4 Benefits of IoT Every Logistics Company in the Philippines Should Know

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IoT or Internet of Things has been a trend in the logistics industry. It is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer over a network. The concept of IoT, as detailed by Forbes, is basically connecting devices with a switch to the Internet or to each other. The devices range from cell phones to washing machines. The relationship could be between people-people, people-things, and things-things.

With the rise of IoT, logistics companies in the Philippines should get on the bandwagon. Here are 4 reasons why:

Supply chain visibility

Visibility in terms of logistics means that the items to be delivered are being monitored from the manufacturer to the final destination. Since the logistics industry has many parts, having deeper understanding of each process is a must. With the upswing of IoT, you will be updated and informed with a precise and fast data of the items’ whereabouts. IoT will boost the efficiency of the process by using cloud-based GPS and Radio Frequency Identification. These technologies provide identity, location and other tracking information. By accessing data amassed by these devices, automation of delivery can now be made possible. The time of arrival, weather conditions, traffic conditions are just some of its many convenient features.

Enhanced Customer Satisfaction

Estimated time of arrival can now be sent thru customer service representatives. Customer’s needs are now addressed properly due to the accurate and real-time delivery of information. There is an increase in systems’ usefulness which directly affects the overall efficiency of the supply chain process. An enhanced customer satisfaction is an increase in sales, market share and overall company growth.

Inventory Management

Cloud-based inventory systems are able to track items in real-time by scanning them in and out of stock locations. The items’ information can now be stored in the digital inventory system. With the incorporation of IoT into your inventory management, you will be able to pin-point each and every item’s location. This will greatly decrease the number of lost or stolen products and increase management of stock shortages, as detailed by Clear Spider.

Cost Reduction

When logistics companies in the Philippines and beyond, fail to comply with regulatory agencies, penalties could be charged. Compliance with the government’s policies is one of the top priorities when it comes to logistics. With the aid of IoT, increase in accountability and compliance will be achieved. Another aspect in cost reduction includes saving in some of the supply chain’s expenses. With GPS, congested areas can now be easily and swiftly identified. Avoiding areas affected by traffic can reduce fuel costs.

Here are some ways to increase your logistics company’s efficiency and accountability. As stated by Business Insider, many industries and excited customers have pegged the Internet of Things as the next ‘Next Industrial Revolution’ or the ‘Next Internet’. IoT is logistics’ biggest innovation yet. Is your logistics company here in the Philippines ready to join the journey?

Upon hearing the benefits, why not entertain yourself with little facts about air freight.

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Currency, Trade and Sea Freight in the Philippines: How Did They All Start?

Ever wondered how the trading system in the Philippines started? Is there a big difference in the evolution of Philippine numismatics? The development of the Philippine currency is not something that usually comes up in a conversation but once you have scratched the surface of this occurrence in Philippine history, you might be surprised by how opulent the story is. Sea freight in the Philippines, too, is a part of the country’s rich history.

Pre-Hispanic Era

The earliest form of trade was through barter. The early Filipinos exchanged goods or services without the use of money which caused some inefficiencies. As detailed by Choose Philippines, the system’s heavy reliance on the discretion of the two parties led to its demise. It was then replaced by gold. Well before the Spaniards colonized the Philippines, gold was the early form of currency. Barter rings and gold coins or Piloncitos were recognized as the first coinage of the country.

Image Source: bit.ly/2bx7CHb

Acquisition of products came from neighboring countries such as China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Siam and India through the Port of Cebu (Pantalan Of Sugbo). This was as one of the earliest forms of sea freight in the Philippines. Cebu (which was then called Zubu), was already considered as a “bustling trading center” which was vital for its economic growth. This led to Cebu being dubbed as the “Queen City of the South”.

From other parts of the Philippines, the Port of Manila (Seludong or Sleurung) was also an important form of sea freight in Philippine for it was a part of Ancient Tondo. Tundu (as Tondo, Manila was called during that time) was a thriving Indianized kingdom in the 9th Century. Diplomatic ties with China during the Ming Dynasty were also prominent and the city had a strong alliance with Brunei. Tondo back then was a prosperous city.

Image Source: oocities.org

Spanish Era

When the Spaniards colonized the Philippines, the trading industry in the Philippines flourished which initiated the Galleon trade (Kalakalang Galyon ng Maynila at Acapulco). This made the Philippines known as a trade center for oriental goods. Trades from Acapulco and Mexico to Manila transpired. The form of currency then were through “cobs”, “macuquinas”, “pillar dollars” and “counter stamped coins.” These were in silver.

