Analysis of the Marketability of the Current Logistics Chain
The following diagram is an approximate illustration of a consumer electronics source-to-UK-customer supply chain.
Mapping a supply chain allows managers to understand the durations, directions, costs, complexities, and constraints of its flows. The principle underlying logistics management is competitive advantage through logistical efficiency. Management of the logistical activities within a supply chain typically begins with a mapping of the major flows. Mapping can thus be considered the first step toward achieving/increasing competitive advantage through improvement/simplification of logistical activities.
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Trade credit is often extended by carriers (for example: operators such as Hamburg Sud, where I worked for a spell) to regular or high-volume/-value customers. For firms who require frequent shipping, credit provision is one benefit of holding managed accounts with the carrier (other benefits are customer service-related). When cash-flow constraints limit the availability of funds, credit facilitates business continuity. When the restraint is lifted (when the funds from a major sale are received, for example), the firm can then repay the credit extended by the borrower. In the case of shipping, firms may experience demand spikes. To meet their orders, firms might have to increase capacity. Any expansion of plant will come at high cost. If overseas orders are particularly voluminous and sudden, the transportation budget that normally covers shipping costs quite adequately will probably be insufficient. To deliver however, the firm will need to ship. Offering favourable credit terms provides firms with much needed flexibility. Carriers who can extend trade credit are especially attractive to small and medium-sized export-oriented manufacturers. The normative assumption is that the customer will repay the carrier when financial stability is re-established.
International Trade is a risk-prone activity. Transportation related risk is largely external to the firm. That is, transportation is more likely to be interrupted and cargo lost due to factors outside the control of either the selling or buying party. Cargo loss can result from illicit human intervention (crime or terrorism), accidents (crashes, derailments, shipwreck), political incidents (trade embargo or trade war), administrative error (placing of cargo on the wrong vessel), and so on. Such events will incur losses for both the buying and the selling companies. The buyer will be without the product or materials required to continue production or business. The seller may lose the payment from the disappointed buyer. Either or both parties may have to bear the costs of recovering the goods and rearranging onward or return shipment. 
