Reference no: EM133419982

Case Study: Shih, W., & Cekin, E. (2018). EKOL logistics: Thinking outside the box. HBS No. 618037. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School.

This case describes Ekol, an intermodal transportation and logistics company, and how it manages capacity planning. Its busiest routes linked motor vehicle assemblers in Germany and Turkey with many of their parts suppliers, but also had developed key links in fast-fashion supply chains. The company used combinations of land, short-sea, and rail routes to provide different levels of service. The challenge was maximizing utilization of its trucks and trailers, especially on key bottleneck links, in the face of unbalanced traffic. To address the issue, Ekol developed a consolidation center in Turkey and a cross-dock de-consolidation center in Germany, its largest market. As chairman Ahmet Musul and his team looked at ways to squeeze out more capacity, they reconsidered their planning model and whether they should build more consolidation/de-consolidation centers in order to optimize costs and wring out more efficiency in its operations.

Questions: Students should focus on the logistical aspects of the case and doing business and engaging in logistics in the Middle East and Germany. They may wish to address and discuss several of the following:

• Discuss the complexities in intermodal transportation.
• Discuss how delivery planning affects outcomes.
• Discuss the various transportation modalities, especially motor freight.
• Discuss how to enhance outcomes.
• Discuss how the case related to the discussions in Lectures 8 and 9.