Introduction
Achieving competitiveness in the market requires the establishment of appropriate strategies in the supply chain process. The amount of revenue generated by a company determines the competitiveness and long term survival of the company in the market. In the modern economic environment, competition has intensified in all sectors around the world. The oil industry has not been an exception because there are huge profits made in the industry. This has attracted many investors and several companies have been established in the industry. Also, the increase in global oil prices has made the industry to be attractive. As such, establishing cost-effective logistic mechanisms has been inevitable. Therefore, the management of any company in the industry has reason to improve on its logistical systems to ensure that costs are reduced while efficiency is improved. Efficiency should be achieved in the production and marketing systems.
Thesis Statement: To investigate the efficiency of customer services in logistics and transport management in the Sultanate of Oman within the Oman Oil Company and the Oman Shell Company.
Streamlining Customer Service for Optimal Returns
According to Sehgal (2011), streamlining the transport and logistics systems of organizations has been a major challenge in a modern business environment. This has been accelerated by the need to achieve efficiency in the production and marketing processes, improving customer satisfaction levels, and creating better profit margins. In a perfectly competitive market, companies establish strategies to overcome stiff competition in the market. However, in a monopolistic market, competition is low and companies have no driving force to establish competitive strategies. Nevertheless, the oil industry has been experiencing many economic changes over time. Initially, companies in the industry had a competitive structure which allowed individual them to explore the market without considering the activities of other companies (Stadtler & Kilger, 2008).
Efficiency and Capacity Management
Efficiency in transportation improves the value of products because consumers get the benefits attributed to the products when they need the products. This has made it possible to add value to products manufactured in distant places because consumers get satisfaction from the products manufactured (Wood, 2012). Companies spent a lot of money on transport and there is a need to develop effective and efficient transport methods. Transport costs are incurred when materials and other resources are located far away from the area of production.
To add value to the organization, transport systems should be fast enough, efficient, and sufficient to enable the organization to deliver products when needed. Flexibility is also required in the transport system because it offers alternative methods of moving products from one area to another. Also, safety factors should be considered when choosing a specific transport system. The capacity of the transport system should be enough to accommodate the products being transported. Managers should work with the available transport systems because some regions cannot be accessed through the use of certain systems (Stadtler & Kilger, 2008).
Logistics Coordination to Enhance Customer Service
Coordinating logistics is an important aspect that organizations should possess. All the departments of a company should be well-coordinated to ensure that there are no losses or wastage of resources. Managing logistics requires getting ideas from different stakeholders to ensure appropriate decisions are made in an organization. In modern days, companies are outsourcing logistics managers to plan and implement logistical processes in an organization. This reduces the burden of managing and coordinating various departments in an organization (Sehgal, 2011).
Conclusion
Logistics and transport systems are important organizational aspects of enhancing customer service. Establishing effectiveness in the system improves the performance of an organization because all stakeholders are satisfied with the entire process. However, inefficiencies in the logistics and transport system may cause a lot of losses to an organization.
References
Sehgal, V. (2011). Supply chain as strategic asset: The key to reaching business goals. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.
Stadtler, H., & Kilger, C. (2008). Supply chain management and advanced planning: Concepts, models, software, and case studies. Berlin, Germany: Springer.
Wood, D. (2012). International logistics. New York, NY: AMACOM.