Effektivisering av marina containerflöden : en fallstudie på Bertling

Sammanfattning: Logistics is an important concept in the organizational context in which the planning of flows, services and products are treated. Logistics handles supplier management, supply of materials, production and distribution. The distribution of goods can be managed with different types of transportation depending on price and time aspects. The lowest transport cost for larger amount of goods is by maritime shipping. A common carrier used in transportation of goods is a standardized ISO- container. ISO containers can be used in several transportation modes like boat, rail, truck and flight. When imbalances in the container flow between export and import occurs surpluses or deficit of containers. If deficits occur then the containers have to be imported empty and then filled with goods for subsequent export, this action is called repositioning. The purpose of the study is to identify different parameters to improve the efficiency of marine container flows and to create a basis and recommendations to the case company Bertling in Gävle. The focus has been on improved service levels, reduce the environmental impact and improve profitability. Bertling is providing tailored transport solutions worldwide. The container flow in Gävle is more export-oriented rather than import-oriented. The reason of this is the strong industry in the region, the industry goods are exported in containers from the port of Gävle to global customers. As a result there is a shortage of empty containers and capacity on the ships which means constant searching for disposable containers. The case company experience this problem frequently. Through a semi-structured interview with a representative from the case company, an empiricist was created. The interview was followed by a literature review from scientific articles, books and other publications. The information gathered was analyzed and discussed. Through this we were able to find conclusions and recommendations which is an abductive method to do research. Through the analysis of empirical data with the theory as basis we have developed several parameters that can impact the container flow. The identified parameters are as follows: Inventories of containers, container design, the balance between export and imports, communication, relationships in the supply chain and route planning. Using these parameters the company and other organizations can improve their container flow for increased service levels, profitability and environmental benefits in marine transportation