PORT OF VANCOUVER SUPPLY CHAIN SYSTEM James Ireland Bachelor of Commerce, University of British Columbia, 1977 PROJECT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION In the Faculty of Business Administration Executive MBA O James Ireland 2005 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2005 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: James Ireland Degree: Master of Business Administration Title of Project: Port of Vancouver Supply Chain System Supervisory Committee: Senior Supervisor Michael Parent, Associate Professor Second Reader Carolyne F. Smart, Associate Professor Date Approved: SIMON FRASER $$&2Q? UN~VERSWY~ibra ry DECLARATION OF PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection, and, without changing the content, to translate the thesislproject or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author's written permission. Permission for public performance, or limited permission for private scholarly use, of any multimedia materials forming part of this work, may have been granted by the author. This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada ABSTRACT The Port of Vancouver is Canada's largest port, trading $43 billion in goods with more than 90 trading partners in 2004. The Port handles four major types of cargo namely dry bulk, liquid bulk, break bulk, and containerised cargo and is a homeport for the Alaska cruise business. The Vancouver Port Authority's traffic forecasts indicate that the container sector will be the key business driver for many years to come. To sustain and enhance its container market share, Port stakeholders continue to expand the physical capacity of terminal and inter-modal assets. However, expanding plant capacity without also streamlining and improving transactions and information flow between stakeholders will undermine asset utilization, operational excellence and customer service and hence, the Port's competitive position. The main objective of this paper is to identify areas where information technologies can be implemented to resolve processing problems between PoV stakeholders and thus enhance container throughput productivity. TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval .........................................................................................................................................iv Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................v Table of Contents ..........................................................................................................................vi List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ix List of Tables ..................................................................................................................................x Overview ................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Port of Vancouver Community ....................................................................................... 3 1.3 Vancouver Port Authority ............................................................................................... 4 1.3.1 Landlord Role ............................................................................................................ 5 1.3.2 Facilitation Role ......................................................................................................... 6 1.3.3 Core Competencies .................................................................................................... 7 Is the PoV Big Enough? ........................................................................................................ 10 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 10 2.2 Comparative Size .......................................................................................................... 10 2.2.1 Dry Bulk ............................................................................................................. 12 2.2.2 Break Bulk ............................................................................................................... 13 2.2.3 Liquid Bulk .............................................................................................................. 14 2.2.4 Containerised Cargo ................................................................................................. 15 Container Sector Growth ......................................................................................................16 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 16 3.2 Historical Perspective .................................................................................................... 16 3.3 Container Traffic Forecasts ........................................................................................... 21 3.3.1 N.A. Economic and Container Growth Rates .......................................................... 22 3.3.2 West Coast Container Growth Rate ......................................................................... 24 3.3.3 Vancouver Port Area Growth Rate .......................................................................... 26 3.3.4 Container Traffic Forecast ....................................................................................... 26 3.3.5 Sensitivity Analysis .................................................................................................. 27 Industry Analysis ...................................................................................................................30 4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 30 4.2 Customer Forces and Supplier Homogeneity ................................................................ 31 4.2.1 Container Fleet .......................................................................................................... 32 4.2.2 Shipping Line Bargaining Power ............................................................................. 36 4.2.3 Port Rivalry .............................................................................................................. 39 4.2.3.1 Terminal Productivity .................................................................................... 41 4.2.3.2 Transportation Charges .................................................................................. 42 4.2.3.3 Inter-modal Capacity ..................................................................................... 45 4.2.3.4 Geography ..................................................................................................... 47 4.2.3.5 Terminal Capacity ......................................................................................... 48 4.2.3.6 Backhaul Opportunities ................................................................................. 49 4.2.3.7 Overall Assessment ....................................................................................... 49 5 Information Processing Problems ........................................................................................51 5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 51 5.2 Sourcing ........................................................................................................................ 55 5.3 Advance Notices ........................................................................................................... 59 5.3.1 Vessel Notices .......................................................................................................... 60 5.3.2 Container Notices ..................................................................................................... 63 5.4 Vessel Related Transactions.........................................................................................