Historical perspective of concept of flowExtending this concept of flow pioneered by Henry Ford and adapted by Toyota as the Toyota Production system to the macro world one can see that the concept of flow has shaped world history as well. History has changed whenever and wherever flow has been facilitated.
“Flow” and “aggregate” are two concepts that have been used both by builders and destroyers in History. Military generals try to snap supply flows of the enemy army. Developers use flows to create assets that can be later exploited. Supply chain managers try to manage the flow of goods from the manufacturing location to the customers’ site.
Just as in physics, imbalance of flow is used to change direction of a moving object in a medium; history has changed direction whenever an imbalance in existing flows has been created.
Logistics is synonymous with flow. It can be said that the history of the world is the history of logistics. Let us look at a few examples.
The First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States was built across North America in the 1860s, linking the railway network of the Eastern United States the Pacific coast. The project that took over 30 years to complete created a nation-wide mechanized transportation network that revolutionized the population and economy of the American West. It disrupted forever traditional ways of life, brought more people into the market economy.
A transcontinental railroad had been dreamed of as early as 1836. From time to time it was suggested by visionaries and discussed by the orators and newspapers of the '40s and '50s. In 1853 Congress expended $150,000 in hunting a feasible route. The California Legislature took a hand in the issue, fearing that Congress might relax its energies, and urged a speedy construction of a railroad, but the jealousy of politicians delayed the initiative.
http://mbbnet.umn.edu/doric/raillink.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Transcontinental_RailroadAmericans in 2006 celebrated the 50th anniversary of the authorization in 1956 of the so-called Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways. (Twenty-three years before that, however, Adolf Hitler had already turned over the first spade full of earth in 1933 to inaugurate construction of the first leg of the world-famous AUTOBAHN network of roads.) The system, commonly called the Interstate Highway System, is named for the president who was in office and championed its creation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_Highway_SystemThe development of the road and rail network laid the foundations for US becoming a global power.
UK: The history of railways can be traced back to the UK. William James, a rich and influential surveyor and land agent, was inspired to suggest a national network of railways. He was responsible for suggesting a number of projects that later came to fruition, and he is credited with carrying out a survey of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Unfortunately, his enthusiasm led to bankruptcy, and he died in poverty. However, he is credited by many historians with the title of 'Father of the Railway'
The success of the railways encouraged the rich investors of the rapidly industrializing North West of England to embark upon a project to link the rich cotton manufacturing town of Manchester with the thriving port of Liverpool. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway was the first modern railway, in that both the goods and passenger traffic was operated .At the time of its construction, there was still a serious doubt that locomotives could maintain a regular service over the distance involved. A widely reported competition was held in 1829 called the Rainhill Trials, to find the most suitable steam engine to haul the trains. The winner was Stephenson's Rocket, of which we have all read in our school books.
The railways also gave Britain a logistical alternative and superiority over France, its traditional rival over waters. Also UK's investment in creating superiority in naval engineering helped it become a colonial power establishing the British Empire as the dominant power of the 19th and early 20th centuries
Germany: The Autobahn network has been universally praised as his one innovative and, successful achievement. Even while under construction, these were heralded as one of the great manifestations of excellence of German technology. These were in advance of road systems anywhere else and presented a model for the world.
http://www.thecivicplatform.com/2006/07/03/hitler-shows-how-it-should-be-built/The Suez Canal: In 1854 and 1856 A Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps obtained a concession from, the viceroy of Egypt, to create a company to construct a maritime Canal open to ships of all nations, according to plans created by an Austrian engineer. The company was to operate the canal by leasing the relevant land, for 99 years from its opening, for navigation. De Lesseps had used his friendly relationship with the viceroy, which he had developed while he was a French diplomat during the 1830s. The Suez Canal Company came into being on, 1858. At first, international opinion was skeptical and the Suez Canal Company shares did not sell well overseas. Britain, United States, Austria and Russia did not buy any shares. All French shares were quickly sold in France. The canal finally opened to traffic on November 17, 1869. Although numerous technical, political (due to the British rivalry), and financial problems had been overcome, the final cost was more than double the original estimate.
The canal had an immediate and dramatic effect on world trade. Combined with the American Transcontinental Railroad completed six months earlier, it allowed the entire world to be circled in record time. It played an important role in increasing European penetration and colonization of Africa
The Panama Canal , a major ship canal, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Construction of the canal was one of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken. Although the concept of a canal near Panama dates back to the early 16th century, the first attempt to construct a canal began in 1880 under French leadership. After this attempt failed, the project of building a canal was attempted and completed by the United States in Panama in the early 1900s. The building of the 77 km canal was plagued by problems, including disease (particularly malaria and yellow fever) and landslides. By the time the canal was completed, a total of 27,500 workers are estimated to have died in the French and U.S. attempts.
ROME: further back in History: It is often said that "all roads lead to Rome," and in fact, they once did. The road system of the Ancient Romans was one of the greatest engineering accomplishments of its time, with over 50,000 miles of paved road radiating from their center in the city of Rome. Although the Roman road system was originally built to facilitate the movement of troops throughout the empire, it was inevitably used for other purposes by civilians then and now.
Silk Route: A series of trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting East and West by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from China to the Mediterranean Sea during various periods of time.
http://asiapacificuniverse.com/pkm/spiceroutes.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_RoadLooking back in History one Indian example that comes to my mind in the creation of Sher Shah Suri Marg (Now refered to as NH-1), connecting the east of India to what is present day Pakistan. I wonder what kind of complex dynamics of money and politics must have come in play during those times. Or during the creation of the Mumbai-Thane railways. In the recent times we see the golden Golden Quadrangle being launched. There are also talks of river networking, so on and so forth. Some thought process in this direction, even though a little late in the day.
On the political front, the development of naval capabilities in Europe led to the age of exploration and eventually to the age of colonilisation. The British had created a flow of textiles from England to India following industrialization in Europe.
Mahatama Gandhi was able to see this flow and like a military general snapped this supply line through the “Bycott Movement” and created an alternate flow through the introduction of Khadi.
LET US USE THE CONCEPT WITH CAUTION ;At one point during the movie Jurassic Park, Ian Malcolm (played by Jeff Goldblum) tells Hammond (the owner of Jurassic Park) that what is really disturbing is that Hammond's scientists are standing on the shoulders of giants and not taking any responsibility for their actions. They are taking the work of great minds of the past and using it to create something new and dangerous.
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