&textField=The vital transportation sector has been a beneficiary of lower oil prices. Not only will it experience direct savings derived from lower fuel prices, but the expected uptick in consumer spending will positively impact global trade, and, consequently, transportation. But the benefits aren’t being shared equally by all modes of transportation. In each sector, low prices have opened up a host of strategic questions for companies to consider. And because it is unclear whether the low prices will last, transportation companies are understandably reacting with caution. Assuming lower oil prices are sustained in the long term, operators can profitably differentiate their services by moving back in the other direction. First, shipping companies can redeploy smaller vessels on specialized routes that previously did not have sufficient demand to justify operation. In addition, companies can seek cost savings by postponing the purchase of new ships and substituting older, less fuel-efficient vessels. Reduced fuel costs also create opportunity for investment in sea traffic. Operators of shipping lines would have lower costs associated with the “dead weight” of moving empty fleets globally in order to chase seasonal demand. Getting things right is critical, especially in logistics. Our experience in providing supply chain consulting to large and small companies - in Asia and overseas - is complemented by our IT expertise, knowledge of systems and an ability to deliver precisely the right solution to your own unique set of requirements. Our logistics business provides a wide range of services in logistics and the supply chain. We ensure that our advice and recommendations are practical and deliverable - factors sometimes missed out when undertaking supply chain strategy work. Our services within the supply chain broadly cover strategic planning, network design and supply chain modelling where we have a number of software tools that have been developed by us over the years. For us supply chain strategy development often starts with the business model that the organisation is seeking to work to which will often be based on the markets sectors, customer services and product profiles that the organisation wishes to offer. This leads into supply chain strategy development and then onto infrastructure and systems. Supply chain thinking can appear to be constantly changing, sometimes contradictory and difficult to apply. At DMEPL our aim is to simplify these ideas and turn them into reality. When the froth is blown away, supply chain thinking is often simply the application of common sense.