Manufacturers Distributors and retailers..

TRANSPORTATION
Transportation is an important factor for cost and environmental sustainability of the supply chain Transportation affects customer service level and it is strategic when offering a product or a service, or when a reengineering of the business is planned (i.e. from traditional to web channel) Transportation service performance affect the performance of each related complex productservice system

 Transport Strategy is a key factor for supply chain strategy Supply Chain Strategy is a key factor for company strategy Selection of Transportation Network is fundamental for sustainement of supply chain and company strategy

TRANSPORTATION AND COMPANY STRATEGY

Cost

Responsiveness

TRANSPORTATION AND COMPANY STRATEGY

Example: Traditional bookstore vs online bookstore
bookstores Distribution Center customers truckloads DC

Package carriers

Central Warehouse

DC Higher outbound costs, lower inbound and warehouse costs

TRANSPORTATION AND COMPANY Transport strategy sustain strategies such as direct sell, high STRATEGY personalization, mass customization
Customer segmentation Different lead times High personalization
Manufacturer

Package carriers

Central Warehouse /final assembly

+(OR)
supplier

TRANSPORTATION AND COMPANY STRATEGY There is always a trade off between cost and responsiveness, although some
techniques and technological advances can change the frontier (i.e Cross dock) Most of strategic choices relies on the selection of the right level of customer aggregation, warehouse aggregation, temporal aggregation. This selection resolve in a selection of transportation partner and transportation modes in way to offer the best transport Service

Cost

Responsiveness

MULTIMODAL TRANPORT
Multimodal Transport can be viewed as
the chain that interconnects different links or modes of transport: air, sea, and land into one complete process that ensures an efficient and cost-effective door-todoor movement of goods under the responsibility of a single transport operator, known as a Multimodal Transport Operator (MTO), on one transport document [Sufian Al-Muhaisen].