In the 18th century, because of the Ayuntamiento of Manila, it was declared that barillas (crude bronze or copper coin worth about a centavo) should be used due to shortage of coins. In 1852, peso fuertes, were issued, making it the first banknote of the Philippines.

The discovery of the route from Acapulco-Manila Galleon trading was a pivotal event that ignited modern and Liberal ideas. According to Philippine-History, Basco’s Reforms enabled a self-sustaining trading system that helped the economic growth of the Philippines.

Image Source: coolbuster.net

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Image Source: bworldonline.com

Screenshot from youtube.com

The Aftermath

A lot has changed ever since the Colonial period. The Philippine currency experienced several tweaks. Coins turned into paper bills and paper bills changed its size and color. Trading is much more than a simple ‘exchange of goods’. Gone are the days when you would barter your fish with chicken. Sea freight since then opened the doors to the Philippines’ globalization!

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Brief Timeline History: Sea freight Forwarding

The world was surrounded with a huge amount of bodies of water. Before the invention of technologies, people was not able to go through neighboring countries without being stopped by the unstoppable bodies of water that could swallow them up but for some reasons people was still able to advance on their natives ways and resulted to innovations that changes how living works.

Innovations that conquered the world little by little extending to the birth of business. As for business concerns, people had come grown to developing new technologies each day. They’ve developed such inventiveness that even transporting good through the sea is made possible. Created wonderful watercraft ready to carry large sum of loads. And given way to make freight forwarding a reliable way of delivering goods.

Sea transport, people’s way of carrying goods from one place to another by means of a vessel. Upon the idea of the sea transport, ship transport has been the familiar name, this transport could either be by a boat, ship, sailboat or barge to any distance may it be through oceans, lakes, canals, and along rivers. In simplest terms, it is any material that could be moved through the sea.

Shipping containers have been around for quite some time but when you go 60 years back, such machinery has not been possible and this luxury of having goods transported through the sea was just a dream of the visionary.

I think it’s about time that we delve into the goodness and greatness of the before and rise of shipping containers. On what was the means before such has been invented and how it finally came to be.

Before the rise of Shipping Containers

It was of known facts that people has been able to transport not just themselves but food and other goods as well just ask the Egyptians, Greeks, Roman and more recently the British. Though they may be able to ship goods themselves, it was clearly not under any standards resulting to slow and ineffective process.

Break bulk cargo has been the popular choice at that time where they store the goods in a warehouse and load them by hand onto the ship once it is ready for transport. And the ships could only carry 200,000 pieces of cargo.

It was until early 1900’s that the issue of lack of standardization has been greatly seen which slowed the flow of business for quite some time. This method has been so slow that transferring cargo from ships to train became a cry for help. For centuries, this method was the only way to transport goods. Imagine how tiring and slow it must have been.

The name Malcolm Mclean

Malcolm Mclean born on 14th November, 1913, an American businessman. On 1935, he co-founded Mclean Trucking Co. together with his sister Clara Mclean and his brother Jim Mclean. The trucking services included delivery of empty tobacco barrels.

In 1950, a successful Mclean with 1750 trucks and 37 transport terminal has experienced dilemmas in his business. Then came the fining of overloading cargoes. From then on, it hit him, an idea that spark into a vision that could change transporting goods for ages.

He idealized of constructing a standard sized trailer and then be loaded to boats exceeding the loading capacity of the trucks he once used. From such brilliant idea, he abandoned most of his trucks and focused on transporting goods through the sea.

From then on his trucks has been the way of transporting goods in short, intrastate deliveries. Hence being able to diminish levying fees which were introduced in the time.

Birth of Intermodalism

On the 26th of April 1956, Ideal X has sailed the seas from New Jersey to Houston. Due to having features of lockable containers and offers 25% discount on cargo transport that greatly affect how goods should be transported.

It was since 1960 when intermodal shipping container has been the favorable choice of sea freight. It was solely base in these two (2) reasons:

One was due to the vision of Mclean that helped eliminate dockside break bulk unloading bottlenecks.

Another was the introduction of standardization of container sizes giving way to mass production of container-handling equipment and a large sum of investment on ships.

