CHAPTER ONE

1. Introduction
1.1. Background of the study
The ability of countries to deliver goods and services on time and at the lowest possible cost
is a key determinant of integration into the world economy today (UN-OHRLLS, 2013). In
current globalized and competitive world, countries are forced to use modern logistics system
including better infrastructures, skilled manpower, and improved technologies to deliver
efficient service to meet the demands of their customers. Because of their vicinity to port,
maritime transit countries have better access to the world market, and are thus in better
economic situations than most landlocked countries, of which most are found in developing
nations. Trade in landlocked countries is less by an average 32 % ( Landlocked Developing
Countries (LLDCs) Statistics current as of July 2020). compared to maritime countries and thus
experience weaker economic growth (Venables and Limao, 1999). One reason for this slower
growth is the huge amount of cost incurred for handling their import and export commodities
by their neighboring maritime. According to the World Bank business report 2013, the
average cost of exporting a container has increased from $2220 in 2006 to $3000 in 2013
(Assefa, 2013). Maritime countries spend only 50 % of the money they receive from
landlocked countries, and most of it is being paid to for the extended storage. This problem
has forced landlocked countries to build dry ports in their respective land so that items are
cleared as fast possible from the port and stored until they are distributed to their owners. The
concept of dry port is more often used in practice while being given scientific attention in
1982 the UN first used the term to underline the integration of services with different modes
under one contract (Beresford et al., 2012). Dry ports are located in land but are linked
directly to the sea ports or are in contact with the sources of imports and destination of
exports. They may be used whether it has sea ports or is landlocked, but only surface modes
of transport are involved in giving access to them. Well-built dry port should ideally have a
big compound with a security cordon. And it should also include temporary storage for
import and export cargoes. Both existing customs and clearance facilities as well as specific
facilities built for the purpose may be designated as dry ports. This problem has

Forced landlocked countries to build dry ports in their respective land so that items are
cleared as fast possible from the port and stored until they are distributed to their owners.
There must be a common user facility that it is accessible to all shippers either directly or
through agents. For the most part, the container port industry itself and the agencies (both
governmental and otherwise) which influence its performance, have responded in a most
positive and successful manner to this constantly changing environment and the challenges it
poses; international trade has continued to expand virtually unabated, despite the many
occurrences of congestion and bottlenecks in and around ports that must interfere with the
pace of what is otherwise an inexorable trend. It is inevitably the case, however, that the
development of transport corridors and associated infrastructure to facilitate access to ports
lags behind the response of the ports themselves to the difficulties they are sometimes faced
with. In addition, the availability of sufficient container storage space within ports is a matter
of significant concern, especially for those ports in traditional locations close to, or even
within, suburban or urban areas. For facilitating the future evolution of container ports,
therefore, it is crucially important that a viable solution is found that overcomes the potential
multifaceted conflicts which may exist between the need for capacity expansion,
environmental considerations, community restrictions (not least those imposed by the
geography of a port) and the continued embedding of freight transport and logistics functions
within integrated supply chains. However, logistics concepts in the role of decreasing
environmental impacts have not been extensively researched until recently (Aronson and
Brodin, 2006). One of these concepts is a concept of dry port that, apart from reducing
environmental impact (Roso, 2007), has the potential to create numerous benefits for the
actors of the transport systems (Roso et al, 2008). The concept was neglected for many years
and recently reborn due to increased interest in environmental issues related to growing
containerized maritime transport. As container transport volume continues to grow, seaport
inland access becomes a critical factor for the seaports’ competitive advantage. Therefore,
progress only in maritime part of the transport chain and in seaport terminals, without
improvements in seaport inland access by means of intermodal terminals, is not sufficient for
the entire transportation chain to function.

Ethiopia is one of the landlocked developing countries which employ the dry port system.
The
Country has been using the ports Assab and Massaw until the Ethio-Eretria war, which broke
in 1998. Since then, Ethiopia stopped using these ports and started to use the port of Djibouti
as its main port (Debela, 2013). The port of Djibouti has a capacity of 400,000 TEU’s and
2
handles 800,000 units of container (Shabandri, 2013). More than 70 percent of the port of
Djibouti handles Ethiopia’s commodities. Ethiopia Uses port of Djibouti to handle above 90
percent of the country’s import and export commodities. For this service, the country pays
more than $700 million annually for demurrage. Moreover, the average staying time of
containers at the Djibouti port has also been brought down from 45 to 10 days.This has
prompted the Ethiopian government to establish dry ports in the various parts of the country.
The first dry ports in Ethiopia was established at Modjo, nearly 75 km East of Addis Ababa,
and started operations in the first half of 2009. The port has a capacity to handle 6,000
containers, measuring 20-ft (six meters), on 2012. Currently there are six additional dry ports
operating to handle shipment from ports. These are Semera, Gelan, Diredawa, Komolcha,
Mekele, and Kaliti Branches. All of these ports connect to Djibouti and were built with the
Purposes of providing receiving and delivering cargoes, loading and unloading, stuffing and
unstuffing of container goods, temporary storage for import and export cargoes, container
cleaning and maintaining, weight bridge, customs control and clearance, banking and
insurance, container depot service and engage in other related activities conducive to the
achievement of its purposes. And this move has helped the country to save the foreign
currency and increased its efficiency in import and export operation. From currently
operating dry ports in Ethiopia the Addis Ababa Kaliti branch officially started working as a
dry port on November 2014. It has now 250 employees out of which 200 of the employees
are laborers who are responsible for loading and unloading of shipments. Currently the Addis
Ababa Kality Branch dry port handles 19,858 TEUs per year. The establishment of these dry
ports has saved the country millions of foreign currencies and increased its efficiency in
import and export operation. However, customers of the Addis Ababa dry port have
expressed complaints about the efficiency and effectiveness of the port, saying that it affects
their competitiveness in the international trade. Some of the complaints include poor trade
logistics, reduced free time for imported cargo, and unavailability of empty containers and
enough storage facilities. In addition, customs clearance delay was also one of the issue
affecting their performance. Customs clearance delay had also exacerbated the congestion in
Djibouti port apart from the problem that might arise from lack of harmonization among the
employees of the

3
dry port remains the major challenges that escalated Ethiopia’s total logistics costs for its
imports and export trade which affected the country’s competitiveness in the international
market.

Ethiopia become landlocked in 1992, when its Red Sea coast was lost to the new state of
Eritrea. It lost access to its former ports soon afterwards. Since the outbreak of a vicious two-
year war between the two countries in 1998, the Red Sea ports of Massawa and Assab have
been off-limits to Ethiopian freight (personal communication). Due to this firm reason
Ethiopia build maritime institute in order to integrate in trade with the rest of the world
economy. In so doing, building a dry port is mandatory. From this dry ports kality dry port is
one of its seven dry ports (ESELSE, 2014)

According to the ESLSE (2014), currently ESLSE is in administration with the seven dry
ports including kality dry port (formerly COMET). Within the port ESLSE in facilitating
required material to serve the customer. But 2010and 2011 E.C reported the service of the
port not satisfied customer. Due to this, our paper is concerned with assessing materials
management practice in case of kalitiy dry Port.

