The main business process of logistics is typically a product oriented approach. Delivering a package could already be seen as a service. The main elements in this process are:
The package,
Time
Location(s) and
The distributor
The distributor is not one vehicle but a series of transport vehicles that are optimized for the trajectory. A trajectory is split in various parts and each part uses its most efficient transport vehicle.
Now let’s say that the package is a letter and this letter goes from someone’s home to a consulate. The package is retrieved by someone on a motor (short distance from the local office to the client’s home) and will be dispatched to a long-distance vehicle. At the other side of the trajectory the same mechanism will be used. Flexibility at the local side.
In the normal product approach, the package – the letter – has no special meaning. In the new service oriented approach however, the package gets a meaning; the letter changes into a visa application.
The added value of the service oriented approach is that the consulate sources the visa application to a logistics company. The normal way to apply for a visa will remain the same in which a client has to call for an appointment at the consulate. This however takes much more time for both parties.
But the logistics company can now offer an additional service both to the end-customer (applying for a visa) and to the consulate (delivering the right set of documents). This requires human intervention and this is where the service approach get complicated. The logistics company will have to know the visa-requirements and has to check these requirements when collecting the documents at the customer’s home. It is important that this step is followed with care (rather than merely collecting a product) because this is the added value of the service. In case when not the right set of documents are collected and delivered at the consulate, the visa-procedure cannot start and the additional document needs to be collected. This makes the logistics process more complicated. If this happens, the single product-oriented-delivery is still optimized, but on a service level, the process is inefficient.
Knowledge management is what makes the difference between the original product-oriented approach and the new service approach. The required knowledge to collect and deliver a single package is limited. But the person who is approaching the local client must now know what to accept and what to reject. This requires more knowledge. And this is only one type of service.
