CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

The transportation community has experienced the beginnings of a cultural shift toward embedding transportation system management and operation into our culture, work ethic Manufacturers, distributors, and third-party logistics companies all have specific business needs and processes concerning the movement of goods and product from sourcing locations to factories to distribution warehouses and retail or customer locations. The movement of product between locations is frequently controlled by software applications referred to as ―automated transportation system. To support improved efficiencies in the transportation process, companies will look for an automated transportation system that fits their current and planned operational needs and that can be integrated smoothly with existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) or corporate financial systems.

The term automated transportation system refers to Transportation Management Systems that allow users to manage inbound and outbound freight shipments by highway, rail, and air. Present automated transportation systems allow users to electronically prepare shipping document s, determine best rates, manage transportation bills. It is a subset of supply chain management concerning transportation operation. A typical scenario of the application of automated transportation system include procurement and shipping orders to be evaluated by the planning module offering the various the user various suggested routing solutions. These solution are evaluated by the user for reasonableness and are passed along to the transportation provider analysis module to select the best mode and least cost provider. Once the best provider is selected, the solution typically moves on to the next module of payments.

An automated transportation system is always expected to improve the shippers’ capabilities to plan, execute, analyze, benchmark and continuously improve the management of product flow. As organizations that are growing fast are having connections to different consumers in different locations, the capabilities and focus of tools designed for the logistics function are changing to meet new demands. Chief among these emerging requests are the needs for:

• Better cost control tools
• Continuous improvement metrics
• Automated, best-mode decision support
• Improved shipment visibility
• The affordability of the automated transportation system itself.

1.1 Theoretical Background

Organizations are constantly in need of efficient systems that will enable them handle daily operations. Questions such as; how to drive sustainable savings? How to do more with fewer resources? How to optimize transportation costing via flexible rating/routing ? How to ensure the most efficient, balanced loads with routing tools ? How to improve performance execution and  how to ensure on-time deliveries, leverage transportation best practices are constantly asked. With the fact that it is possible to solve such problems using the computer system and careful programming/networking, software developers have done this using algorithms that synchronizes with the transportation operations of the establishment involved. This need for efficient communication and co-ordination of the movement of stock from within the organization to outside the organization necessitates automated transportation systems.

1.3 Statement of Problem

The following problems necessitated this study:

1. Manually recording transportation management activities is all together inefficient without applying computers and communication systems.
2. Difficulty in obtaining reports of transportation records
3. Errors in accurate computation of transportation bill information

1.4 Aims and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to develop a computerized transport management information system. The following are the objectives of the study;

1. To design a workable automated transportation system software
2. To create a system that can be used to record transportation records to database.
3. To design a system that can be used to accurately compute transportation bills.
4. To design a system that can be utilized to obtain reports of transportation records.

1.5 Significance of the Study

The significance of the study is that it will enable small and medium enterprises and also large scale industries to facilitate the operations involved in the  transportation of goods and services from place to place (supply management), maximizing profit by choosing least cost path and most effective options and maintaining proper inventory. The system is also of significance in that it covers the three major kinds of transportation of freight namely; air, land and sea. The implication of this is that any module can be used independent of other modules. The study will also be useful to other researchers seeking for information on the subject.

1.6 Scope of The Study

This study covers the computerized transport management information system, a case study of Akwa Ibom Transport Company, Uyo.

1.6 Organization of the Research

This research work is organized into five chapters. Chapter one is concerned with the introduction of the research study and it presents the preliminaries, theoretical background, statement of the problem, aim and objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, organization of the research and definition of terms.

Chapter two focuses on the literature review, the contributions of other scholars on the subject matter is discussed.

Chapter three is concerned with the system analysis and design. It analyzes the present system to identify the problems and provides information on the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed system. The system design is also presented in this chapter.

Chapter four presents the system implementation and documentation. The choice of programming language, analysis of modules, choice of programming language and system requirements for implementation.

Chapter five focuses on the summary, conclusion and recommendations are provided in this chapter based on the study carried out.

1.7 Definition of terms

Automation – A system in which a workplace or process has been converted to one that replaces or minimizes human labor with mechanical or electronic equipment

Transportation – Conveyance of somebody or something: the act or business of carrying somebody or something from one place to another, usually in a vehicle

Freight –  Goods or cargo carried by a commercial means of transportation

Supply –  Provide to give, sell, or make available something that is wanted or needed by somebody or something

Management – Administration of business: the organizing and controlling of the affairs of a business or a sector of a business.