1.2. Background of Study Area(organization)

Ethiopia is one of the landlocked developing countries which employ the dry port system.
The
Country has been using the ports Assab and Massaw until the Ethio-Eretria war, which broke
in 1998. Since then, Ethiopia stopped using these ports and started to use the port of Djibouti
as its main port (Debela, 2013). The port of Djibouti has a capacity of 400,000 TEU’s and
handles 800,000 units of container (Shabandri, 2013). More than 70 percent of the port of
Djibouti handles Ethiopia’s commodities. Ethiopia Uses port of Djibouti to handle 90 percent
of the country’s import and export commodities. For this service, the country pays more than
$700 million annually for demurrage. Moreover, the average staying time of containers at the
Djibouti port has also been brought down from 45 to 10 days.This has prompted the
Ethiopian government to establish dry ports in the various parts of the country. The average
stay time of packed of containers is expected to be decreased to 5 days when the Ethio-
Djibouti port railway line starts service, walta learnt.
The first dry ports in Ethiopia was established at Modjo, nearly 75 km East of Addis Ababa,
and started operations in the first half of 2009. The port has a capacity to handle 6,000

4
containers, measuring 20-ft (six meters), on 2012. Currently there are six additional dry ports
operating to handle shipment from ports. These are Semera, Gelan, Diredawa, Komolcha,
Mekele, and Kaliti Branches. All of these ports connect to Djibouti and were built with the
Purposes of providing receiving and delivering cargoes, loading and unloading, stuffing and
unstuffing of container goods, temporary storage for import and export cargoes, container
cleaning and maintaining, weight bridge, customs control and clearance, banking and
insurance, container depot service and engage in other related activities conducive to the
achievement of its purposes. And this move has helped the country to save the foreign
currency and increased its efficiency in import and export operation. From currently
operating dry ports in Ethiopia the Addis Ababa Kaliti branch officially started working as a
dry port on November 2014. It has now 250 employees out of which 200 of the employees
are laborers who are responsible for loading and unloading of shipments. Currently the Addis
Ababa Kality Branch dry port handles 19,858 TEUs per year. The establishment of these dry
ports has saved the country millions of foreign currencies and increased its efficiency in
import and export operation. However, customers of the Addis Ababa dry port have
expressed complaints about the efficiency and effectiveness of the port, saying that it affects
their competitiveness in the international trade. Some of the complaints include poor trade
logistics, reduced free time for imported cargo, and unavailability of empty containers and
enough storage facilities. In addition, customs clearance delay was also one of the issue
affecting their performance. Customs clearance delay had also exacerbated the congestion in
Djibouti port apart from the problem that might arise from lack of harmonization among the
employees of the
Dry port remains the major challenges that escalated Ethiopia’s total logistics costs for its
imports and export trade which affected the country’s competitiveness in the international
market.
1.3. Statement of the Problem
The poor coordination and organization of logistics and supply chain management, such as
problems within storage, warehousing, transportation, distribution problems, customs and
regulation would hinder trade processes and deteriorate the country’s competitiveness. Many
factors influence efficient delivery of services in dry ports. Some of the factors are poor
Infrastructural facilities, location of the dry port, governance, lack of educated and
experienced
5
Human power. In addition to the above mentioned factors a well and structured ICT
infrastructures could also play a great role for efficient service delivery of a dry port.
Overall because of the above mentioned problems and limited research carried out in Kality
dry port and terminal with regard to material management of overall operation, thus, the
study will assess the material management practice of the dry port, storage and handling
practices, warehouse management, and cold chain equipment status in facilities at North
Shoa Zone Amhara, Ethiopia context. The assessment will provide base line information to
track changes and improvements in material management practice over time in the study
area.

For the most part, the container port industry itself and the agencies (both governmental and
otherwise) which influence its performance, have responded in a most positive and
successful manner to this constantly changing environment and the challenges it poses;
international trade has continued to expand virtually unabated, despite the many occurrences
of congestion and bottlenecks in and around ports that must interfere with the pace of what is
otherwise an inexorable trend. It is inevitably the case, however, that the development of
transport corridors and associated infrastructure to facilitate access to ports lags behind the
response of the ports themselves to the difficulties they are sometimes faced with. In
addition, the availability of sufficient container storage space within ports is a matter of
significant concern, especially for those ports in traditional locations close to, or even within,
suburban or urban areas. For facilitating the future evolution of container ports, therefore, it
is crucially important that a viable solution is found that overcomes the potential multifaceted
conflicts which may exist between the need for capacity expansion, environmental
considerations, community restrictions (not least those imposed by the geography of a port)
and the continued embedding of freight transport and logistics functions within integrated
supply chains.

The successful implementation of the ‘dry port’ concept was having the joint effects of
lessening congestion, alleviating pressure on storage space and reducing handling operations
in port, as well as delivering lower transaction costs to shippers (Padilha and Ng,

6
2011Cullinane and Wilmsmeier (2011) have aligned port development and, specifically, the
‘dry port’ concept to the Product Life Cycle (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004). In their
exposition, where a port has evolved to attain the maturity phase, the space required for
container storage and other port-related activities approaches, and eventually encounters,
either a physical constraint on further expansion, or possibly a competitive constraint from
other activities and land use in areas adjacent to the port. In maturity stage of the port
development cycle focuses on the rationalization of port services, as well as on process
innovations primarily aimed at capacity effects (for example, conversion to more effective
storage technologies), particularly as land becomes a scarce commodity and commands
premium prices or rents.
Many factors influence properly delivery materials in dry ports. Some of the factors are poor
infrastructural facilities and machinery capacity. Infrastructure and machinery plays a great
role for efficiently delivery of materials on the dry ports. The port service and terminal
operation have their standard to deliver service. But customers, as well as employees says
that kality dry port and terminal operation are not getting materials at specified time
Standard. This indicate the service delivery of the port has gap in using machinery and other
material properly. This paper tries to explore materials management practice in case of kalitiy
dry Port.

1.4. Objectives of the Study

1.4.1. General objectives
The general objectives is to assess management practice on kality port and terminal dry port.
1.4.2. Specific objectives
The specific objectives of the study are
 To assess the practices of material management of the dry port.
 To identify main challenges of material management of the dry port.
 To recommend the appropriate methods for improving material
management practices in the dry port.
1.5. Research Questions
The following questions are considered relevant to the study;
1. What are the practices of material management of the dry port?
2. What are the main challenges of material management of the dry port?

7
 3. How to improve material management in the dry port?
1.6. Scope of the Study
However the study of material management practice covers material
planning,storing,transporting and receiving in construction environment, the researcher try to
see in dry port context.
The scope of the study is limited to the practice of materials management on the
performance of the port. The study carried out at kality port & terminal and involved the staff
of the ports customer, and employees.
1.7. Significance of the Study
After reviewing the literatures, it is found that there are a limited number of studies that focus
on material management in dry port context especially at kality dry port. As a result, this
study aims to add and reinforce to the existing body of knowledge on the material
management of dry ports from supply chain perspective. Positive aspects of the study
highlighted and possible gaps that exist in the dry port system related with material
management and process of management identified.
Recommendations made to managers for improvement material management strategies and
smooth operations.
It will also be intended primarily to assess the actual material management practice in kality
dry port in the capital city oF Ethiopia. The result will hopefully give a baseline data for any
take an appropriate measure to improve the cold chain management system of cargos and
port facilities. After conducting this research, the leaders, managers, logistics officers and
port managers at all level will enables them to be involved in the decision to improve the
material management of cargos maximizing their effort how to improve the material
management practice.

