Logistics is the ANSWER ... and what was your QUESTION?

This text is the author’s text of our Director, exclusively published in the June issue of the magazine LOGISTICS & TRANSPORT. The text was completely transmitted by the magazine INDUSTRY in its issue for the month of July 2020. Both media reported the text in both print and electronic editions, which strengthened our boss in the position of one of the most interesting Serbian authors and commentators in the areas we ship it. Enjoy!

Everyone mentions logistics these days, politicians, doctors, bakers, pharmacists, sellers, and the most of all analysts. There is almost no press conference or TV report that will not be mentioned in various forms: hospital logistics, military, aviation, distribution, crisis, medical, data logistics, test deliveries, and even diplomatic. Commercial chains say in commercials, “thank you to the logisticians.” It is not just here, Trump and Marcon also use logistics.

It is also a good excuse that the whole world uses these days “we have no logistical possibilities for something like that”. And that is it, we have to ask ourselves what exactly that means, do not have enough money, humanity, equipment, trucks, space, time, hospital, sports halls, masks, lists… Knowledge?

Are the tanks with water or chemicals, placed in the squared that logistics? The picture with tanks, crowds and people with bottles, nervous, everyone is hurrying. If we transfer that picture to a warehouse, distribution drive or logistics center, crowd, operators, forklifts, input, output, pallets, packages, receipt, shipping, invoices… At the end of the day, what is the result? How much total water (read delivery) did we distribute in this way, how many people (read customers) did we manage to supply? How did we serve them, are they satisfied and will they come again?

Actually, the comparison makes sense if we know that the alternative to such a way of working – water supply (automated transport system). By turning the tap (pressing Start) water (goods) reaches a  large of number consumers, as many as they need and then and when they need them. That is why that water supply is considered infrastructure. Any investment in the infrastructure is expensive, but  without it, there is no progress. It is a process that is set up today with the intention of serving for many years, e.g. the bridges are made with a 200-year warranty.

So, we can say that infrastructure for the state is the same as Logistics for the company. More precisely, what is a highway for the state that is a material flow for the company?

Once set, it brings benefits every day. In accordance with the needs of the company, they can ass a rest area or a petrol station to their “highway”. They can also add new toll ramps for exits and entrances,
and when the business outgrows the current capacity, a new lane is added, if necessary in both directions. Modifications and improvements are easy to perform and do not interfere with daily work.

specially important is the fact that great savings are made in energy consumption, in addition to profit; it is also a general benefit that has no price.

Actually, current global developments could make us think more about the common good and act differently. While the virus was far away, we were not very interested. It is the same with climate change, it is far away, it does not concern us, let others take care of it. In addition, you see that it is not like that. Each of us should get involved and make our own contribution. As we have all changed a little these days, we should pay attention and change our attitude towards nature. Planet Earth is only one and so we must treat it that way.

Last year, it seems to me in Australia, a whale died and on the coast, there were recordings on TV. An autopsy was performed, the cause of death was suffocation and 25 tons of plastics, bottles, bags, etc. were removed from the whale’s womb.

How did we come to this?

Only 50 years ago, the idea of buying bottled water seemed, to most people on the planet, absurd to say the least. The first case of the sale of bottled water was recorded at the end of the 18th century. The
bottle was glass. A cheap plastic bottle was invented in the 1940s last century, but it was weak. Polyethylene was introduced in the 60s of the last century and quickly came into mass use – the bottle was stronger. An invention polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in 1973, which was so “solid” that it could hold aggressive drinks such as Coca-Cola or carbonated water, raised its use to a completely new level.

Bottled obsession the water has been moving ever since. In the late 70s, the French brand Perrier invested 4 million dollars in its water campaign, promoting it as a status symbol, a drink for the high class.

Today, bottled water has primacy on the planet; more water bottles are sold than juices, milk or beer. The biggest water producers are in fact juice producers; Coca-Cola (Dasani), PepsiCo (Aquafina), Nestle
(Pure Life)… Global water sales reached an unimaginable 500 billion liters in 2019, while consumption is growing by more than 10% every year – according to a Guardian survey. We spend more than $100 billion a year on bottled water, and it is 300 (Three Hundred) times more expensive than tap water! Let’s say you drink espresso in a café, instead of 150 dinars, you pay 45,000 dinars for it. Funny, is not it?

