Introduction to the Project
FOWADS LOGISTICS Company will be a sustainable logistic company headquartered in Rochester, New York. The company will have branches in Buffalo and Syracuse. These branches will undertake local business and local delivery as well as delivery between the three cities. The customers will be able to drop off the items of the local branch. Besides, they will be able to order online or via the phone answered by the company staff.
The majority of ordered items will be delivered on the same day, especially between any two of the three cities. Where the same day delivery is not possible, the effort should be made in order to deliver on the following day. In all operations, FOWADS LOGISTICS must strive to achieve and maintain sustainability, waste and pollution reduction.
The project will commence on May 1, 2013 and finish on July 16, 2015. The budget of the project will be $4.2 million. Mike Jeffreys, the founding CEO of FOWADS LOGISTICS Company, will head the project.
Introduction to Sustainable Logistics
Logistics refers to the integrated management of all activities needed to move products smoothly through the supply chain (Schwandt & Franklin, 2010). Increased awareness on matters related to the environmental issues and society, growing significance for the economic drivers of sustainability together with the hyped political action and regulation has resulted in the increased demand for the products of sustainable logistics such as carbon offsets (Mckinnon, 2010). Both the business customers and end consumers give preference to eco-labeling in order to become a standard.
FOWADS LOGISTICS Company will undertake a range of logistical activities from freight transport, inventory management, storage, material handling and information processing.
FOWADS LOGISTICS will co-ordinate all these activities in a manner that fulfills the customer requirements at the minimum possible cost. In addition, FOWADS LOGISTICS will be a company, which pays special attention to the external costs of logistics related to climate change, noise, air pollution, vibration, and accidents in order to achieve a more sustainable balance between the economic, social and environmental objectives.
As a logistic company dealing in the services such as transportation, warehousing, inventory management as well as the order processing and packaging, FOWADS LOGISTICS will have a substantial environment impact. As a result, the company will make balance between its need earn a profit, on the one hand, and reduction of energy usage, waste and carbon footprint, on the other hand.
Through the Environ solutions department, the company will incorporate waste, recycling and energy together with the environmental compliance to reduce its carbon footprint, save money and time, and meet the environmental requirements. Thus, the firm must adopt the fuel efficient transportation, electricity management together with the solar energy systems. Special attention will be afforded to health maintenance of both the local and global environments. The company will offer the solid organizational support through the provision of extra resources, employee training and motivation for the green practice. In general, Forwards Logistics looks to be different from the other players in the industry by a thorough knowledge relating to the green practice in logistics. In this respect, the company should undertake the following practical implications:
- The business and its management will be in touch with the environmental effect of its logistics activities. The managers will support the adoption of green practices through the senior management commitment. For the purpose of green supply chain achievement, the firm should engage with the environmental regulators in order to gain an understanding of its environmental performance.
- The company must make the benefits of fuel-efficient vehicles, technologies and other green practices clear and easily understandable to all stakeholders. There will be the consistent human resource efforts such as the awareness-raising programs and staff training (Schwandt & Franklin, 2010).
Project Charter
Project Description
The aim of the project is to establish a new sustainable logistics company, FOWADS LOGISTICS, in Rochester, NY, with branches in buffalo and Syracuse cities. The company will offer third-party logistics to the companies and individuals in the three cities. The company will have the corporate divisions: (1) Mail, (2) Express, (3) Forwarding/Freight, (4) Supply Chain/Corporate Information Solutions, and (5) Financial Services Division.
The focus is made on sustainable logistics because of the growing concern over climate change among many companies and citizens in the United States, especially in the industrial urban centers like New York. Thus, sustainability is a matter of considerable concern for many entrepreneurs and their customers. It would be a pleasure for FOWADS LOGISTICS Company to provide the sustainable solutions. In terms of waste and pollution reduction, FOWADS LOGISTICS will emphasize on reduction of carbon emissions by providing with the carbon-neutral shipping services. The company will also make it a public commitment for a clear-cut carbon efficiency goal.
It is the company’s belief that the pursuit of sustainable logistics will significantly transform the American logistics industry.
