Intermodal Logistics Assessment - Challenges and Recommendations for ACFS Port Logistics Company

The study evaluates the challenges faced by ACFS Port Logistics Company in Sydney in regards to intermodal logistics management and provides recommendations for effective resolution. The role of the NSW government in resolving the challenges is also analyzed.

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Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary
The study is focused towards the evaluation of the various challenges that are faced by the
logistics operations of ACFS port Logistics Company. The Sydney port branch of business of the
company has been considered for the study. The various challenges in regards to the intermodal
logistics management of the organization have been provided. Moving forwards
recommendations for the effective resolution of the challenges have been provided. The role of
the NSW government in resolving the various challenges faced by the organization is provided.
The implications point towards the need for better cooperation between the government and the
freight logistics organizations concerning the matter.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Issue identification with logistics....................................................................................................3
Recommended Resolutions.............................................................................................................7
Involvement of Government of NSW in the resolutions...............................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................14

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Introduction
The report is in regards to the logistics management functions of intermodal
organizations. The various issues that are faced in the logistics management functions of the
companies are identified and subsequent recommendations are provided towards resolving the
same. The selected organization for the study is the Sydney operations of ACFS port Logistics
Company. Intermodal logistics refers to the transfer of heavy goods and various kinds of
containers through the usage of more than a single type of transport vehicle. For example-
transporting containers by road and loading them to be transported by the sea. ACFS is one of
the premier intermodal logistics companies in Australia with branches located across various
Australian cities. The report is focused towards the greater understanding of the problems that
are faced by the specific logistics company in the context of the city of Sydney. The wider
impact of the logistics management functions of the organization concerning New South Wales
have been considered essentially for effective evaluation. The issues of the company in Sydney
is identified. Subsequently, recommendations are given in regard to the applicable solutions.
Moving forward the role of the Government of NSW in the tackling of the significant challenges
have been analyzed. The analysis of the issues and the evaluation of the situations that form
hindrance to logistics management are studied. This helps in the effective evaluation of
organizational logistics and aspects that are greatly connected with the same.

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Issue identification with logistics
As a port logistics company in Australia ACFS has many important functions of logistics that are
important for the sustenance of economic growth and development of the various areas. The
features of intermodal logistics enterprises are usage of many modes of transportation,
availability of terminals for the effective shift of load from one transport mode to the other and
location in areas of large inventories. These are the areas where the port logistics branches of the
company are largely located (Auscfs.com 2019). The Sydney location of the company is one of
the prime location in the state of New South Wales. The exact location of the company is Port
Botany. It is the largest integrated logistics facility on the port. Road congestion around the
logistics facilities have been a significant issue that has affected the intermodal organizations
over the years. This greatly hampers the transportation of goods to various parts of the city
(Black et al. 2018). Other significant issues are the high growth volumes of the containers in the
past years, lack of effective rail connection infrastructure, rail siding constraints at the DP
terminal and requirement of investment to increase the rail connectivity infrastructure. Along
with these issues there are also many other ongoing issues that often affect the logistics
management of the organizations.

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Figure 1: ACFS port logistics logo
(Source- Auscfs.com 2019)
A significant issue is the forecast for the further growth of the container volumes over the
next 20 years (Industry.nsw.gov.au 2019). All the issues have led to significant problems
concerning the logistics management at ACFS. As one of the largest intermodal companies in
both Australia and Sydney ACFS needs to effectively address the issues in order to operate at
significant functional levels that can enhance the productivity of the organization. Intermodal
logistics companies have large scope of operations and often lead to growth in trade and
commerce of a given region (Karakikes and Nathanail 2017). However, that lack of optimized
infrastructure is affecting the productivity of the organization. This also leads to the inefficient
management of logistics in the company. The company has large international clientele and can
suffer larger losses in the future is the ongoing issues with logistics continue in Sydney and the
NSW.
Many of the above mentioned problems are not limited to Sydney alone but are larger
issues in the context of the state of the New South Wales. This contributes to an even larger risk
concerning the management of the intermodal logistics functions of the organization. The
transport functions of the company essentially takes place across the state and expands to other
bordering states. The problems encountered in the NSW can continue to harm the productivity of
the company in the other states and across the country (Pace and Ricci 2018). The significant
problem as discussed above are congestion, infrastructure and investment requirement that is
much important towards optimizing the functional aspects of ACFS. The congestion of the roads
that are adjacent to the logistics facility is a significant problem as intermodal transport vehicles

