Logistics and Supply Chain Management, 6th Edition

Gaining visibility in the global pipeline

One of the features of global pipelines is that there is often a higher level of uncertainty about the status of a shipment whilst in transit. This uncertainty is made worse by the many stages in a typical global pipeline as a product flows from factory to port, from the port to its country of destination, through customs clearance and so on until it finally reaches the point where it is required. Not surprisingly there is a high degree of variation in these extended pipelines.

Shipping, consolidation and customs clearance all contribute to delays and variability in the end-to-end lead-time of global supply chains. This is highlighted in the typical example shown in Table 11.1 below. This can be a major ...