Financial Analysis of a Corporations Annual Report
Financial Analysis of a Corporations Annual ReportIntroduction
Over the past few years the airline industry has been offering competitive prices and competing more then ever for cargo that has been traditionally transported by ships because of their cheaper prices. Because of this ship owners have been looking for ways to keep cost to a minimum and to decrease the time it takes to transport cargo from seller to buyer. The time it takes the ship to transport cargo from one port to another cannot be reduced with out building faster ships, which is not practical because of the cost of development. However the ship owners have had larger ships built to transport more cargo at one time. Forcing some to dredge their harbor entrance and the channel leading to their port. They have also, been putting pressure on terminals, to decrease the time it takes to transport cargo from the ship to truck or rail.
Vessel sharing agreements have also forced ports to improve service. Vessel sharing is when shipping companies form certain partnerships to maximize space abroad ships by filling one ship to capacity with one or more carriers’ cargo rather than each partner sailing different ships not loaded to capacity. This affects ports because carriers in these agreements may reduce the number of calls to a port or a port’s worse nightmare; stop calling altogether.
These demands placed on the ports have forced them to develop new ways to offer competitive prices between ports for the business of the shipping companies.
Different ports have recently come up with new ways do to this, some have offer financial incentives for shipping companies to rebuild the existing terminals. Others have chosen to keep their existing terminals while turning to technology to help increase the movement of cargo within their port. “In a world where demand for information is at a premium, ports are pushed hard to consistently increase productivity; and, increasingly, productivity is centered on being able to capture key data electronically and optimize its use”(Port of Charleston).
Port of Charleston
The Port of Charleston is the fourth busiest port in the United States and is a good example of a port that has planned for the future by upgrading the port with a state-of-the art computer system. Currently they are using a computer system called the Orion, which is a mainframe-based system that has it limits both physically and in terms of customer interface. “We recognize that in order to remain a leader in the port business, we have got to continually improve productivity on our terminals and improve the way customers are able to interact with us” (Port of Charleston).
The management at the Port of Charleston has realized that one way to improve the port by updating the entire system to a PC-based system. The system includes an interface for billing, finance, break-bulk cargo, and for container yard management. The container yard management...
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