From then more innovation has been made possible. The biggest container ship that ever sailed the seas was constructed for Maersk (Maersk Mc-Kinney Moller) which can hold up to 18,270 TEUs (9,135 boxes).

Advantages of Shipping Container

Containers have been so much help it could give you these advantages than inland transport: standardization, flexibility, costs, velocity, warehousing, security, and safety.

From such innovation, business expansion was made possible and reaching offshore deliveries is now easy breezy. Being able to widen your reach could mean to more potential customer could see the business leading to more opportunities and success.

Brief timeline history: Sea freight forwarding was brought to you by Metro Combined, the leading land, sea, and air freight forwarder here in the Philippines.

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Traffic Congestion: A Threat to Economic Growth

Everyone who has been on the streets of Manila will surely understand the struggles one must need to go through in order to get to a destination. Looking around your immediate location will make you understand that this issue is not just a result of poor urban planning or lack of discipline; many other matters also make every day traveling feel like a torture. This is not just a problem for commuters and motorists, but also a hazard in the economic growth of the Philippines.

The condition of the public roadways in the Philippines has been a constant threat to businesses in providing quality services. This is not just limited to freight forwarding businesses, delivery services, and couriers. To start off, setting deadlines with the clients can end up in conflict if the traffic congestion isn’t put into consideration. Every minute that is lost while stuck in traffic can also mean added production cost in form of gasoline. The extended hours on the road also means extended hours exposed to possible accidents on the road. These are the reason why it is necessary to plan ahead and consider the threats that may occur while on the road to avoid additional expenses. 

So how is the traffic congestion hurting us as a nation? To put it simply, the traffic congestion is hindering even the littlest of the citizens in fulfilling their occupational obligations. It is both physical and mentally straining which may also hurt their individual affect work performance. Collectively, that could hurt us as an economy. This could mean a decline in the business performance and may discourage foreign investors. Without these Investors, there won’t be enough jobs to provide to the continuously growing population of the country. 

If you will try to identify the main cause of the traffic in the Philippines, you will realize that I will take enormous efforts to resolve it. The government hasn’t been lying down either in trying to address the issue of traffic congestion in the country. They are constantly searching for solutions that will make it bearable for everyone to travel and to enforce order. These are: 

Number coding scheme

Image Source: abs-cbn

The Unified vehicular Volume Reduction Program (UVVRP) or Number Coding is a traffic decongestion scheme which bans private and public utility vehicles from plying the roads on weekday peak-hours. For more information about this, visit MMDA – Things you need to know about the number coding scheme

Truck ban ordinance on main roads

Cargo trucks mostly used in a trucking services are motorized vehicles intended to carry cargos having a gross capacity weight of more than 4, 500 kilos. Refer to MMDA – Truck ban ordinance for further information.

Bus segregation scheme

Image Source: manila.coconut.co

Bus segregation scheme tends to limit the location the buses can stop to load and unload passengers. Visit Rappler - INFOGRAPHIC: How to find the right bus on EDSA for a visualize simplification.

Road widening projects

Road widening projects have taken effect to accommodate more vehicles on the road. This was under Republic act no. 917, for a broad explanation of this law just visit Official Gazette – Republic Act No. 917.

The traffic congestion in the country is a problem that is hurting us as a nation and needs to get addressed to keep us moving forward. It is not just an issue that freight forwarders or delivery services should learn to adapt to. With these numerous schemes being implemented and only minimal observable improvement, maybe it's time we start addressing the issue from a different point of view. Market localization and decentralization, anyone?

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Cargo Vessels Used in Freight Forwarding: Tanker

From my previous article about ‘Cargo Vessels Used in Freight Forwarding: Dry Cargo Vessel’, here is the continuation of the cargo vessels used in forwarding.

In the early ages, transporting goods to neighboring states or countries can only be done through the sea with a trusted shipping company in the Philippines by your side unless the area is connected with enough landmass to walk or pass by on without hassle. To make trades with another country, one must convey sea freight forwarding through ships or vessels yet could not afford to transport in bulks. But as the years passed by, magnificent innovation have ruled the world. Being a freight forwarder  in the Philippines will not be a hassle anymore. The society now has modernized means of transportation resulting to secured and delivered goods.

In a sea freight business, most of the products to be delivered are heavy duty, some are liquefied and most of the time temperature-conscious. One must consider the needs of the products to be delivered to result to effective forwarding.

