2.3. Production and Transportation Systems
The degree of complexity of freight transportation process can vary greatly (for instance, transportation of individual packed freight between countries). Many procedures are performed during freight transportation.
Production (transportation) processes
A production process refers to a set of different man and machine labour operations performed in a given order and interrelation to accomplish a given production task. In transport, production process stands for moving freight from place of production to place of its consumption.
Operationis part of production process carried out by employees in their workplace (fixed or movable).
Notwithstanding its type, technological process of transportation can be successfully performed on condition that a production management system is functioning. The system of management of production processes at the input and output point is represented on the diagram below.
Production Management
Information n
Information
Information
Management
Directions
Management
Directions
Management
Directions
Input
Output
Freight
Production Process
Transport Product
Place of Freight Production
Place of Consumption
Transportation system in its primary approximation can be regarded as a group of mechanisms (vehicles, loaders, etc.) that are operated by operational personnel (drivers, crane operators, etc.). Every mechanism and its operator form the “man-machine” system out of two interacting and interrelated units. Following the process of integration, we face a more complicated system, a transport complex. Transport complex includes main and supporting staff of employees, main and supporting equipment, and is specified by a number of relations, interests, and has a complicated structure.
In fact, any system is a whole of interacting components, each representing a single system which includes another set of elements. Systems are distinguished by their objectives (loading and unloading operations, moving freight, etc.)
Systems approach enables unification of the disintegrated transportation process and reaching order in the process. The components of a system are characterized by a number of properties. The propertiesofcomponentsimpactfunctioningofthesystem, its action, reliability, capacity, etc. In creating transportation systems, the choice between man and machine systems, various types of movable fleet, loading and unloading vehicles and relevant personnel based on the features of transportation systems is under consideration.
Transportation system (transport complex) refers to the partially self-controlled system with the following properties:
type of the system is “man-machine”;
the system is able to choose the type of its activity; responsibility can be distributed between the components of the system based on their functions (freight handling before transportation, loading, transportation proper, etc.);
objectives and relevant activity need to be distributed between the components of the system.
For achieving the goals set in freight transportation management, both good and bad transportation systems can be created. For example, transportation complex for harvesting and transportation of the harvest may be an inefficient system in case of long downtime of the trucks when the combineharvestersare not available and vice versa. A transportation system can be considered efficient if the given set of variables related to its functioning remains within the given limits all the time.