Re: "Just in Time" management

[David Johnson <trainman@ozemail.com.au>]

neumannc wrote:

> Derick Wuen wrote:
> >
> > Agree with that.... terminal inefficiency, not surplus train problem
> > David Johnson wrote in message <3912AF69.6577517B@ozemail.com.au>...
> > >Peter J Ruxton wrote:
> > >
> > >> Therefore in the Huter Valley when one sees coal trains queued for
> > >> Port Waratah and Kooragang often for lenghty times in a sizeable queue
> > say
> > >> Hanbury back to Maitland does that mean there is to much resources i.e
> > >> trains
> > >> used so some should be witdrawn from use ?
> > >
> > >No - insufficient resources - not enough tracks.
>
> The problem in the Hunter is that the railways have never been able to
> understand that the customer (ie the foreign buyer) does not want just
> "coal" but a specific type of coal eg steaming, coking, low sulphur, law
> ash etc and that just bringing "coal" to Newcastle is not the name of
> the game.  No one wants "coal" that will not be loaded onto a ship for
> at least three months.  It (coal export) is a service industry and if
> you want to prosper you must deliver what the customer wants, not what
> you happen to be able to put into a wagon.

Why should the railways care what the foreign buyer wants?  The railways are
paid by a local company to move coal from the mine to the Port.  They do this.
If the foreign buyers don't want this coal, it is the problem of the mine
company, not the railways.



--
David Johnson
trainman@ozemail.com.au
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~trainman/
------------------------------------
These comments are made in a private
capacity and do not represent the
official view of State Rail.
C.O.W.S. Page 11.