A liquid vessel or mostly known as the tanker (or tank ship or tankship) is a merchant vessel designed to transport liquid gasses in bulk. These vessels range its size capacity to several hundred tons depending upon the amount of freight to be delivered. Major types of tankship where oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and gas carrier. Fun fact about tankers, any type of tanker used to refuel other ships is called an oiler.

Oil Tanker

An oil tanker or petroleum tanker was built for bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers:

Crude Tankers	Oil Tankers
- Are tankers that weigh large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries.	- Are tankers responsible for moving refined product from refineries to points near consuming markets and much smaller than crude tankers.
- These tankers have difficulty in docking due to their supersize so instead, it was unloaded at offshore pumping stations/ terminals.	- These tankers carry petroleum, diesel, asphalt, jet fuel, tar and lubricating oil. They also carry petroleum bulk products such as palm oil.

These tankers classification varies from their size as well as their occupation. Their size ranges from inland or coastal tankers of a few thousand metric tons of deadweight (DWT) to the mammoth ultra-large crude carriers(ULCCs) of 550,000 DWT.

Source: Wikipedia

The Zoroaster tanker is the world’s first tanker named after the Persian prophet Zarathustra. It was operated on 1878 and built with steel (Bessemer variance) while its oil holds were built with iron.

Chemical Tanker

A chemical tanker is a tanker ship solely built to forward industrial chemicals and clean petroleum products in bulk, these ships also carry other types of sensitive cargo that requires heavy cleaning of tanks, these are palm oil, vegetable oils, tallow, caustic soda, and methanol.

These tankers have identifying specialize coatings to determine the type of cargo the tank is carrying, such as aggressive acid cargoes: sulfuric and phosphoric acid and easier cargoes such as vegetable oil could be carried in epoxy coated tanks. Through its coatings, determining the level of cleaning should be taken effect from the coatings of the vessels. The coatings have such huge influence in this type of tanker.

Gas Carriers

Gas carrier or gas tanker is designed to forward liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), liquefied natural gas (LNG) or liquefied chemical gasses in bulk. It has a design feature of having spherical tanks for cargoes with strict temperature which is under high pressure and often at low temperatures. These carriers require specialist terminals and handling equipment in loading and unloading of the freight.

Source: Wikipedia

LGNs are usually larger than LPGs, Q-Max being the largest type of liquefied gas vessel. Q-Max name was a combination of names, ‘Q’ being Qatar and max as the maximum size of ship able to dock at the LNG terminals in Qatar. It size measures to 345 m (1,132 ft) being the length, beam sizing to 53.8 m (177 ft) and height of 34.7 m (114 ft) with an LNG capacity of 266,000 cubic meters (9,400,000 cu ft), equal to 161,994,000 cubic meters (5.7208×109 cu ft) of natural gas. Making Q-Max as the largest LNG carriers in the world.

This article is brought to you by Metro Combined, the leading land, air, and sea freight forwarder in the Philippines founded since 1997.

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The Role of Logistics Companies In The Philippines and the Undertakings They Need to Commit to

Wouldn’t it be convenient if we can just ride a bus to take us to Cebu, Palawan, or Davao? For an archipelago like the Philippines, traveling has always been a disadvantage. Unlike the United States of America wherein one can easily drive from one state to another, the bodies of water surrounding our country makes this impossible. This is also a major hurdle in business. The topography of our country makes it harder for goods and products to reach other provinces without careful business planning. Luckily, there is a solution that connects us with the other islands in the Philippines.

Freight transport has been the refuge of businesses in the Philippines to overcome the topographical and geographical hurdles. Partnering with a logistics company that offers freight forwarding services, air freight, and sea freight as well as trucking services will make transporting goods easier, opening a window for a wider market. Following the principles of the law of supply and demand, a businessman can take produce that is abundant in one place to another place where that produce is needed but is scarce, and sell it for a higher price. This could lead to higher profit if utilized properly.

In plain view, the freight forwarding system seems simple. People might think that you just need to own a truck, a ship, or a plane and you can ride the freight forwarding business train. If you think it’s that easy, then you’ve never been so wrong. Let us breakdown some of the technical issues that a freight forwarding business needs to undergo.

To start off, it is important to understand that the Philippine Economic Zone Authority is the government office that is responsible for checking the services of logistics companies. A person who would like to start up a logistics business in the Philippines needs to commit to the following undertakings, as enumerated in the registration form to be an Ecozone enterprise:

1. That the applicant is capable of operating, on a sound and efficient basis, and of contributing to the objectives of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority in particular and to the development of the national economy in general;
2. That the project is economically, technically and financially sound;
3. The applicant proposes to engage, in good faith, in the creation of a market for its project/product;
4. That the applicant has installed/undertakes to install an accounting system adequate to identify the investments, revenues, costs and profits or losses of the project covered by this application separately from the aggregate investments, revenues, costs and profits or losses of the other business activities of the applicant not registered under Republic Act No. 7916, as amended by Republic Act 8748 or has established/undertakes to establish a separate entity for the project/activities covered by this application if so required by the Authority. (Applicable only if applicant is engaged or proposes to engage in undertaking or activities in addition to the project covered by this application); 
5. The exported products/services meet the standards of quality established by the Bureau of Standards or in default thereof, by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, or by such public organization, Chamber, group or body as the Authority may designate.
6. Domestic raw materials and supplies will be used in preference to imported goods whenever these are available at comparable quality and price.
7. That the applicant shall submit periodic reports and other information, pertaining to its activities in the Ecozone that the Authority may require;
8. That the applicant has read Republic Act No. 7916, as amended, and the Rules and Regulations adopted by the PEZA and commits itself to abide by the provisions thereof as well as amendments thereto;
9. The applicant will start and operate the project covered by this application within such reasonable time as may be fixed by the Authority;
10. That the applicant's Board of Directors has authorized the filing of this application in accordance with the terms thereof if the applicant is a corporation;
11. That applicant has neither opened nor cause to be opened a letter of credit or entered into a contract for the importation of capital equipment for which tax exemption will be claimed, prior to its registration with the Authority. (Approval of the project brief containing a list of capital equipment proposed to be imported does not amount to an implied approval of the tax-free importation of said capital equipment; a separate application for this importation should be submittedfor PEZA approval.)
12. Applicant shall comply with all rules and regulations on exportation of Philippine products/services promulgated by the Central Bank, Department of Finance, Bureau of Customs and other government agencies.
13. Pursuant to the provisions of Sec. 3 and Sec. 14 of R.A. 3019 (Anti-Graft Act), the applicant-enterprise has not given or promised to give and will not give any gift to any officer or employee of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority in connection with the filing and processing of this application.
14. The applicant's Board of Directors has authorized the release of the portion of its project study entitled "Brief Description of the Project" to the public.
15. That based on the records of the applicant, no Board member or officer of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority has an investment or any other financial interest, direct or indirect, in the applicant's enterprise; and
16. That there exists no dummy relationship between any of the stockholders and/or principal officers of the applicant and any foreign individuals/business entity.

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Land Transportation Makes Forwarding A Lot Easier

For over decades and decades upon its first creation, roadways have undergo major changes for the people’s benefit. Roadways play an important role on business transactions such as freight forwarding. In the Philippines, nation’s infrastructure was not being focused on, not until these recent years. The government has been investing on projects for the improvement of the country’s pathways.

Land Transportation could be classified into three (3) categories mainly the roads, highways and expressways:

Roads

The Philippines’ roadways has measured to 199,950 kilometers (124,249 miles) of roads, of which 39,590 kilometers (24,601 miles) are paved. The roadways were under the care of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), but as how things have been going, the roadways development have been passed on to Local Government Units (LGUs). The nation’s topography have its fair share of hurdles, due to its mountainous areas and scattered islands. But through some innovative minds, transportation have progressed from being by feet or horsepower to by engines and fuel-powered machineries.

In rural areas, the roads make or break a forwarding business. Sending goods in remote areas could really be challenging but through major efforts, pathways has been undergoing enhancements for better handling of freight transport.

Highways

Highways make transporting goods a lot easier from its purpose on connecting major towns or cities. The Philippines’ highway includes roads categorize into six (6) divisions: the Maharlika Highway, Controlled-access highways, the Regional Highways, the Provincial Highways, the Manila Arterial Road System, Pan-Philippine Highway and the secondary city and municipal avenues and roads.

Source: Wikipedia

The Pan-Philippine Highway, also known as Maharlika ("Nobility/freeman") Highway was proposed on 1956 and built under President Marcos’s governance. Its main purpose is to connect the islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao to make moving of goods less costly and more efficient.