1.8. Limitation of the Study

In the process of studying there may be the factors that hinder smooth rounding of the
study. This includes the fact that, some respondents may unwilling or give less attention for
the questionnaire there have been limited documented that exists in the organization.
1.9. Organization of the study
This paper prepared in five chapters. The first chapter deals about the introductory parts

8
includes background of the study, the statement of the problem, objective of the study,
research questions, significance of the study, limitation of the study and organization of the
study. The second chapter focused in the related literature review. The third chapter cover
research methodology (research design and approach, sources of data, methods of data
collection, sampling technique, population and sample Size and data analysis). The fourth
chapter focused on data presentation, analysis and interpretation. The fifth chapter focuses
on summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations.

CHAPTER TWO

2 Literature Review

2.1 Theory
2.1.1 Introduction

This Chapter covers the overview of Materials management definition; Objective of

materials management; Activities of materials management and materials handling
equipment on organizational operations and also import of cargo receiving & delivery,
container fright station operation, cargo delivery, weight bridge service, export cargo
handling, stuffed container delivery and the standard time for manage those operation
materials stated.
Materials Management is a tool to optimize performance in meeting customer service
requirements at the same time adding to profitability by minimizing costs and making the
best use of available resources. The basic objective of Materials Management as explained by
Banjoko (2000) and Jacobs et al.,(2009), is to ensure that the right item is bought and made

9
available to the manufacturing operations at the right time, at the right place and at the lowest
possible cost.
According to wild (1995), materials management is a concept which brings together the
responsibility for determining the manufacturing requirement that is scheduling the
manufacturing processes and procuring, storing and dispensing materials (wild, 1995;
Ondiek, 2009). An integrated approach to material management defines it as the function
responsible for the coordination of planning, sourcing, purchasing, moving, storing and
controlling materials in an optimum manner so as to provide a predetermined service to the
customer at a minimum cost (Ramakrishna, 2005; Gopalakrishna&Sundaresan, 2006). These
definitions provide the scope of materials management which includes materials
requirements planning (MRP), decision on purchasing, procurement of materials, inventory
management, staffing, stores and warehouse management, production and distribution of
finished goods at minimum cost at due time (Osotimehin, 2006; Monday 2008; Ogbadu,
2009).
Chase et al., (2009), explained the concept of materials management brings in the total
systems approach to managing the entire flow of information, materials and services from
raw materials suppliers through factories and warehouses to the end user/customer. The study
further confirmed that a firm’s success depends on how they manage their materials
effectively. They indicate that it is important to monitor inventory at each stage because it
ties up resources. Therefore, effective materials management is fundamental to the survival
of business, industry and economy.

2.1.1.1 Dry Ports in East Africa

Mombasa and Dares Salaam Sea ports found in Kenya and Tanzania respectively are the current
gateways to East Africa from the Indian Ocean, although a third Sea port in Lamu(Kenya) is
under construction by China Communications construction Company in a deal worth $478.9
million to directly link the coast, Kenya, Ethiopia and Southern Sudan. Traditionally, dry ports
development and expansion was linked to economic growth and increase in volume of trade. The
growth in the volume of trade turned such regions or places into the centers of attraction (Grishi,
2010).Key South East Asian ports like Singapore, Hong Kong, Mumbai and Shanghai are a
classic example. Continuous rise in trade resulted in a rapid rise in demand for port services, of
which failure to meet capacity needs created inefficiency and operational bottlenecks. Challenges
to expansion in original sea ports included limited land or high cost of land, together with the
high cost of relocating people and compensations for the destroyed property to pave way for port
expansion. Many nations beginning with the most developed and industrialized established dry

10
ports as a solution. Although East Africa lags behind Europe and Asia, in terms of volume of
trade and port development, it has not been an exception to the above assertion. For example,
According to the China State Council’s Information office white paper (2013), between 2000 and
2013, trade volume between China’s and Africa increased rapidly from about $10.5 Bn to$200
Bn.This increase in trade together with impressive economic growth figures averaging 5% per
annum in the region impacted on the operations of ports because of a sharp rise in cargo
(containers) and rise in demand for port related services. Andrew Roberts (2013), reported that as
the trade and economic growth figures in East Africa increased, Sea port activities, traffic jam
and congestion increased at Mombasa Sea port too. For example, from 2005 to 2008, imports at
Mombasa port grew at an annual rate of 9.7 %( liquid bulk), 11.5% containerized cargo and at 23
%( dry bulk).This implies that as trade and economic growth increased, the need for port services
also increased and due to limitations in expansion of existing sea ports, investment in dry ports
was required and this trend has led to recent investment in dry ports in East Africa. According to
the Shippers Council of East Africa, (2013), Mombasa, the busiest container terminal in East
Africa saw container volume increase by 25% in the first half of 2012 alone, and handled an
estimated 840,000 TEU in 2013 from about 700,000 TEUs the previous year.

2.1.1.2 Dry port in Ethiopia

As one of the landlocked developing countries Ethiopia continuously face the challenge of
physical isolation, supply chain related barriers from the sea and the high costs of trading with the
rest of the world (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, 2011). In order to counter
these challenges associated with landlocked-ness, Ethiopia established several dry port to take the
advantage of dry port.
The Economic Commission for Africa has undertaken a feasibility study that could see the
construction of more dry ports in Ethiopia. Ethiopia started developing dry ports following a 2007
study by the Ministry of Transport & Communication, which suggested that the country could
save foreign currency from seaport expenses at Djibouti, by building an inland port within the
country. Such ports handle the customs inspections, documentation of cargo and packaging for
import and export. The saving, according to the study, could be seven to eight dollars for every
container that’s transported through Djibouti. Consequently the Modjo Dry Port, 73Km east of
the capital, was built at a cost of 20 million birr on a 63 hectar plot and started operations back in
2009. An additional 617 million birr was spent to expand its capacity. Another dry port, in
Semera, 580Km north of Addis Ababa, also started operations at the same time, although it is not
used quite as regularly. Use of the Modjo Dry Port increased in February 2012, when the multi-
modal transport system, whereby the ESLSE handles the transport of goods from port of origin to
an inland destination port, was launched. The port has 40ft containers, too, but they are
statistically recorded as two 20ft containers. The ESLSE set up satellites at Comet (Addis
Ababa); Gelan, in Oromia Special Zone, 25Km east of the capital; Dire Dawa, 317Km east of
Addis; Mekelle, 780Km north of Addis and Kombolcha, 380Km north of Addis, to ease the
congestion at Modjo. Out of these, Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa and Kombolcha are now being
recommended by the Maritime Affairs Authority to become full-scale dry ports. The Maritime

11
Affairs Authority has also recommended Mekelle, according to research & planning expert at the
Authority, but the Ministry of Transport already approved a dry port for the town in December
2012. Four of the 12 suggested sites are located in Amhara region, followed by two in Oromia. A
single site was identified in Somalia, Gambella and Southern regions, each. (Source: fortune
February 2012). Ostensibly, the ports are to create logistic chains to ports in Somaliland,
Djibouti, Kenya, Sudan and South Sudan. This strategic drive also aims to take advantage of the
growing international and regional trade including the country’s burgeoning economic relation
with its trading partners in the region.

