One of the key things a company needs to put into consideration is the manner in which they transport their finished goods to the market. Transportation plays an important role in ensuring the consumer receives goods from the consumer to satisfy their needs. However, sometimes the mode of transportation a company uses may be facing several challenges which may cost the firm a lot of money. As such, this essay looks at various modes of transportation basing on the Kraft’s Distribution Challenges in China case study.
Krafts may use trucks as their primary mode of transport for their snacks and other perishable goods. In China, trucks used by logistics firms tend to be faster in transporting goods as compared to rail. Due to this reason, it would be better if the company used trucks to distribute snacks and other perishable goods. However, there are several advantages and challenges which the company may face when using this mode of transportation. One advantage of this system of transportation is that it offers a door-to-door type of delivery (Rushton et al., 2014). Truck transportation makes it easy for the firm to deliver their goods to suppliers and their warehouses distributed all over the country. Also, truck transportation is cheaper for the company as it still transports small shipments around the country.
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"Kraft’s Distribution Challenges in China: A Case Study".
In this case, it would be costly for the company to heavily rely on rail transportation yet it still transports its goods in small quantities. One disadvantage of this mode of transportation is that it is limited to the size of goods it carries (Christopher, 2016). Trucks are a better mode of transportation for smaller companies and firms which are new in a certain country as it allows them to transport their goods in small amounts and offer door-to-door kind of delivery. However, if the company needs to grow and transport larger amounts of goods, truck transportation becomes a disadvantage as it is limited to the size of goods carried in the trucks.
Another mode of transportation available for Krafts in China is rail. Rail transport offers the company a chance of transporting their drink products without any worries of the goods spoiling. In China, rail transportation can sometimes be slow as shipment companies wait for the trains to be full before setting off. Such delays may make it easy for perishable goods and several snacks to get destroyed in the process of waiting. However, rail transport is the best for liquid products which have a longer lifespan as compared to the other products. Rail transport offers several advantages and disadvantages to the supply chain sector. One advantage it offers is that it offers transport of bulky goods over long distances (Bhattacharya et al., 2014). Drinks which the company produces are bulky; hence requires a good mode of transport for them to arrive safely at their destination.
As such they require the use of trains for their transportation to the various collection points across the country. Also, trains carry larger amounts of goods as compared to trucks and airplanes. Through rail transport, Krafts can distribute larger amounts of its goods all over the country and at cheaper costs. One disadvantage of rail transport is the lack of door-to-door delivery. Trains do not offer delivery of goods to the warehouses. Suppliers need to get goods from the rail stations before transporting goods again to the warehouses. This entire process not only wastes a lot of time, but it also costs the firms a lot of money (Baldwin et al., 2015).
To conclude, commissioned agents and trading companies are some of the middlemen in China (Coyle, 2016). Commission agents simply are individuals who distribute goods to consumers and other suppliers at a commission. Trading companies are firms which contact international companies that are unable to deal with export consumers in the country and help them supply their goods. These two types of distributors help many international companies in China supply their goods to the consumers and win them more clients. Krafts Company would better utilize trading companies’ services in reaching its clientele. The companies could easily get to the consumers of the company and even help the company expand its business operations in the country.
