In the agricultural industry, the importance of transportation costs increases considerably as fuel and labor costs climb. Logistic cooperation is an important strategic alternative to reduce transportation costs and ...In the agricultural industry, the importance of transportation costs increases considerably as fuel and labor costs climb. Logistic cooperation is an important strategic alternative to reduce transportation costs and increase efficiencies. Georgia＇s ornamental industry is characterized by producers that share clients, routes and origins; however, each producer has an independent transportation system. This paper analyses a case study to determine if a transportation alliance, through a horizontal cooperation and routing junction among ornamental producers in Georgia, would reduce shipping costs, increase distribution efficiencies and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Routing and cost analysis were conducted followed by a sensitivity analysis for each constraint. Results showed that with the use of the GIS ArcLogistics 9.3 software, transportation alliances in the ornamental industry are profitable in terms of transport efficiencies and internal and external costs. Total cost savings per shipping cycle ranged from 1.0% to 13.2%, miles driven savings ranged from 1.1% to 13.6%, total number of trucks required savings ranged from 2.5% to 10% and driving hours savings ranged from 1.0% to 18.4%. CO2 emission reductions were also achieved ranging from 1.2% to 8.4% per shipping cycle.展开更多
文摘In the agricultural industry, the importance of transportation costs increases considerably as fuel and labor costs climb. Logistic cooperation is an important strategic alternative to reduce transportation costs and increase efficiencies. Georgia＇s ornamental industry is characterized by producers that share clients, routes and origins; however, each producer has an independent transportation system. This paper analyses a case study to determine if a transportation alliance, through a horizontal cooperation and routing junction among ornamental producers in Georgia, would reduce shipping costs, increase distribution efficiencies and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Routing and cost analysis were conducted followed by a sensitivity analysis for each constraint. Results showed that with the use of the GIS ArcLogistics 9.3 software, transportation alliances in the ornamental industry are profitable in terms of transport efficiencies and internal and external costs. Total cost savings per shipping cycle ranged from 1.0% to 13.2%, miles driven savings ranged from 1.1% to 13.6%, total number of trucks required savings ranged from 2.5% to 10% and driving hours savings ranged from 1.0% to 18.4%. CO2 emission reductions were also achieved ranging from 1.2% to 8.4% per shipping cycle.