CONCERNING

It takes 450 to 1.000 years for a PET bottle to degradable, and there are PET bottles that are not degradable at all. Only every 10 th bottle is recycled and, unfortunately, less than 1% PET bottles are recycled more than once, which means that in the end, all bottles end up in the ground, while GreenPeace estimates that 15 million tons of plastic waste end up in the oceans each year.

DEVASTATINGLY

In addition to energy, water is needed to produce a PET bottle. According to a calculator developed by GRACE Communications foundations, 1.5 liters of water are needed to produce a 1-liter bottle. The intense consumption of plastic bottles causes the consumption of fossil fuels, which makes PET bottles one of the factors contributing to increased carbon emissions, a key reason for climate change. It is
estimated that the production of a 1-ton PET bottle releases 3 tons of carbon dioxide.

TERRIFYING

Nearly 1 billion people on the planet has no access to clean water. Every 10 th inhabitant has no access to running water at all. According to Water Aid, nearly 300.000 children under the age of 5 die from
diseases caused by a lack of water every year. That is one child every two minutes.

We should stop ignoring the facts and change our attitude to know properly. The comparisons we hear these days with the time when there was a bombing have no purpose either I believe that, apart from collective empathy, this situation has nothing to do with the crisis during the bombing. Look at the economy on the planet. Is it possible that the world cannot stand for 2 months without serious consequences? Whether everything so tailored-made, that the seams crack if we move a little, not to mention stop? It is very difficult to  say what consequences this crisis will cause, but everyone agrees that there will be serious consequences for the economy.

In such a tense and extremely optimized economy, intralogistics has an extremely important role. Companies that realized the importance of material flows in time by investing in Intralogistics solutions were ready for this situation “handling” challenges without major problems. Good solutions enable flexibility and that is exactly what is required in these conditions – for the state, while flexibility is needed for companies on a daily basis.

Namely, the real sector cannot afford wrong assessments and decisions. The market is such that the client DOES NOT WANT to pay for inefficiency. It wants to feel safe, to know that its investment is in safe
hands that know what, how and when to do.

Trasing Conveyors is known for its holistic approach and innovations. The innovations relate to the solutions, hardware, software, we deliver but also to the entire process. We put a lot of effort into providing an infrastructure that enables efficient work so that we can deliver that efficiency to the customer. Our customers do not have to worry about the functioning of the process in their production or distribution drive. They can dedicate themselves to other elements of their business and that is exactly added value that Trasing delivers.

We made it possible:

• that existing system is maintained without problems,
• that deliveries of spare parts run smoothly,
• that new projects and installations are delivered without delay

We have provided On-Site support in 70 countries around the world, and we cover almost all European countries. In this way, we ensured that, if the borders remained closed to the flow of people, Trasing
could continue to operate in most markets. Imports from the EU take place without problems, as well as exports from Serbia, and the installation in a third country for Trasing is performed by a partner company from that country, under the supervision of our experts. The same goes for holding or emergency interventions.

We do not ask the question when this crisis will end, the innovative organization of the work cycle enables us to do so. In addition to the above, we have taken a few more steps. Unification of frequency products and types, to simplify and speed up procurement and import. Modification of the design of frequency products, to simplify and facilitate the production process. Analysis of the project portfolio, in
order to see the challenges in time and consider alternatives. Also, we strengthened the structure of online services, hotline 0-24h, virtual help desk 0-24h.

Now, in particular, intralogistics principles come to the expression, optimal - efficient - scalable - flexible.

The automated solution enables fast and quality changes in the existing process. Hardware and software can be easily modified and customized. They can be set to low mode, stand by, or turn off  completely. Companies are struggling not to lay off employees, and it is a great relief to learn that, say, transporters cannot be infected with the virus, neither this nor any other. Also, they do not ask for a salary and contribution, they do not go on sick leave, vacation; they even work without a coffee break.

Miloš Gligorijević Dipl.-Ing.
Improving your business since 1984.