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links of ‘Move’ and ‘Sell’ and are intrically linked to ‘Buy’ by the contract of sale. The only link of the supply chain that was not used is that of ‘Make’ as it is mainly related to manufacture and even though they form part of the supply chain, production logistics were deliberately excluded form this work. The activities and relationships within each one of the 16 modules have been visualised and sequenced using flowcharts similarly as presented in Figures 5 to 7.

Simulating the Performance of the Supply Chain

The translation of the flowcharts of the modules into both MS Excel and GPSS block charts was the next task. The flowcharts of the modules clearly indicated that the processes involved were sequential and in some cases could be running in parallel, e.g. the selection of the route, the preparation of the cargo for export, packaging, and the preparation of the documentation. The processes also are stochastic and random particularly with respect to the KPIs representing time and costs of the supply chain. For simplicity and reduction of work, it was decided to express time taken and costs incurred by activities as ‘observed’ distributions to be used in conjunction with random numbers rather than to translate them into mathematical expressions. For this reason spreadsheet simulation was selected for ease of application and comparison of the results of the two simulation systems. GPSS WORLD was readily available and could be used to develop simulation block charts to assist with the application of distributions based on industrial observations and experience as well as for visualisation of the processes and identification of bottlenecks in the selected supply chain extending from theFar Eastto North-West Europe to as shown in Figure 8 below.

Figure 8: The selected Supply Chain from the Far- East to North-West Europe

Figure 9 below shows an extract from the spreadsheet whilst Figure 10 offers an appreciation of the GPSS model.

Figure 9: Spreadsheet Model of the Supply Chain Simulation

Figure 10: GPSS Simulation Model of the Supply Chain

Extracts of screen prints taken during the performance of the GPSS simulation are shown in Figure 11. The input data for all distributions used in the model is industry based and has been extensively checked and rechecked with the help of internationally active freight forwarders.

Figure 11: Extracts of Screen Shots of the GPSS Simulation

As indicated at the start of this section, the purpose of ITeLS was to incorporate eCommerce into freight transport as part of the supply chain. As IT has been used in international freight forwarding and freight transport logistics for a considerable time with varying extent and sophistication, the purpose of the simulation of the supply chain was to explore the influence of the use of eCommerce, basically the use of IT in the provision of freight transport logistics services. This has been achieved. The effects of the extensive use of IT on time and costs in the selected supply chain from theFar Eastto NW-Europe are presented in Figure 12 below.

Figure 12: The Influence of IT on the Supply 本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。