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can have great difficulty in operating through the congested roads of the city (Van Der
Westhuizen 2018). The proximity of the congested areas to the logistics bases of the city will
cause further issues in regards to time maintenance. Moreover, the rail facilities are not updated.
As a result of the same the companies can potentially face larger risk due to the probability of
accidents. Moreover, the company will not be able to cope up with the transportation volume that
can be done through the inefficient rail infrastructure. As a result of the same the company will
become limited in its scope for realizing crucial business opportunities.
The requirement of investment by the government becomes very important at this point
as without the lack of proper infrastructure the economy will be hampered in the NSW region
due to the large scale logistics management functions that are maintained by intermodal logistics
companies such as the ACFS. Rail connectivity is a significant problem and the lack of the same
will affect the company in many ways. Lack of rail connectivity will mean that the company
would have to take alternative more expensive transport modes (Industry.nsw.gov.au 2019). This
will greatly affect the cost of transportation for the company which eventually will contribute
towards the lesser profitability of the organization. At the same time the container volume of the
port in Sydney is increasing which will mean more pressure on the logistics management firms
in the organization (Roso, Black and Marušić 2017). This will ultimately lead to the
underperformance of the city in terms of growth potential due to the lack of required
infrastructure to address the growing requirement for logistics management.

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Figure 2: Port Botany
(Source- www.arcadis.com)
Recommended Resolutions
Effective strategies need to be implemented in order to tackle the vast number of issues
that seem to be affecting the logistics network in Sydney. The strategies that should be formed
by the ACFS should be focused towards the essential management of the various issues in
regards to infrastructure, congestion and container handling pressure. The company operates in
the busy Port Botany. This area is facing issues in relation to infrastructure and congestion that
can affect the transportation of the goods. Moreover, another issue that has been identified is the
non-optimized levels of infrastructure along with the rising volumes of freight containers. It
becomes important that newer strategies are devised to tackle the larger identified issues. The
strategies should be focused towards maintaining the flow of logistics, increasing productivity
and reducing the costs concerned with the functional aspects connected with the logistics
network. Improving the logistics network is also an important factor while strategizing the
progress of the organization.

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Along with the organization implementing strategies for the better management of
logistics functions, it is much required that the local authorities also contribute towards
improving the infrastructure of the city. The same holds true for the transportation oriented
problems such as congestion. Congestions in close proximity of the facility of ACFS can affect
the functionality of the port. This will inevitably affect the productivity of ACFS as the company
will have to suffer delays in shipments and transfer of containers. The present clients view delay
very seriously and are lesser tolerant towards even mild delays in receiving shipments. The ways
in which this can be resolved is through the introduction of better traffic management systems.
There can also be newer entry and exit points to the ports that can be constructed in order for the
companies to avoid the busy congested roads for transport. Intermodal transportation is
dependent on various modes of transport hence the building of infrastructures that facilitate the
transfer of containers from one mode to the other easily can provide great feasibility of
operations. There is the requirement for building newer terminals. This can be subsequently
optimized through the rail roads. Construction of terminals at crucial areas of the railroads can
smoothen the process of transportation. This primarily requires the building of stronger rail
networks, which is one of the main identified issues with the logistics management.
There is a greater need for investment on infrastructure that can increase the feasibility of
logistics operations. The investments need to be strategized in accordance with the growing
pressure of logistics in the city of Sydney. Intermodal logistics management implies
transportation of goods through various modes of transport. This requires more effective and
efficient infrastructure. Thus, investment should also be made in ways that will ensure the long
standing effectiveness of the infrastructure towards strengthening the logistics management in
the city as well as the region. Moving forward the increasing volume of the containers

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necessitates the usage of vehicles that will have larger carrying capacities. This will ensure that
on a primary level the operational capability of the organization will increase. The larger
vehicles will be able to carry larger volume of containers and contribute towards the optimization
of the functions of the organization.
However, it should be remembered that considering all the strategies that need to be
implemented, there is a definite need for integrating the strategies in order to devise channels
through which efficient management of logistics will be possible (Taniguchi, Thompson and
Yamada 2016). Hence, there is a requirement of optimal development of the resources that are
required for the improvement of the logistics functions of the organization. Better transportation,
better roads, better terminals, better rail facilities and better management of congestion will
contribute to the better growth and development of the logistics functions of the city. There is a
strong requirement for better planning in this case. It is important that all the stakeholders that
are connected with the organization as well as the freight logistics industry in the city get
involved. This is necessary as Port Botany caters to the logistics operational requirements for the
larger part of the city of Sydney. The implementation of the plans to resolve the issues
essentially depend on how far the logistics functions of the organization can be improved
towards reducing costs and improving effectiveness of the logistics processes at the same time.

