Logistic – Transformed Quality of Civilization
by: Edly Ramly
How Ancient
Civilisation becomes stronger?
How Islamic
religious spread quickly around the word?
How British
Empire expanded?
How giant economy
stimulate?
It all lies into
LOGISTICS AND TRANSPORTATION development and improvements!
In ancient Greek, Roman and
Byzantine empires,
military officers with the title Logistikas were responsible for financial and
supply distribution matter (1). The historical leaders Caliphate Uthman, Hannibal
Barca, Alexander the Great, and the Duke of Wellington are
considered to have been logistical geniuses. They are a master of growth and globalization.
Before any civilisation occurs,
the people normally survive by daily hunting and when the resources scarce,
they move to other area. This sometimes called as nomads. Then the leader start
to realised that it is tough to survive that way. They start to keep stocks of
their foods. That is the start of logistics. Sometimes it not sufficient and
they know people from other tribe have some extra. So they start to trade or
conquered. That where the logistic begins. The storage and transportation
improve their quality of life.
Ancient civilisation such as
Macedonia, Babylon and Egypt build the logistics infracture in order for them
to build the city and castles. They first used human
powered transport is the transport of people and/or goods. Then Animal-powered
transport is the use of working animals for the movement of people
and goods. Humans may ride some of the animals directly, use them as pack
animals for carrying goods, or harness them, alone or in teams, to
pull sleds or wheeled vehicles. Indeed with this mode of
logistic develop the civilisation but it is in slow states.
However, there few other mode of transportation they can opt depending
on their geographical location. Of course the common mode is land and water.
The first earth tracks were
created by humans carrying goods and often followed game trails.
Tracks would be naturally created at points of high traffic density. As animals
were domesticated, horses,
and donkeys became an element in track-creation. With the growth of
trade, tracks were often flattened or widened to accommodate animal traffic.
Later, the travois,
a frame used to drag loads, was developed.
Animal-drawn wheeled vehicles probably developed in Sumer in
the Mesopotamia (or modern Iran today) in the 4th or 5th millennium
BC and spread to Europe and India in the 4th millennium BC
and China in about 1200 BC. The Romans had
a significant need for good roads to extend and maintain
their empire and developed Roman roads. The Persian and Roman empires built stone-paved roads to
allow armies to travel quickly. Deep roadbeds of crushed stone underneath
ensured that the roads kept dry. The medieval especially during Caliphate Umar later
built tar-paved roads. All this remark to their skill in
improving logistic.
For water modes, the stone ages
primitive boats developed to permit navigation of rivers and for fishing in
rivers and off the coast. It has been argued that boats suitable for a
significant sea crossing was necessary for people to reach Australia an
estimated 40,000-45,000 years ago. With the development of civilization,
bigger vessels were developed both for trade and war. In
the Mediterranean, galleys were developed about 3000 BC. Galleys
were eventually rendered obsolete by ocean-going sailing ships, such as
the Arabic caravel in the 13th century which first initiate by Caliph
Uthman in order to encourage trade and war against Roman., the Chinese treasure ship in
the early 15th century, and the Mediterranean man-of-war in
the late 15th century. In the Industrial Revolution, the first steamboats and
later diesel-powered ships were developed. Meanwhile specialised
craft were developed for river and canal transport. Canals were developed
in Mesopotamia c. 4000 BC. The Indus Valley Civilization in Pakistan and North
India (from c. 2600 BC) had the first canal irrigation
system in the world. The longest canal of ancient times was the Grand
Canal of China. It is 1,794 kilometres (1,115 mi) long and was built to
carry the Emperor Yang Guang between Beijing and Hangzhou.
The project began in 605, although the oldest sections of the canal may have
existed since c. 486 BC. Canals were developed in the Middle
Ages in Europe in Venice and
the Netherlands. Pierre- Paul Riquet began to organise the construction of the 240 km long Canal in France in 1665
and it was opened in 1681. In the Industrial Revolution, inland canals were
built in England and later
the United States before the development of railways.
Exponential Growth of Civilisation
Most of the modern developed
countries especially in Europe have the comprehensive link and network of
canal. By having the organized link of canal, more and more village was
developed and goods can be transport to the nearest port or vice versa. This
network of canal is start to be build as early 16th and support the
industrial revolution is 18th centuries.
However the rail transport were
found to be more effective in improving quality of civilisation.The history of
rail transportation dates back nearly 500 years, and includes systems with man
or horse power and rails of wood (or occasionally stone).
This was usually for moving coal
from the mine down to a river,
from where it could continue by boat, with a flanged wheel running on a rail.
The use of cast iron plates as rails began in the 1760s, and was
followed by systems (plateways) where the flange was part of the rail.Modern rail
transport systems first appeared in England in
the 1820s. These systems, which made use of the steam locomotive,
were the first practical form of mechanized land transport, and they remained
the primary form of mechanized land transport for the next 100 years.Again, the
developed modern civilisation mastered the art of railways and they have vast
network of rail.
The real exponential growth of
quality of civilisation was the introduction of aviation losgistic and
transportation. During the 17th and 18th century, when scientists began
analysing the Earth's atmosphere, gases such as hydrogen were discovered which in
turn led to the invention of hydrogen balloons.Various theories in mechanics by physicists during the
same period of time—notably fluid dynamics and Newton's laws of
motion—led to
the foundation of modern aerodynamics.
Logistics
infrastructure change the geography and quality of civilisation
InterCityExpress, a German high-speed passenger train
Infrastructure is the fixed installations that allow a vehicle to
operate. It consists of both a way, terminal and facilities for parking and
maintenance. For rail, pipeline, road and cable transport, the entire way the
vehicle travels must be built up. Air and water craft are able to avoid this,
since the airway and seawaydo not need to be
built up. However, they require fixed infrastructure at terminals.
Terminals such as airports, ports and stations, are locations where
passengers and freight can be transferred from one vehicle or mode to another.
For passenger transport, terminals are integrating different modes to allow
riders to interchange to take advantage of each mode's advantages. For
instance, airport rail links connect
airports to the city centers and suburbs. The terminals for automobiles
are parking lots, while buses and coaches can
operates from simple stops.[13] For freight, terminals act
as transshipment points,
though some cargo is transported directly from the point of production to the
point of use.
Conclusions
Any civilisation always start with their logistic wills and development.
Humans' first means of transport were walking and swimming. The domestication of animals introduces a new
way to lay the burden of transport on more powerful creatures, allowing heavier
loads to be hauled, or humans to ride the animals for higher speed and
duration. Inventions such as the wheel and sled helped make animal transport
more efficient through the introduction of vehicles. Also water transport,
including rowed and sailed vessels, dates back to time immemorial, and was the only efficient
way to transport large quantities or over large distances prior to the Industrial Revolution.
Until the Industrial Revolution, transport remained slow and costly, and
production and consumption were located as close to each other as feasible. But
we saw most of either ancient, mid age of 18th centuries
civilisation upgrade their logistic capability and those who upgrade faster
become survivors.
The Industrial Revolution in
the 19th century saw a number of inventions fundamentally change transport.
With telegraphy, communication became instant and
independent of transport.
The history of logistic is
largely one of technological innovation that improve the quality of
civilisation. Advances in technology have allowed people to travel farther,
explore more territory, and expand their influence over larger and larger
areas. Even in ancient times, new tools such as foot coverings, skis, and
snowshoes lengthened the distances that could be traveled. As new inventions
and discoveries were applied to transportation problems, travel time decreased
while the ability to move more and larger loads increased. Innovation continues
today, and transportation researchers are working to find new ways to reduce
costs and increase transportation efficiency.