2.2 Benefits of Material Management

The main benefits of an efficient Materials Management and Control System are: Increased
productivity and avoidance of delays, mainly due to the availability of the right materials
prior to work commencement. The main benefits from efficient Materials Management and
Control System are: Increased productivity and avoidance of delays. Estimates of increased
productivity vary from 8% up to 12%. This is mainly due to the availability of the right
materials prior to work commencement and the ability to plan the work activities according
to the availability of materials (Navon and Berkovich (2004).
The researchers showed that on projects lacking materials management systems craft
foremen spend up to 20% of their time hunting materials and another 10% tracking purchase
orders (PO) and expediting (time that they could devote otherwise to supervising workers).
Leaving the crews unsupervised has a detrimental effect on labor productivity. Reduction in
the cost of materials, this is due to reduction in waste caused by manual and inefficient
materials management and controls [Navon and Berkovich (2004).

2.3 Material Management Functions in dry port

Material management covers starting from material planning up to consumption of the

material. The major functional area of material management includes material planning,
purchasing, receiving, storing and transporting (Ashwini. R. Patil and S. V Pataskar, 2013).

12
2.3.1 Material planning
Material plan is a plan which describes the quantity and type of material which used for the
construction and when it will be used. The quantity of the required material identified from
the bill of quantity and the drawing. The material requirement duration or time depend on the
starting date of the construction project , the contract time of the project and the available
resource for the completion of the work. Material management planning is the back bone of
material management because every successor activities depend on it which means in order
to have good material management the material planning should be good.
Based on the material plan the engineering staff passes the requisition to the store team then
the store team check the availability of the material in the store if available it will be
delivered as per the plan if not it will be passed to purchasing team in order to be purchased
(Albert et al., 2014).

2.3.2 Purchasing
Purchasing is a process of buying material or service based on the request of other team of
the company. Profitability of the construction company mainly depends on the efficiency of
the purchasing system since the construction material covers most of the cost of the project
around 60 percent of the whole project cost. If we able to minimize the material purchasing
cost by applying efficient material purchasing system without compromising the quality of
the material and on time delivery of the material, we can maximize the profit highly since
material cost covers the major cost of the work.
During the material purchasing process the following activity should be done appropriately:
 Best suppliers selected based on their capacity, previous performance, honesty or
other criteria.

 Enough number of suppliers should be selected to create good competition.

 The procurement process should be done carefully in order to get good quality
material by a reasonable cost.

 The quality of material should be checked by the right professional before purchased.
The decision to purchase or not purchase the material should be done by managerial
level because the purchasing process is very vulnerable to corruption. The material

13
 should be delivered as per the plan of the project. We should keep good relationship
with the suppliers for future purchase and any necessary assistance. (Chan, 2002).

2.4.3 Receiving

Material receiving is a process of getting the purchased materials which are previously
requested. During the material receiving process the professional who receive the material
should check the material is the requested one or not, Quality of the material and material
handling information, if available.
2.4.4 Storing

As described earlier one of the objective of material management is to deliver the right
quality of material with the right quantity at the right time .In order to fulfill this objective we
need storage to deliver material when needed. The purchased material should be stored
before some duration before needed for the work to keep the continuity of the work. We
should keep balance between the storage cost and stock out cost. If we purchase too much
material and stock it, in addition to capital tie up or cash flow disturbance there will be
storage, protection, obsolescence and some other risk costs. On other way if we keep the
inventory level low or null, there will be idle and delay cost because the labor and
equipment’s stop work since they get shortage of material to do the work.
While we store material proper attention should be given according to the type of
material .For example first in material should be first out by proper space area arrangement,
cement should not be placed directly on the floor to escape the moisture from the floor,
Rebar should be placed moisture free area to keep from corrosion, Some material like water
heater need to be placed by keeping the up side up, thin material like glass ,ceramic ,terrazzo,
etc should be place vertically to keep from easy breakage .
The federal democratic republic of Ethiopia cooperative agency material management
training material for cooperative promoter describes the objective and principle of material
storage as show.
The major objectives of store prevention and reduced of waste and/or misappropriation of
materials need for material handling equipment , provision of better storage facilities,
accessibility of major materials permitting efficient service to users, awareness of limited
shelf-life items with a view to stock turnover in time to prevent deterioration ,Efficient space
utilization and flexibility of arrangement, available a balanced flow of raw materials,

14
components tools, equipments and any other items necessary to meet the production
requirements, maintain sufficient stock of materials to level out irregularities of procurement,
offset delays in transportation, provide easy location and quick identification of items and
prevent any theft, damage, wastage or deterioration of stored items.
The major principles of store all the materials must be identified labeled and coded properly.
When material codification is accompanied by location codes, it facilitates exact location of
the materials inside the store room, the bins, racks; shelves etc. must have signs and tags
attached to them, materials should be stored at proper safe place to prevent these from
damage and mishaps, each item stored must bear name, class and reference number. It helps
in easy, quick identification. It eliminates chances of duplication of items likely to be
presented under different names. It also helps in standardization and reducing the variety of
the materials, floor plan must be provided at convenient places in storeroom. It eliminates
waste of time and helps in easy location of material and the storeroom should be divided into
sections and materials belonging to particular class should be stored. (Johnston et al., 2016),
2.4.5 Transporting
Material transportation is the process of moving material from one place to other place
through different transportation mechanism like vehicle, ship, plane, etc. The material should
be transferred to the port as per the planned time safely with a reasonable cost. In order to
transport the material safely we should follow the material handling information because if
the delivered material is broken or rotten it is similar to material undelivered because the
progress of the work stopped due to shortage of material.

2.5 Advantages of Material Management in dry port

According to Inyang-Udoh (2002) Effective material management has so many advantages to
the organization/projects. Some of the main advantages discussed as follows:
 Reduce excessive surplus material;
The application of effective material management enforced the professional who request the
material to request the material exactly needed to the work by applying appropriate quantity

15
surveying and considering appropriate wastage instead of simple guess or random work
material delivery. The professional should also follow the exact application of the material.
A. Reduce manpower on material management;The application of effective material
management reduces the no of man power on material management by avoiding or
cutting the unnecessary steps in construction material management and well trained
professionals can cover a lot of work effectively.
B. Labor productivity improved;Effective material management improves labor
productivity by training, reducing idle time, reward and punishment. Regular and
continuous training make the labors knowledgeable to do the work expected from
them effectively. Idle time due to material supply delay decreased by application of
good material management system which needs to improve labor productivity.
Rewarding the labor who perform good and punishing the labor that perform bad,
teaches the labor to perform good to get reward and not to perform bad to escape
punishment.
C. Improve cash flow system; One of the criteria for healthy cash flow is effective
material management. Because if we able to have effective material management
system, money will not tie up by purchasing of surplus materials or materials which
are not used at the right time. The materials purchasing have done by considering the
cash flow and the material schedule.
D. .Reduce the overall cost of material ;
Effective construction material management can reduce the overall cost of material by
 Application of bulk purchase

 Purchasing good quality material, which avoid additional purchase

 Avoiding repetitive purchase

 Minimizing deterioration of material ,etc

2.4 Good material handling

By the application of effective material management system, we can improve material
handling since we follow material handling instructions. Material handling can be improved
by following proper storage and transportation instruction. We should also strictly follow
material storage instruction .Some material needs special precaution for example containers
16
with dangerous andflammable goods should not be placed directly on the terminal like other
containers with spareparepartes,clothes,electronics because moisture from the floor and light
can result presetting of the cargo.