Expressways

An expressway is functioned to reduced traffics among connecting towns or cities. It was designed to have a controlled entrance and exit, dividing ongoing to outgoing lanes and each sides both have two or more lanes resulting to decrease unwanted heavy flow of traffic and increasing on road safety.

The Philippines have modernize their roads turning it into expressways. And its most widely-known expressways were located at the main island of the country, Luzon. The first expressway systems in the country are the North Luzon Expressway formerly known as North Diversion Road and the South Luzon Expressway, formerly known as South Super Highway. Both were built in the 1970s, during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos.

Source Wikimedia

The North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) under the operation of Tollways Management Corporation is a 2 to 8-lane limited-access toll expressway connecting Metro Manila to neighboring provinces of the Central Luzon region. It was designed to expand the reach of local transport coming from Manila to another town or city. The routes entrance and exits were divided into two ends, North end: Mabalacat-Magalang Road (in Barangay Sta. Ines, Mabalacat, Pampanga) Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (in Mabalacat) and South end: Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (in Barangay Balingasa and Pag-ibig sa Nayon in Quezon City) A. Bonifacio Avenue (in Balintawak, Quezon City).

The South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) is the country’s another important expressway, it serves the southern part of Luzon. The expressway is a network of two expressways that connects Metro Manila to the provinces of the CALABARZON region in the southern part of Luzon. It was still under construction expanding pathways for the public to improve passable roads to far away areas to reduce the unwanted cost of land transportation.

Having ways to transport goods is both beneficial to the consumer and the producer. Being able to do 

so will produce more opportunities for the society’s growth.

This article was brought to you by Metro Combined, leading freight forwarder, provides logistics solution and trucking services.

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Cargo Vessels Used in Freight Forwarding: Dry Cargo Vessel

In the freight forwarding business, one of the means of forwarding is through the sea. The earth is surrounded by bodies of water. And in order to deliver goods is by having a vessel and a shipping agency philippines fit for the job. One of the goods being delivered were dry. An example of dry goods will be metal ores, coal, steel products, forest products, and grains.

Dry cargo vessels are ships that carry dry cargo such as boxes, bales, bags, or lumber, which is normally hand-stowed. These vessels are not precautious due to the fact that they carry dry goods. Dry goods are not temperature conscious. It also has on-deck cranes and other mechanisms for the loading and unloading of goods.

Dry cargo vessels Types

Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) Vessels

RORO ships are vessels designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, trailers, and railroad cars. These vessels have either built-in or shore-based ramps which make the cargo be easily rolled on and off the vessel when in port without causing any damage to the goods. There are various types of ro-ro vessels such as ferries, cruise ferries, cargo ships, and barges.

Source worldmaritimenews.com

Mark V class, being the world’s largest ro-ro with a cargo capacity of almost 1, 400,000 cubic meters and first begin its operation in the year 2011. It was also named as ‘Ship of the Year 2011’. Each Mark V Class vessel measures over 260 meters lengthwise with a width of slightly over 32 meters and a draft of about 11 meters. It truly is magnificence for what it was cut out for.

General Cargo Vessels/ Break Bulk Cargo

Source: maritimejobs.org

General cargo vessels are designed to handle break-bulk cargo such as bags, cartons, cases, crates, and drums, either individually or in unitized or palletized loads and move packaged merchandise from one location to another. These cargos have its own cranes and other heavy lifting machinery needed in loading and unloading of goods. Generally, they carry cargo that is too large to be carried in a container. 

Bulk Carrier/ Bulk Freighter or Bulker

A bulk carrier is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore, and cement in its cargo holds. Bulk carriers could be identified by how it was built mainly from the construction of the cargo which was divided into separate cargo holds and covered hatches.

It was known to identify goods carried through abbreviations to describe bulkers. "OBO" describes a bulker which carries a combination of ore, bulk, and oil, and "O/O" is used for combination oil and ore carriers. The terms "VLOC," "VLBC," "ULOC," and "ULBC" for very large and ultra large ore and bulk carriers were adapted from the supertanker designations very large crude carrier and ultra large crude carrier.

Source: www.aukevisser.nl

MS Ore Brasil previously known as Vale Brasil is a very large ore carrier with an overall length of 362.0 meters (1,187.7 ft), making her one of the longest ships currently in service owned by Brazilian Mining Company Vale.

