Flexibility Measurement within the Service industry

Inhaltsangabe:Introduction: The following thesis was conducted within the confines of Berco Express and seeks to develop a flexibility measurement methodology. Spearheading the introduction of Berco Express, a Logistics Service Provider (LSP), operating in the South African Transportation industry. Company Profile: Berco Express (BE) is part of Berco Logistics Services (BLS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Berco Group, a privately owned company established in 1992. The vision and passion of all the people of this company is to make BLS the customer’s logistics service provider of choice. BE started its courier operation in 1992 and has since grown into a medium sized organisation with 16 branches nationally in South Africa (SA), employing close to 1000 people and over 250 vehicles. Additionally under the BLS umbrella included are the two complimentary divisions Active Warehousing and Clearing & Forwarding. BE standard Courier Services embracing dedicated distribution, domestic and international consignments. In conjunction with the Global Distribution Alliance Network (GDA) all major cities worldwide as well as thousands of towns in more than 220 countries are served. Active Warehousing a newer division is offering in 4 warehouse facilities (Cape town, Durban, Johannesburg and Pretoria) the services below: Receiving, Inventory Management, Order Processing, High Value Store, Value added Services; Services primarily emphasize product flow rather than storage. Revenue contribution from the clearing and forwarding division is based on Business operations in the field of Airfreight, Ocean Freight, Multi-modal solutions, Import & Export and Customs Clearance. The intellectual capital of the BLS group comprises specialists in courier, warehousing, distribution, clearing & forwarding, management information systems, project management and account/contract management. With a contribution of R 210,000,000 to the Total Berco Group Revenue for 2005 and an annual average growth rate of 35% over the previous five years BE has been established a sustainable position within both the Berco Group and the industry. Continuous improvement esteemed as the platform for Excellence has been implemented to guarantee BE’s drive towards Service Excellence. SA’s transport industry recorded in 2006 a total income of approximately R 160 000 million. This presents an increase of 7.1% p.a. over the income reported to the corresponding survey of 2002. The transport [...]