Project manager
The Project Manager will be Mike Jeffreys, the founding CEO of FOWADS LOGISTICS Company.
Authority level
The Project Manager will have the following responsibilities:
– promote better mutual understanding among the employees about the project specifications, proposal, drawings, contract as well as the schedule for completion of a project;
– manage the planning and implementation of the business strategy;
– serve as a central point of contact for all submittals, RFI’s, and change orders
– be primarily responsible for the financial performance of the project;
– manage the planning and implementation of necessary changes in the workforce and the equipment requirements within the company (Mckinnon, 2010);
– be responsible for management of the continuous efficiency process and quality improvements within the company;
– offer assistance in the interface between the IT/technical developments and operational requirements for the base and two branches (Morosini, 2009);
– be responsible for managing the creation and solution design process of new company projects;
– be responsible for specification, development, testing, and implementation of any new hardware and/or software requirements for the company;
– be responsible for the layout design and implementation of all operations for the reason of storage and working areas;
– be responsible for managing the planning and procurement/recruitment processes of workforce and the equipment requirements for all operations;
– be responsible for the design and implementation of all above tasks in compliance with the established corporate Health and Safety policies;
– organize and head the meetings needed as a part of the project, develop the action plans, and monitor the action items;
– coordinate the resolution of customer complaints and challenges experienced from time to time.
Objectives
Start Date: May 1, 2013
Completion Date: July 13th 2015
Budget Limit: $4.2 million
Business case
FOWADS LOGISTICS will strive to promote safe, cost effective and sustainable logistics for the companies in its area of coverage. State-of-the-art technology will be used to enable quick scheduling and movements of the orders or specifications. The company will also be keen to establish the working relationships with a wide network of most reputable and reliable carriers in the state, where integrity and on-time bill payment are highly appreciated. Furthermore, FOWADS LOGISTICS will deliver consistent high quality along with on-time performance in order to attain quickly and maintain a strong base of satisfied and loyal customers. The company will adopt an aggressive pricing targeted model that is competitive with the rivals and attractive to the customers. Thus, it can attain the exceptional profit margins. More importantly, FOWADS LOGISTICS will have strong dedication and commitment to the environmental responsibility, where the focus lies on the conservation of natural resources. Therefore, the company will be engaged in the development and promotion of best industry practices. The company is expected to command a market share of 25 percent by the end of the second year, since its inception and growth will be a formidable challenge for the industry leaders within five years.
Product deliverables
- Project Management
- Administration
- Legal Team
- Architectural design
- Procurement
Team Organization
The base station in Rochester will be headed by Mr. Mike Jeffreys, who is also the overall manager of the Fowads Logistic project. Two customer service centers will be housed at the ROC headquarters. The main tasks of both customer services will be to pick online and phone orders from the customers. Totally, the six tracks and drivers will be designated to pick up and deliver the ordered packages in ROC, while package unloading and sorting will be done by four workers. Two drivers will deliver the consignments to the Buffalo station, and another two drivers will make the item delivery to the Syracuse branch. The team organization will be the same at both Buffalo and Syracuse as that at the main base in Rochester, New York.
The Project Manager, Mike Jeffreys, is a 44 year-old B.A. holder from the University of Harvard. He has great civic, academic, and business experience in the global transportation, business services, and other logistic-related tasks. Mr. Jeffreys is also a current member of the U.S. Aviation Hall of Fame. He will be responsible for the overall administration of the project.
FOWADS LOGISTICS will run the package delivery service using the outright employees as opposed to relying on the independent contractors. The reason is that the contractor model is not a reliable long-term success strategy. Though, it is a short-term cost cutting approach, which offers the instant rapid growth, but is not entirely sustainable. The use of in-house employees will be beneficial in the long run, because the company will offer more valuable package such as the insurance premiums to the team resulting in more loyalty and motivation and, in turn, better service to the customer (Morosini, 2009). Starting at a lower-pay job e.g. part-time package handler, the employee will be able to move up the ranks to a job category like a driver at least after four years.