Technology and Logistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Technology and Logistics - Essay Example In the IT landscape of an organization, a TMS usually â€Å"sits† between the order processing system and the warehouse management system of an ERP. Ideally, TMS should include both the inbound as well as outbound orders. Load Consolidation: Organizations can reduce their transportation costs by consolidating on various considerations such as routing, delivery date, capacity, customer preferences etc. This will help in reduction of both billable as well as payable freight costs. Route Planning and Scheduling: This enables an organization to find out the most efficient and cost-effective route plan. Using this functionality, an organization can assign orders and customers to routes, move orders and customers between routes, rearrange route sequences, establish balanced zones and territories, and pool equipment and driver resources according to established business rules. Freight Audit and Payment: A TMS allows calculation of full bottom-line freight costs and evaluation of rating and service options. This enables a supply chain manager to improve its freight audit accuracy. Generally, a TMS is integrated with ERP and other Financial systems of the organization to give a complete picture throughout all the departments of the organization Freight Procurement: This feature of a TMS helps organizations to manage the various types of bidding processes such as incremental bidding, multi-round bidding and expressive bidding. It facilitates online bidding from 3PLs Multi-modal Transportation: A TMS also allows an organization to choose between various modes of transportation including ocean, rail, air, road, barrage and ferry etc. and arrive at the best combination of modes to increase efficiency. Shipment Tracking and Trace: This feature allows customers as well as managers to track their consignment online. The almost real time accurate tracking enables efficient sharing of relevant

Positivist, Interpretive and Constructivist Approaches in Social and E Literature review

Positivist, Interpretive and Constructivist Approaches in Social and Educational Studies - Literature review Example Reference to two chosen research articles will be used to illustrate how research styles are used today.   Those articles are,† Does the Auditory Saltation Stimulus Distinguish Dyslexic From Competently Reading Adults?† by Joanna Kidd and John Hogben (2007) and â€Å"In Maturation of Visual and Auditory Temporal Processing School-Aged Children† by Piers Dawes and Dorothy Bishop (2008). The attempt will be made through discussion to determine whether the approach used was positivist, interpretive or constructivist or a combination thereof.   The articles will also be compared to the qualitative and quantitative methods and whether they are empirical or non-empirical in a method. Ethics will be touched on as a necessary part of any research that is done today. To begin, let us discuss the different methods presently available for use in designing and carrying out research such as that noted above. In any research, there is a method used and though we would often think that the scientific method would always be used, that may not be true. The method of study is usually determined prior to the study being done. Will the study be empirical or non-empirical? Will it be Quantitative or Qualitative? What about positivist or interpretivist or maybe constructivist?   Sometimes the study itself will determine the method to be used. Sometimes there is a particular method or paradigm particularly appreciated by the researcher. Interpretive research is oftentimes seen as descriptive or summarizing in the method. This type of research obtains its data indirectly through other than direct research methods. The data may come from such places as academic books, policies, laws, or regulations (Xinping, 2002). Most of this type of research is done in a library with resources found there. The interpretive approach is described as often speculative, philosophical or impressionistic. The results of the research are not often used as any direct assistance to any future work.