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Figure 3: Intermodal logistics
(Source- www.wsj.com)
Involvement of Government of NSW in the resolutions
It is very important that the government of New South Wales take active participation in
the process for improving the logistics network in the city of Sydney. The government of the
NSW need to devise special plans for the essential infrastructural development of the city. The
transportation infrastructure of the city should be provided preference while forming strategies
towards enhancing the logistics management of the organization. The activity for infrastructural
development need to take place through various phases. The government has a crucial role to
play in the development of the various aspects that will enhance the productivity of the logistics
network. The NSW government had previously identified the industry of freight logistics as a
priority industry that need to grow though the effective implementation of innovative methods.

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The NSW premier launched the Government Statement of innovation in 2006
(Industry.nsw.gov.au 2019). The function of this was firstly, to develop a strategy that will be
innovative in its support provided towards the growth of the local economy. Secondly, the focus
of the same was towards the development of industries that can greatly contribute essentially
towards the economy of NSW.
The most important functions in regards to implementing essential actions to improve the
condition of the freight logistics of the organization can be carried out by DSRD. It is the
Department of State and Regional development. The barriers to the development can be
identifies as cost and availability of resources. Hence, it is important to understand that the needs
and requirements of the government for improving the infrastructural and developmental
requirements for improving the logistics functions of the enterprise. As discussed the
government has a strong task for improving the logistics functions of the city and state. The first
phase will depend on the planning and essential understanding of the issues concerning the
freight industry. This will require forming the overview of the logistics in the state, identification
of innovative methods and the barriers to the same and the implementation of effective
technology. The second phase will require the benchmarking of the work to be completed and
strategizing the development process. The third phase will quite obviously be the formation of
policy. The importance of the third phase is that the policies will be directed both towards the
development of the required infrastructure and the effective overseeing and monitoring of the
progress of the developmental works.
The government has more role to play towards developing strategies to address the
ongoing issues that affect the logistics management as an industry in general. Development of
better rail roads and terminals is dependent on the government agencies. The NSW government

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have to take large scale projects that will address the major issues that have been identified. The
same will contribute greatly towards better development of the infrastructural facilities of the
city. It becomes very important that the city authorities invest towards the building of newer
roads that can contribute towards better transportation for the enhancement of the freight
services. The government finance agencies have to calculate an initial cost for the
implementation of the projects for infrastructural development (Industry.nsw.gov.au 2019).
Sustainability model should be used by the government for the development work that is
required. This means that the government needs to form special authorities that can maintain the
infrastructures and the management function for freight logistics that will be developed. For
constant development of the industry, committees need to be formed that can monitor the
development and maintain the effectiveness of the new processes that will be implemented. In all
the developmental authorities need to judiciously consider the kind of work that need to be done
for the effective tackling of all the challenges that can arise in the way of freight logistics.
Further sustainable functions will require the effective participation of the economic agencies of
the government (Lu and De Bock 2016). Freight logistics greatly contributes to the economic
growth of the city as well as NSW in general and need to be treated as essential functions for the
development of the state. Organizations like ACFS should be given more assistance from the
government.
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that a lot of factors affect the business proposition of logistics
companies that operate in Sydney or the NSW region. The study helped to find out the crucial
factors the limit the amount of operation of the logistics enterprises of the country. Hence, it
becomes important that organizations like ACFS devise plans to understand problems that

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concern their business and take effective steps towards managing the challenges that they face.
The need is to develop infrastructure, optimize the railroads and increase transport capabilities.
These need to be effectively implemented. However, the study pointed out that along with
strategies at the organizational level it also becomes necessary that effective strategies are also
implemented by the government agencies to solve the identified problems. The most important
function will thus be to strive towards the development of cooperative relationships between the
government and the organization. The city of Sydney is one of the most important ports of
Australia and freight logistics are one of the largest contributors to the positive growth of the
city’s economy. It is important that the city and state authorities join hands with the large
corporations to develop sustainable development policies for logistics management.

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References
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