Multimodal Australia
Responsiveness Project (MARP)
The Transport and Logistics industry (T&L) operates in an environment where adaptation to change is fundamental to long term survival and success. As we look into the future, our operating environment will be facing some significant challenges in the form of peak oil, carbon taxes, increased congestion of our road networks, and large increases projected in the overall freight task.
Federal and State Governments are responding to these challenges through infrastructure investment and review of policy and strategies relating to freight networks that will accommodate future change. Industry must also respond to these challenges through the utilisation of infrastructure and the translation of Government policy and strategy into corporate actions.
The Queensland Transport and Logistics Council (QTLC) in collaboration with the Victorian Freight and Logistics Council and the WA Freight and Logistics Council have commissioned Strategic design + Development (Sd+D) to provide consultancy services to the Multimodal Australia Responsiveness Project (MARP).
This exciting project is aimed at exploring how we can gain greater flexibility in our containerised interstate supply chains by re-engineering our inventory management, supply chain execution and in the transport modes used for the freight task.
A key component of the project is the engagement and involvement of industry through two initial processes; Workshops held in Melbourne, Perth, and Brisbane, and selected case studies highlighting the rationale behind, and benefits of switching transport modes.
The QTLC initiated stakeholder consultations with consultants (Sd+D). This face to face dialogue with wholesalers, retailers, importers, exporters and a broad range of industry service provider’s offered a unique opportunity to hear firsthand the experiences of those who use and operate T&L.
These consultations’ sought to arrive at three (3) specific outcomes;
- To provide participants with an outline of the project, the scope and methodology
- To draw opinion from participants regarding the factors and decision processes that lead to the selection of a transport mode, the inventory management policies and practices that underpin the modal choice, and the perceived constraints around modal change based on the Melbourne-Brisbane corridor and the Melbourne-Perth corridor.
- The nomination of four (4) organisations that may be interested and willing to participate in case studies highlighting modal switching. These companies will be independently contacted after the workshops to discuss specific details of the case studies, particularly the preservation of confidential information.