2.5 Reduce duplicated order

When the requested material not delivered on time or delays too much, the material
requisition form may disappear or even the requested material may be forgotten. This
problem may lead to duplicated order. In addition to this if we cannot have well categorized
data system to identify the purchased materials from the not purchased materials; duplicated
order may result at the end. This duplicated order can be minimized by the application of
effective construction material management system.

2.5.1 Improve the accomplishment of the project plan

Effective material management system of the company will deliver the required material to
the project as per the required time and quality. At the result of this the progress of the
project not interrupted by shortage of material and idle time is not interrupted by other
factors (Formosoet al., 2002).

2.5.2 Quality of material improved

Effective material management system of the company has qualified professionals to control
the quality of the material before the material purchasing process completed. These
professionals help to keep the quality of the project work and minimize reworks due to the
usage of poor quality material. In addition to the work quality improvement, extra cost from
rework minimized.

2.5.3 Relationship with supplier improved

Effective material management systems of the company have well organized data from the
previous purchase or other source about suppliers for future purchasing activity. When the
company need to purchase material first check the history of the company from the previous
purchase data or from other source whether it is in good list or black list .if it is in good list
the hesitation minimized and the relationship improved well.
If the company has effective material management system not only keep the right of the
company itself but also keeps the right of the suppliers like by giving payment on time, by
taking the purchased material on time , etc for better relationship.

17
2.6 Material Management challenges in dry port
Some of the most common challenges of the material management described as follows:
I. Ordering in Excess
Cash flow is the key aspect in running a management company. Ordering and storing excess
material might tie up the cash flow and also incur interest charges for the business (Chan,
2002). There is also additional expenses for excess material like storage cost, transportation
cost (if transferred to other construction site), and risk of theft ,obsolescence, etc. The
necessary material of the project should be quantified by quantity surveyor or office engineer
and also should be check by the right professional before the material purchased because
sometimes excess material purchased because of wrong quantity surveying of unqualified
professional.
II. Unavailability of storage space
When products are purchased in excess volume, lack of storage space results in loss of
materials due to damage and theft (Chan, 2002).Specially most of the construction projects
found in the city faces difficulty of storage space even it is difficult to get rental store around
the construction site. This problem results difficulty on material handling because the
unavailability of storage space lead the material to be stored on scattered manner which make
the material supply to take more time.
III. Unorganized storage
This leads to wastage of labor efforts and time, searching the materials when needed [ Bell
L.C. and Stokhart G. (1986]. If the material stored in unorganized manner, it takes too much
time for searching the material even we may not get it although it is available in the store.
The store should be well organized by placing the material according to the material type and
category. The information about the stored material should be placed or posted on visible
spaces in order to be easily understood.
IV. Wrong quality or type of materials
The quality and type of material should be check by right professional otherwise serious
problem may occur. Purchase and storage of the wrong quality of material, results in re-work
demanding labor force efforts and time (Bell L.C. and Stokhart G.1986).
V. Not ordering on time
Inadequate training in handling materials and not keeping track of the material used, leads to
miss out on ordering the materials. This in turn leads to delay in supply and thus a delay in

18
service delivery [4]. All necessary material of the project should be requested by keeping the
essential lead time to minimize the occurrence of delay by shortage of material and rush
purchasing which may result extra cost.

2.6.1 Measures for managing materials

In order to achieve good materials management on service delivery project Calistus (2013),
opine that the following areas have to be taken very seriously i.e. Training of management
and other staff, Inventory control of materials on site, Ensuring proper planning, monitoring
and control. Alwi, Hampson, and Mohammed (1999), recommend the following effective
material management which includes: Provision of adequate storage of materials, Proper
usage of materials, and Proper usage of work sits, Materials delivery, Provision and
accessibility layout.
a. Training of both management and other staff: Vivian (2006), opine that it
is necessary to provide education and training to encourage and promote the
benefit in reuse, recycling and reduce the material consumption; however, cost
saving for reuse and reduce the material consumption is difficult to measure,
in which the material can be reuse and reduce the consumption for several
times. Lingard (2000), observe that it is more effective to provide training
and education among staff, and involve employees’ participation in
implementing waste management and pointed out that employees’
participation could only be effective with genuine support from management.
b. Inventory control of materials: Abdul-Rahman (1994) affirms that it involves
taking note of the use and inventory of materials on site and recordings i.e. the
loading and off-loading, transit and handling of materials. It is recommended that
arrangements be made for materials to arrive on time. When a construction material is
delivered to a site, it should be checked for damage, quantity, quality and
specification.
Kapot (2010) stated that this involves physical control of materials, preservation of stores,
minimization of obsolescence and damage through timely disposal and efficient handling,
maintenance of stores records, proper location and stocking. Stores are also responsible for
the physical verification of stocks and reconciling them with book figures. The inventory
control covers aspects such as setting inventory levels, ABC analysis, fixing economical
ordering quantities, setting safety stock levels, lead time analysis and reporting.
19
 c. Ensuring proper planning, monitoring and control: Mohamed (2006) describe
material management practice as the process of determining, analyzing, devising and
organizing all resources necessary to undertake for the work. It also includes
monitoring and controlling the planned actions towards successful service delivery.
Some of the specific activities include the production of a Gantt-chart, network
analyses, method statements, resource leveling, progress reports and exception
reports.
The core element of planning is the establishment of a programmed which reflects the
planning process in relation to real time (Griffith and Watson, 2004), construction planning is
the total process of determining the method, sequence, labor, plant, and equipment required
to undertake a work. All but the simplest tasks require planning in order to be accomplished
with the best utilization of time and resources (Chimay, 2006)
d. Management, supervision and administration of work sites: Supervision is the
direction of people at work and management is the planning and control of the work
process on construction site, supervision, management and administration of site are
gradually spread over the earth because it is a more efficient way of accomplishing
work (Alwi, et al, 1999). All work requires the coordination of effort; this is
accomplished by giving workers assigned tasks and assigned time in which they are
to accomplish these tasks, but instruction is not enough. A clear, specific instruction
on what is to be done, monitor the worker in the course of their efforts (Jimoh, 2012)
e. Provision of adequate storage of materials: Kasim (2005), Material storage on site
requires close attention in order to avoid waste, loss and any damage of materials
which would affect the operation of the construction project. Proper material storage
system must be designed to accommodate the loads of the materials to be stored; the
sensitive environmental needs for different materials to be permanently stored and
preserved; the functional, efficiency and safety of the visiting public and operating
personnel; and the protection of the materials from fire, water and man-made threat
(Pat, 1991).There must be a proper storage facilities provided for materials on the dry
port, some materials are usually not stored in shed or locked up building, also double
handling of materials because of improper or indecision about the proper storage
facility constitute to waste.

20
f. Proper usage of materials: Phu and Cho (2014), describes usage of materials is the
flow component that provides for their movement and placement. Material usage can
be defined as the provision of proper handling techniques either manually or
mechanically for the components held on site during construction process. Adequate
care must be taken to prevent wastage when working with materials on terminal, the
assembly of installation process involves the practical incorporated into the project of
materials depending on how the skills of the workmen involved. Materials on the
shipping site at times may have had a little defect due to poor storage or poor quality
on the part of the manufacturer and freight forwarder also.
g. Materials schedule for the contract on hand: Kelvin (2013), It has been established
that preparation of a good materials schedule helps a long way in solving the problem
of material handling on terminal. This is prepared at the contract stage of shipping by
supervisor in order to know accurately how much material to mobilize the terminal.
This entails accurately detailed type, the size of materials(container) and all other
possible information regarding the required materials and the quantities and date on
which it should be delivered. Materials schedules are valuable to buyer for ordering
and also to site supervisor to ensure that materials when delivered are allocated or
unloaded at or for the projects or building elements for which they are specified
ordered productivity (Plunkett 1994). Cargo.The purpose of scheduling is to organize
and allocates the resources of, equipment and labor with the port tasks over a set
period of time.
h. Provision and accessibility work site layout: work site layout involves identifying,
sizing, and placing temporary facilities within the boundaries of port (Heap, 2007).
These temporary facilities range from simple lay down areas to warehouses,
fabrication shops, maintenance shops, batch plant, and residence facilities. Required
temporary facilities and their areas are depending in many factors including work
type, scale, design, location, and organization of work. A detailed planning of the site
layout and location of temporary facilities can enable the management to make
considerable improvement by minimizing travel time, waiting time, and increasing
worker morale by showing better and safer work environment (Kwakye, 1991)..

21
2.7 Root causes of ineffective material management
During the past years, various academics researchers have conducted studies investigating to
find out the issues causing ineffective materials management in construction projects. Among
these studies were:
A study carried out Zakeri et al (1996) suggested that transport difficulties, waste, improper
handling on site, misuse of specification, lack of proper work plan, inappropriate materials
delivery and excessive paperwork all have an immense effect on materials management.
Another researcher, Dey (2001) emphasized that the common issues regarding material
management are receiving materials before they are required which may increase inventory
cost and may increase the chance of deterioration in quality; not receiving materials during
the time of requirement causing to decrease motivation as well as productivity, Incorrect
materials take-off from design and drawing documents; theft or loss of item and management
of surplus material. In another study conducted by Sohrab Donyavi (2009) states the common
problems in material management are Failure to order on time which may cause delay in the
service delivery, delivery at the wrong time which may interrupt the work schedule, wrong
materials or wrong in direction of materials requiring re-work, theft of materials from
delivery into production and double handling of materials because of inadequate material and
lauck of proper use.

2.7.1 Consequences of ineffective material management on service delivery

A success of a service lies in the ability of all the stakeholders to plan effectively, as well as
properly manage the resources. Furthermore this grand plan encompass of sub plans, which
helps to determine, sequence, strategize how to allocate the resources effectively. Service
deliveries are well known for being complex and are subjected to high uncertainty and
variability. Materials management is involved throughout the construction project and
variability and uncertainty can be traced back to construction material. Therefore formulating
a good material management plan is highly mandatory to support the grand plan.
Unavailability of materials when needed can affect the productivity and it may cause delay
and difficulties to meet the schedule. On the other hand having excessive materials on site
will also create problems to the managers. Storage of materials can increase cost of
production thus increasing the overall cost of the project. Furthermore if the site lacks space
to store all the materials may burden the managers to rent alternative storage areas which will
cause more trouble and cost (Haddad, 2006).
22
 1.10. Dry port Concept
The word dry port has been defined by many scholars and the definitions reflect the broad
view of the concept from different perspectives. Important to note is that the definitions
emanate from the perspective of the physical facility, function and purpose. The definitions
were also born of the fact that the periodical steep rise in container flows resulted in crowded
terminals, congestion and prolonged dwell time for containers. As a solution to these
problems at the main sea ports, the trans-ocean vessels started to call at single hub port while
feeder vessels, haulages, trucks and trains connected too many smaller inland or dry ports,
(Baird A.J, 2002). Leveque and Roso (2002) defined a dry port as “an inland intermodal
terminal directly linked to seaport(s) with high capacity transport means, where customers
can leave or pick up their standardized unit as if directly as a seaport. This definition takes
into account the fact that a dry port does not only do the traditional role of transshipment as
inland terminals but in addition to this role, it provides other services like; consolidation,
storage(both cargo and empty containers), maintenance and repair of containers, and customs
clearance. Dry port functions include distribution, consolidation, storage, customs services,
and possibly equipment maintenance (Wang and Wei 2008).
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and development(UNCTAD,1991), a
dry port is “a common user facility with public authority status, equipped with fixed
installations and offering services for handling and temporary storage of any kind of
goods(including containers) carried under customs transit by any applicable mode of
transport ,placed under customs control and with customs and other agencies competent to
clear goods for home use, warehousing, temporary admissions, re-export, temporary storage
for onward transit and outright export.”

23
According to Jarze mskisetall (2007), a dry port means a common user facility with public
authority status equipped with fixed installations and provides temporary storage of goods
and containers including customs clearance. Allen (2008) further qualified dry ports
Developing Country Studies as being positioned away from typical borders, but with access
to major metropolitan areas, highways, and labor bases. The following key terminologies are
defining and deriving a proper meaning from the word ‘dry port”. The three terms give the
understanding from the perspective of form and function of dry port and they include;
Containerization: This relates to the fact that dry ports are linked with container handling,
both maritime and domestic, as well other intermodal activities like swap bodies,
consolidation, trans loading, deconsolidation and small scale manufacturing. Dedicated Link:
A dry port must be linked with a high capacity corridor. Normally; rail and barge are the
recommended links although haulages or trucks may also be used. Massification;-a dry port
must generate economies of scale inform of reduced costs and time within the distribution
process. Handling large volumes at a minimum unit cost and shortest time is paramount in
positively impacting on the supply chain network. It’s however important to note the
difference between a dry port and an inland container depot (ICD).Where as an Inland
container depot handles only containerized cargo, a dry port handles various types of cargo in
addition to other services earlier mentioned. Girish Gujar (2010), presented three types of dry
ports and they include; Gateway (Sea) Terminals, Rail Terminals and Distribution centers.
First, a sea terminal creates the interface between inland and sea activities of freight
distribution. Second, the rail terminal serves as a link to gateway terminals while, the third
category(distribution center) as its popularly known in Europe performs many value adding
activities like sorting ,debulking, labeling, grading and inventory control in addition to
transportation and warehousing

24
 CHAPTER THREE
3. Research Methodology of the Study
The purpose of methodology is to frame ways so as to achieve the objectives of the study by
showing how research questions are answered in the most rigorous way possible and to
justify the methods used and hence it consists of the following components.

3.1. Research Design

Descriptive survey type of research design is employed given that the main purpose of the
study is describe conditions in their current status.

3.2. Research Approach

Based on the nature of the problem and the data to be generated, quantitative and qualitative
research approaches were employed in combination for a better understanding of the problem
under study. The study could be devoted to the explanation of phenomenon by using
qualitative and/or quantitative methods of data collection and data analysis in an integrated
manner. As the main source of data for this study will be primary and secondary data so both
qualitative and quantitative approaches will be used. For material management to be
efficient, three major elements are required. These include well trained personnel, reliable
transport/storage equipment and efficient management procedures. An absence of any of
these would lead to a deficient cold chain system
There are a number of basic cold chain management problems for vaccines. The major
challenge is maintaining the cold chain to keep vaccine in a safe temperature range. By
considering the problem as the focus of the study regarding the approach in to one type is not
fair because it include every aspects and methods when necessary so mixed research
approach will be used

25
 3.3. Primary Source of Data
Lancaster (2005) stated that, primary data do not actually exist until and unless it is
generated through the research process as part of the consultancy or dissertation or project.
This type of data is closely related to, and has implications for, the methods and techniques
of data collection.
Hence, based on this fact for this study, primary data was collected through interview and
open and close ended questionnaire methods
1. Questionnaire
The researcher was prepared and distribute open and closed- ended questionnaire to the
respondents to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. The questionnaires should
prepare in English language and translated into Amharic language to make it easy for all
sample respondents, and then translated back to English for analyzing the data.
2. Interview
An interview was used for Addis Ababa dry port officials who are selected purposively to
get a quantitative primary data from interviewees. Interview method of collecting data is
usually carried out in a structured way where the output depends upon the ability of the
interviewer to a large extent and probing was done to strengthen the collected data.
3.4. Secondary Source of Data
Secondary data is information which already exists in some form or another, but which are
not primarily collected, at least initially, for the purpose of the consultancy exercise at hand
(Lancaster, 2005).
Therefore, for this study, secondary data was used, which includes, annual report for the
last year, researches, journals, publications of local governments.

3.5. Population
According to April, 2023, human resource data document of the port, the total population of
the study consists of totally expects 320 employees at different levels.

3.6. Sampling Techniques and sample size

However, it was not significant to take employees without the application of sampling
techniques. Therefore, based on the nature of the problem, for getting the necessary primary
data for the study and minimizing time and cost oriented constraints, applying appropriate

26
sampling techniques has paramount importance. Hence, judgment sampling techniques has
found appropriate for the study the first and foremost reason. it is the nature of the problem
demands such technique and the researchers considers typical cases most likely to provide
them with the requisite data.
Therefore, the sampling size for this study is 43 which 40 employees and 3 top level
managers (who are purposively selected) of the kality dry port. In addition to this, 1 top
level manager, 2 middle level managers were purposively selected for interview.

3.7. Methods of Data Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation

Based on nature of the data generated, quantitative data were presented and analyzed using
tables, percentage and simple frequency distribution while qualitative data were presented,
analyzed, and interpreted qualitatively.

3.8. Ethical Considerations

Before commencing data collection, ethical clearance will be obtained from CPU University
Collage where by written letter will be given to the host organization (kality dry port and
terminal) so as to accept the data collection activity at the area. Then the dry port will write
ethical clearance to the respective departments for smooth communication and data
collection activity. Participants of the study will be asked for consent before participating in
the study. During the consent process, they will be provided with information regarding the
purpose of the study, why and how they will be selected to be involved in the study, and what
will be expected of them and that they can withdraw from the study at any time. Participants
will be also assured about confidentiality of the information obtained in the course of the
study by not using personal identifiers and analyzing the data in aggregates. Consent claims
that participants will not be at risk by refusing to participate in the assessment or stopping
their collaboration during the study. Confidentiality will be maintained throughout the
process of data collection.

27
.
CHAPTER FOUR

4. Data Presentation, Analysis and Interpretation

The general aim of this part of the study is present, analyze and interpret the collected data. The data
are shown by using tables with brief description as follow:-
We distributed total of 40 questionnaires. Out of 40 distributed questionnaires, 32 questionnaires
were properly filled and returned. Therefore, the respondent rate is 80%. Thus, our analysis and
interpretation is conducted based on the returned questionnaires and the 3 interview conducted with
the concerned managers of the terminal.
Hence, data obtained from respondents were presented and analyzed as follows.

4.1. Respondents Personal Information

Table 4.1: Sex, Age and Educational background of Respondents of kality port
Respondents
Item Number Percentage
1 Sex Male 27 84.4
Female 5 15.6
Total 32 100
2 Age >25 3 9.3
26-35 13 40.6
36-46 10 20.4
Above 46 years 6 18.7
Total 32 100
nd
3 Educational Level 2 degree and above 0 0
1st degree. 10 31.3
Diploma 16 50
Certificate 4 12.5
High school complete 2 6.2
Under High school 0 0
Total
32 100.0

Source: Survey Data, April, 2023

28
From the above table, Out of the 32 respondents 27(84.4%) are male while 5(15.6 %) are
female. This shows that the respondents’ number is somehow misrepresentative in terms of
gender due to less number of female employees in the terminal.
From the total respondents 3(9.3) % are less than ages of (25), 40.6 % between ages (26-35),
20.4 %b/n (36-46) and 18.7 % above 46 years. From this we can see that a great number of
the respondents are good working aged.
As we can see from above table, 32respondents, (10) 31.3% 1 st degree, and16 (50%) have a
diploma while 12.5% Certificate. From this we can conclude that most of the respondents can
provide rational information about the issue.
4.2. Respondents responses related to material ordering
Table 4.2.Respondents responses related to material ordering
N Variables No of Respondents
o I Agreed Moderately Disagree
agree
NO % NO % NO %
1 Lack of establishment of total 24 75% 5 15.62% 3 9.38%
approximate quantities of materials
before orders are made.
2 Lack of consideration in detail the 28 87.5% 3 9.38% 1 3.12%
period over which deliveries can be
spread without affecting the contact.

3 Lack of consideration of making 30 93.75 2 6.25%

deliveries of materials at scheduled dates %
and times.
4 Lack of keeping adequate buffer stock in 23 71.87 6 18.75% 3 9.38%
case of delay in receiving materials. %
Source: Survey Data, April, 2023

29
As can be seen from table 4.2, first row 24 or 75% respondent agree the port have lack of
establishment of total approximate quantities of materials before orders are made., 5(15.62%)
respondent agree the port have moderate lack of establishment of total approximate quantities
of materials before orders are made and 3 or 9.38% respondent disagree the port have lack of
establishment of total approximate quantities of materials before orders are made.

In second row of the table, 28(87.5%) respondent agree the port lack of consideration of
making deliveries of materials at scheduled dates and times, 3 or 9.38% respondent agree the
port is moderately lack of consideration in detail the period over which deliveries can be
spread without affecting the contact and one or 3.12% respondent disagree the port lack of
consideration in detail the period over which deliveries can be spread without affecting the
contact.
The third row of the table indicates , 30 (93.75%) respondent agree the port lack of
consideration of making deliveries of materials at scheduled dates and times, 2 or
6.25%respondent agree the port is moderately lack of consideration of making deliveries of
materials at scheduled dates and times.
The last row of the table describes, 71.87 %( 23) respondent agree the port lack of keeping
adequate buffer stock in case of delay in receiving materials, 18.75%(6) respondent agree the
port is moderately lack of keeping adequate buffer stock in case of delay in receiving
materials and 9.38% (3) lack of keeping adequate buffer stock in case of delay in receiving
material.
This indicates that, majority of the port employee agreed that there is lack of establishment of
total approximate quantities of materials before orders are made, consideration in detail the
period over which deliveries can be spread without affecting the contact, consideration of
making deliveries of materials at scheduled dates and times and keeping adequate buffer
stock in case of delay in receiving materials.

30
 4.3. Respondents responses related to handling of materials
Table 4. 3. Respondents’ responses related to handling of materials

No Item No of Respondents

I Agreed Moderately Disagree

agree
NO % NO % NO %
1 Non consideration of stacking 20 62.5% 7 21.88% 5 15.62
materials at various points how %
working is going on.
2 Lack of planning of sites to indicate 20 62.5% 9 28.12% 3 9.38
main storage area and stock piles. %
3 Lack of co-ordination of movement 29 90.63 2 6.25% 1 3.12
of plant handling materials. %
4 Lack of proper designs (which do not 27 84.38% 3 9.38% 2 6.25
allow for effective handling and %
fixing of materials).
5 Double handling of materials 17 53.13% 11 34.38% 4 12.5
(increase costs and reduce %
productivity).
6 Inadequate protection of materials 29 90.62% 3 9.38% 0
(which can cause problems of
workmanship and poor service).

