07/10/2023

Day 5

Our first visit today was a lecture on logistics management at the Universitate Autònoma de Barcelona. It covered the concept of logistics, the different parts of logistics, the importance of logistics, and the main problems of logistics today. We started off talking about several definitions for logistics and logistic management. Two of the main goals in logistics is to reduce cost and time in the most efficient way possible. The two most important objectives in logistics are efficiency & stability. We discussed a chart that explained the 7 R’s of logistics and where we currently are and where we are headed. The 7 R’s are the right time, place, price, product, quantity, customer, and condition. We got to watch a video that walked us through the transportation process for DHL. It showed a lot of how machines and technology are taking over the jobs and processes in logistics. I asked the speaker if he thought the advantages outweigh the disadvantages of technology taking over in logistics. He said that technology is the future of logistics and it makes companies much more efficient. He said it is difficult to say if they do, but that some technological advances actually provide some jobs even though some are being lost. We discussed a lot about transportation. Globally, 70-90% of all products are transported by sea. Road transportation is the most used transportation in Europe. We looked at a map with transports in the USA. The size of the line is related to the type of transport. As well as being the most important economic part of the US, there are also more transports in the north than the other parts. We also looked at the freight types in comparison for DHL as well as transit time vs transportation cost. The freight types shown were truck, boat, train, and plane. It showed that the plane is the fastest but most expensive, and the boat is the slowest and also least expensive. On the line graph that showed transit time vs transportation cost, the cost reduces as the time increases. He talked to us about the types of cargo ships, and told us that the bulk carrier is most important type of ship. We discussed the supply chain and some of the challenges. Some of the challenges in 2023 include increasing freight prices, shortage of raw materials, port congestion, inflation, digital transformation, supply chain ESG, and demand forecasting. I asked him what he would say is the biggest challenge in the world right now, and he said that sustainability is like climate change. He mentioned that bicycles in the city are unbeatable because they are eco friendly, fast and flexible. We also watched a video on Amazon’s Smart Warehouse. The video explained that deep learning AI helps with what customers would want to buy when looking when they log on to Amazon. We discussed the term gigantism which means to construct more and more big ships. We looked at the trend towards gigantism in maritime transport. He showed us the maritime traffic map website, and the colors represent the type of ship. After the lecture, we headed to La Pepa where the group lunch was. We ate patatas bravas, salad, and anchovy toast. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel and had class. Dr. Gonzalez talked to us about lean tools. After class, I worked on the school assignments.