Transport management in small and medium-sized enterprises in Brazil

Ricardo Silveira Martins,Guilherme Silveira Martins,Wescley Silva Xavier,Osmar Vieira De Souza Filho

doi:10.12660/joscmv3n1p55-66

Abstract

The research reported in this paper, looks at the internal processes of Brazilian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) concerning the transport decision. SME represent over 99% of the formal enterprises in Brazil. The sample size was 400 industrial companies (with up to 100 employees) of Brazilian manufacturing sector. The results indicated that shippers do not use transportation as an opportunity to create competitive advantages. In addition, to get the needed services, Brazilian SMEs tend to buy transport services, readily available, without concerns for future transactions and more stringent and systematic criteria for the selection and evaluation of the service.

Highlights

The management of transport in the organizations implies in decisions on how to move materials and finished products between different points of certain businesses’ network
The perception of a high level of service, which was tied to the efficient movement of raw materials and finished products between different geographical points, evolved to the search of efficiency of logistics processes, which meant that other attributes of the service were incorporated into the core of the decision-making about transport, such as the fulfillment of deadlines, the transparency of costs and the development of appropriate services which are integrated with suppliers and customers
The objective of this study was to evaluate the internal processes of the enterprises concerning the decision taking to hire transport and the satisfaction of small size shippers in relation to transport services

Summary

Introduction

The management of transport in the organizations implies in decisions on how to move materials and finished products between different points of certain businesses’ network. The perception of a high level of service, which was tied to the efficient movement of raw materials and finished products between different geographical points, evolved to the search of efficiency of logistics processes, which meant that other attributes of the service were incorporated into the core of the decision-making about transport, such as the fulfillment of deadlines, the transparency of costs and the development of appropriate services which are integrated with suppliers and customers. An important part of business competitiveness is in the correct design and implementation of transport strategies, with greater or lesser impact, depending on the type of business. Such a strategy of operations should be aligned with corporate strategy, as highlighted by the seminal article by Skinner (1969). This means to decide on alternatives to service levels (frequency and pre-arranged time for loading and deliveries), ownership of the fleet (own transport or use of third parties’) and how to consolidate loads (lots and location of operations)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion