Essay Example on SWM: Achieving Warehouse Efficiency in Australia & US.

Introduction

Strategic warehouse management, Inc. (SWM) is an American business, and it is working towards having a warehouse in Australia that will be used to serve a wide range of clients in the market. Some of the activities that will be undertaken by this entity will be to manage the exports from Australia or the United States. Warehouse management is not an easier task, and it is essential to ensure that the right measures are undertaken that will help in increasing the efficiency levels of operations. It is essential to have an efficient supply chain process, and in this report, there will be an analysis of warehouse design requirements and the factors that will be considered in managing the workforce. The warehouse operations will flow effectively when the Australian regulations on management are followed, and the import and export procedures that are used in the United States are determined. Understanding the risks and measures that can be utilized to curb them is essential. The SWM senior officers should determine the budget estimates that will be needed to set the business with metrics set to determine if the company is a success.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Warehouse Design Requirements

When designing a warehouse based in the Australian regulations, there are various requirements that an investor is supposed to observe to ensure that the business activity becomes a success. The flow of commodities is an essential element that builders should take into consideration. The store should be designed in such a way that it allows for the free flow of commodities. The various activities that precede others must be determined, and the ones that are close to another should be placed together to avoid wastage of time. It is essential to ensure that the system is helping to minimize clashes, for this will support a smooth flow of people, traffic, and goods. Space is another requirement that, and it is critical that there is an emphasis on processing and storage space. An investor must determine the type of products that will be stored in the warehouse and the area space that will be needed. Additionally, the builders must set the number of commodities that they are willing the store to hold, for this will help in determining the size.

An investor should focus on the current trends to ensure that the warehouse manages to operate efficiently as possible. The organizational structure that is suitable, for a warehouse management determines the task allocation, supervision, and coordination to ensure that there is the achievement of a company's goals. At the top of the structure, a warehouse manager oversees the daily operations of the store and the activities of the other workers. The manager must be aware of all the activities that are happening in the facility, and where authorization is needed, the manager will have the responsibility of assigning the subordinates the power to undertake the various activities. The warehouse officer works under the manager offering assistance in undertaking the day-to-day operations (O'Byrne, 2017). A warehouse has a lot of activities, and the manager requires people that can assist in managing the different operations. The information officer manages to ensure that there is the timely and efficient exchange of information on ledgers, dispatching, and receiving of products to the warehouse. The cleaners form the subordinate part of the organizational structure in a warehouse, and they are assigned the responsibility of keeping the store clean and arranging commodities as directed by a manager.

Workforce Management Consideration

The Australian government has set laws that should be followed when managing the workforce. Workforce management ensures that an entity has the right set of workers that will help in realizing the set objectives. The warehouse management team should determine the best practices that can be used in the implementation of the workforce management system. Various factors must be determined to find an effective tool that will help in managing the workforce. The training process is one of the considerations to be made. The human resource team should determine the best process that they can follow to hire highly-qualified employees in the market and the strategies that will be used to offer them additional training that is specifically tailored to meet the needs and operations of a store.

The management must know the workforce sources where the employees will be obtained since it is important to have reliable employees. Another consideration that should be determined by the warehouse team will be the satisfaction of their clients in the market (Christidis, 2018). Customers are essential to business success, and when they are happy with the quality of services they are getting, there is a possibility of warehouse earnings declining. The reduction in the earnings levels may lead to its closure. Therefore, the warehouse management must determine and set policies that will ensure that the workers are meeting the set deadlines, and they are offering quality services. In addition to checking the customer affairs, it is essential to make sure that the employees have a conducive working environment, and they are happy with the way that the business will be handling their affairs.

Regulations

SWM is a foreign entity, and there are regulations that it is supposed to follow to ensure that it remains compliant with the Australian constitution. It is important to note that these stores are licensed under section 79 of the Customs Act 1901, and the holder of a license is expected to make sure that there is safe custody and account for the commodities that are kept in their facility. The holder must meet the rules set by the Australian Border Force, and failure to do that may attract penalties for unpaid duties. Apart from the provedores, catering bonds, and duty-free shops, all other facilities storing excise equivalent goods (EEG are supposed to approach the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) for licensing. The management will also seek for excise manufacturer license from ATO.

The management of this warehouse has not stated the specific commodities that they will handling, and this is an indication that it will be subjected to different kind of legislations based on the commodities it is storing at a given moment. Before the customs warehouse license registrations is initiated, the business will need to be first get registered as an Integrated Cargo System (ICS), and this should be done by relying on the Australian business number (ABN). The labor climate is strict and warehouse operations are supposed to adhere to all the regulations set by a business (Mickleson, Thai, & Halim, 2019). Foreign businesses are subjected to additional registration procedures to ensure that they remain compliant to the Australian and internal standards.

Export and Import Procedures in the United States

The Customs and Border Protection in the United States has a duty to ensure that all the laws and regulations that are governing the importation and exportation of products are followed. It is the body that is assigned the responsibility of implementing the set rules. In the United States, an exporter is supposed to meet various requirements before their goods are allowed to leave the country. On the part of licensing, the exporting process requires the use of several documents that range from transportation, common export, certificates of origin, and export compliance documents. The common export document that should be provided are the commercial, pro forma, and export packaging invoices. When transporting goods, the Airway Bill, Bill of lading, and electronic export information filing should be presented to the border officials. When importing, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) give a detailed description of the commodities that need permit or licenses that involve the contact details for the related agency.

The local port should be contacted in advance before the goods are imported to obtain their restriction measures that an investor will be needed to meet for them to be allowed to bring their commodities to the United States. A custom's broker may be needed, and an inventory should have the Bill of lading, Other Government Departments (OGD), commercial invoice, and the specific documents about the imported goods (Chung, 2017). The commodities must meet the standards set by the American government on quality, safety, energy efficiency, and health levels. There should be payment of import duties and the determination of the correct Harmonized Tariff Schedule.

Supply Chain Risks and Mitigation Measures

The supply chain process is faced by various risks that may derail the delivery of commodities and services. Trade wars is one of the issue that is facing suppliers with the tensions in the world market, leading to the imposition of new import tariffs on various commodities. Any new arrangement that is causing disruptions to the supply chain process and causing massive damages to the supply process an issue that is affecting the business operations of investors in the world. Even when the storehouse is established in Australia, the clients will be affected by these supply chain risks, and the problem will trickle down to the store management. Raw material shortages is another problem that is facing the supply chain process. It is important to note that a significant number of companies in the world are relying on raw materials that are imported from other nations.

The huge demand sometimes leads to shortages affecting the flow of activities in the supply chain process. Tough environmental regulations is another element that can significantly affect the supply chain process. Countries in the world are adopting measures that they can use to curb global warming, improve the air quality, and nations around the world are introducing measures, such as the ones that are intended to lower emission levels when burning coal. Plant closures and enforced shutdown are likely to happen, and this will mean that the supply of these raw materials will be adversely affected (Prakash, Soni, & Rathore, 2017). The mitigation measures to undertaken to ensure that the supply process is working optimally include following the internationally accepted regulations when dealing with the materials that cause pollutions. When that happens, there will be no business shutdowns.

Frequent changes to the importation tariffs should be highly discouraged, and standardization measures should be introduced to ensure that all states in the world are following the same set of rules pertaining to the tariffs. The world should revert to the use of products that are not damaging the environment and when this happens, the supply chain will not be adversely affected, considering that the materials being transported will not be affected by the measures set to curb climate change.

Operations That SWM Can Outsource, and The Ones That It Can Obtain Directly

Some of the operations that the firm can outsource are the distribution services. The organization is new in the Australian market, and it may require an operator with a great understanding of the Australian market to ensure that there is efficiency in the distribution process. Managing to compete efficiently with other local companies in the same industry is essential, for this is one of the measures that will determine its survival. A service company that can help in determining the quality of commodities can be outsourced to ensure that there are no biases when undertaking the process. A professional entity will ensure that it manages to provide the right details pertaining to the operations of the warehouse and offer suggestions on the areas that improvements are needed....