Posted On May 8, 2017
Every year the United States spends about $1.5 trillion in the logistics and transportation sector. Every year trucks deliver more than 10 billion tons of freight over short and medium distances. Every day more than 5 million tons of goods are delivered on the 140,000 miles of rail network that exist in this country. Globally, trade amounts to about $18 trillion a year. That’s a lot of big numbers. With many developing countries becoming wealthier, those numbers will only continue to get bigger. In fact, consulting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) predicts that by 2020, India alone will employ 25 million people in the logistics and transportation sector.
When people talk about supply chains, transportation, or logistics, big numbers are usually part of the discussion. Another part of the discussion are laws, regulations, trade deals, and nations. For example, the following statement, or something close to it, is pretty common: “Last year the United States did about $600 billion in trade with China.”
But that’s not how global supply chains work.
The United States and China don’t approach each other as nations and decide to trade goods. The United States doesn’t knock on China’s door and ask if they want to trade aircraft engines for DVD players. Supply chains develop when thousands of companies decide they are both better off when they choose to do business with each other.
But that’s also not really how supply chains work.
Business isn’t done nation to nation, or company to company.
It’s done person to person.
Supply chains are partnerships, and those partnerships are created by people. The logistics and transportation sector might bring to mind huge container ships crossing vast oceans, fleets of trucks driving across Middle America, or unfathomable amounts of money (like $18 trillion). In the end though, supply chains are all about people.
That’s why Flat World Holdings believes so strongly in developing a culture of excellence across our entire portfolio of companies. We know that when you’re moving millions of dollars in goods over a long distance using practically every form of transportation known to humans, a lot can go wrong. Between the time your products leave the factory floor and arrive at their destination, there are multiple opportunities to lose visibility or run into a customs issue.
When that happens, Flat World Supply Chain, Flat World Hospitality, Ram International, Ram Custom Crating, and Prologue Technology are here for you. Yes, our companies provide a variety of software and technology solutions to help increase visibility and efficiency within your supply chain, but when you need a real, live person to get on the phone and help resolve your issue, we’re here for you.
It’s what we do, and we believe in doing that with excellence. We understand that this industry is big: Big ships, big planes, big shipments, and occasionally, big problems.
But people are what make those big ships and big planes work, and it takes people to solve big problems.
And at Flat World Holdings, we take pride in being the people who can help you get an edge on your competitors by creating the most effective, efficient, high-performing supply chain in your industry.