Container Vessels

Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. These ships load and unload their cargos through gantry cranes which move the containers straight between the vessel and the truck, removing the need for a warehouse. 

Source: Wikipedia

The Maersk Triple E class container ships comprise a family of very large container ships (more than 18,000 TEU). The name "Triple E" is derived from the class's three design principles: "Economy of scale, Energy efficient and Environmentally improved". These ships are expected to be not only the world's longest ships in service but also the most efficient container ships per twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) of cargo.

This article is brought to you by: Metro Combined Logistics Solutions Inc

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Hurdles of Starting Business in the Philippines: Topography

There are many factors that we need to consider when starting up a business. If one would like to be proficient in this field, it would take more than experience, knowledge, and strategies. Even exceling in business courses cannot guarantee you of success as a businessman. We have seen how big business rise and fall. And I guess we can agree that this is true: there is no guaranteed formula in business. We need to understand that every business if different from one another and they would need unique set of rules, regulations, and business plans to set everything rolling. Even the careful study of data, figures, and economic trends can only be used guides in plunging in to this complex world of business.

Business opportunities, target market, and business location are just some of the important factors that a person venturing in business needs to know. But for today we are drawing your attention to one of the easily ignored factor in business: topography.

We might have all heard about topography in our science and geography classes and yes, it is what you think it is: the arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area. More than being a term we’ve heard in academic classes, topography plays a big role in strategizing for business. But before we go down into the details, let us break down the physical features of our country, the Philippines.

The Philippines is the largest archipelago in the world that is found in the southeastern coast of the Asia mainland. Philippines is surrounded by water in which in the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Celebes Sea, and on the west and north by the South China Sea. The country consists of 7,107 island and islets. Only 2000 of these islands are inhibited. The populated and mountainous islands are grouped into three: Luzon, the biggest island group, covers 141,395 square kilometers; Visayas, 56,606 square kilometers; and Mindanao, 102,000 square kilometers. Other main islands are Samar, Negros, Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol and Masbate.

Ever wondered what the oil price hike has got to do with the prices of other products? It is because consumers also pay for the expenses companies allot for distributing/moving their goods. And seeing how this works, we can say that any mountains, plains, desserts, and bodies of water can aid or hinder a business. The Philippines, being an archipelago, is surrounded by bodies of water. There are a handful of businesses that can really take advantage of this like sea freights, sea cargo services, etc. But for businesses that depend on the distribution of their products and service for profit, this could be a problem. Distributing to all the corners of the country would be costly since it will be necessary to partner with an air freight or sea freight company to be able to cross regions and distribute to other parts of the country. This could limit the potential of small scale businesses, farmers, and fishermen especially those who cannot afford freight services.

Realizing how topography can make or break a company, a smart businessman can come up with a sound business plan or solution that can take advantage of hurdles of Philippines’ topography. Running a business is all about strategy, and the more you understand about the things around you, the further you can go.

This article is brought to you by Metro Combined, a top of line logistics provider and freight forwarder in the Philippines.

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Is Freight Forwarding Necessary?

Nowadays, most companies require a certain means of shipment whether by land or air or sea. Having a well trusted freight forwarder will not just benefit the clients but to their customers as well. Good reputation is equals to higher sales.

Definition

A freight forwarder, forwarder, or forwarding agent, also known as a non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC), is a person or company that organizes shipments for individuals or corporations to get goods from the manufacturer or producer to a market, customer or final point of distribution. Forwarders contract with a carrier or often multiple carriers to move the goods. A forwarder does not move the goods but acts as an expert in the logistics network. These carriers can use a variety of shipping modes, including ships, airplanes, trucks, and railroads, and often multiple modes for a single shipment.


In its simplest form, a freight forwarder acts as the guy who arranges your importing and exporting of goods.


Benefits of investing in Freight Services


The deliveries should be transported on the exact time at the exact moment or else major loss could happen to the company. Here are reasons why you should fund for a freight forwarder:

• On-time delivery of goods. A goods forwarder ensures the quality of the goods being delivered as well as it being on time. They choose better route for faster delivery.
• Service will be done professionally and effectively. They give insurance and customs documentation for the assurance of the goods being delivered in good condition.
• A freight forwarder provides clients a well-established communication.

In choosing for a freight forwarder, always have a keen eye for its qualifications and the reputation it has established for effective and efficient delivery of products so the return of investment will be as good as it promised.

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