Source: Survey Data, April, 2023

As can be seen from table 4.3, first row 20 or 62.5% respondent agree the port no
consideration of stacking materials at various points how working is going on, 7 (21.88%)
respondent agree the port have moderate no consideration of stacking materials at various
points how working is going on and5 or 15.62% respondent disagree the port have no
consideration of stacking materials at various points how working is going on.

31
In second row of the table, 20(62.5%) respondent agree the port lack of planning of sites to
indicate main storage area and stock piles, 9 or 28.12% respondent agree the port is
moderately lack of planning of sites to indicate main storage area and stock piles and
(3)9.38% respondent disagree the port lack of planning of sites to indicate main storage area
and stock piles.
The third row of the table indicates, 29 (90.63) respondent agree the port lack of co-
ordination of movement of plant handling materials. 2 or 6.25% respondent agree the port is
moderately lack of co-ordination of movement of plant handling materials and one or 3.12%
respondent disagree the port lack of co-ordination of movement of plant handling materials.
The fourth row of the table describes, 84.38%(27) respondent agree the port lack of proper
designs (which do not allow for effective handling and fixing of materials),9.38%(3)
respondent agree the port is moderately lack of proper designs (which do not allow for
effective handling and fixing of materials) and 2 or 6.25% respondent disagree the port lack
of proper designs (which do not allow for effective handling and fixing of materials).
The 5th row of the table describes, 53.13 %( 17) respondent agree the port double handling of
materials (increase costs and reduce productivity)., 34.38%(11) respondent agree the port is
moderately double handling of materials (increase costs and reduce productivity) and 4 or
12.5%respondent disagree the port double handling of materials (increase costs and reduce
productivity).
The 6th row of the table indicates, 29 (90.62%) respondent agree the port inadequate
protection of materials (which can cause problems of workmanship and poor service), 3 or
9.38% respondent agree the port is moderately inadequate protection of materials (which can
cause problems of workmanship and poor service).
This all indicates that, majority of the port employee agreed that there is no consideration of
stacking materials at various points how working is going on, lack of planning of sites to
indicate main storage area and stock piles, lack of co-ordination of movement of plant
handling materials, lack of proper designs (which do not allow for effective handling and
fixing of materials),double handling of materials (increase costs and reduce productivity) and
inadequate protection of materials (which can cause problems of workmanship and poor
service).

32
 4.4. Respondents responses related to work procedures and waste
material management
Table 4. 4. Respondent’s responses related to work procedures and waste material
management

No Item No of Respondents

I Agreed Moderately Disagree

agree
NO % NO % NO %
1 Weak procedures for checking, 22 68.75 6 18.75 4 12.5%
inspecting and documentation of % %
materials.
2 Lack of coordination system of 18 56.25% 9 28.12 5 15.62
withdrawing materials from the stores. % %
3 Poor control of material wastage and 26 81.25% 5 15.62 1 3.12%
Scrape on sites. %

Source: Survey Data, April, 2023

As can be seen from table 4..4, first row 22 or 68.75% respondent agree the port weak
procedures for checking, inspecting and documentation of materials, 6 (18.75%) respondent
agree the port have moderate weak procedures for checking, inspecting and documentation of
materials and 4 or 12.5% respondent disagree the port have weak procedures for checking,
inspecting and documentation of materials.
In second row of the table 18 or 56.25% respondent agree the port lack of coordination
system of withdrawing materials from the stores, 9 (28.12%) respondent agree the port have
moderate lack of coordination system of withdrawing materials from the stores and 5 or
15.62% respondent disagree the port have lack of coordination system of withdrawing
materials from the stores.

33
In third row of the table26(81.25%) respondent agree the port poor control of material
wastage and scrape on sites, 5(15.62% )respondent agree the port have moderate poor control
of material wastage and scrape on sites and one or 3.12% respondent disagree the port have
poor control of material wastage and scrape on sites.
This all indicates that, majority of the port employee agreed that there is weak procedures for
checking, inspecting and documentation of materials, lack of coordination system of
withdrawing materials from the stores and poor control of material wastage and scrape on
sites.

4.5. Respondents’ responses related to technology, job standard and

trainings.
Table.4.5 Respondents responses related to technology, job standard and trainings
No Item No of Respondents

I Agreed Moderately Disagree

agree
NO % NO % NO %
1 Having technologically advanced 7 21.88 5 15.62 20 62.5%
tools(equipments’)for the job % %
2 having standard for each job 12 37.5% 3 9.38% 17 53.13
%
3 Giving comprehensive training for 4 12.5% 6 18.75 22 68.75
material management staff % %
employees.

Source: Survey Data, April, 2023

As can be seen from table 4..5, first row 7 or 21.88% respondent agree the port having
technologically advanced tools(equipments’)for the job, 5(15.62%) respondent agree the port
have moderate having technologically advanced tools(equipments’)for the job and 20 or
62.5% respondent disagree the port have having technologically advanced
tools(equipments’)for the job.

34
In second row of the table (12)37.5% respondent agree the port having standard for each job,
3(9.38%) respondent agree the port have moderate having standard for each job and 17 or
53.13% respondent disagree the port have having standard for each job .
In third row of the table4(12.5%)respondent agree the port giving comprehensive training for
material management staff employees, 6(18.75%) respondent agree the port has giving
comprehensive training for material management staff employees and (22)68.75%
respondent disagree the port have giving comprehensive training for material management
staff employees.
This all indicates that, majority of the port employee agreed that there having technologically
advanced tools(equipments’)for the job, having standard for each job and giving
comprehensive training for material management staff employees.

4.6. Analysis of Data Gathered through Interview Questions

The researchers also conducted interviews with key managers of the port, with managerial
responsibility for material management. Interviews have been used in this study because they
represent a valuable and rich source of information in doing the study.
Therefore data obtained through interview from the managers of the kality dry port were
analyzed below.
 There is a problem in loading and unloading process in this port
 Shortage of container putting place, warehouse and machineries like fork lift, crane,
generators
 There is no one window service
 Warehouse is not suitable for checking because the place is unclean
 Some employee’s ethical problems and lack of interest for work
 Network problems for delivery of material.
 When the machine is un worked the organization is not respond quickly duo to lack of
spar.
 There was poor forecasting of material
 The required items or spar not purchased on time for internal process.
 Shortage of working time and also the employees are not properly use their working time
 Lack of skilled and committed employees and the customer is not served quickly
 There is not suitable office for work because the checking place and the office are so far

35
 By different reason the goods stay for long period of time in the port
 The organization not give full and timely information when the goods are arrived at the
port
 Lack of clearness on warehouse service
 Lack of employee performance evaluation techniques spatially with the give job
standards. .
 Weak or lengthy disposal techniques followed for disposing wastage or scrap material.
 The Containers are not timely ready for the next shipment
 The warehouses were small in sizes and most of the time containers are stored outside.
This procedure was described as normal by the employees and management, but some
clients claim that their goods get spoiled due to improper storage conditions. In the port
management site, the performance of the material management staff, practice is very
essential and it has many effects. Improper handling of materials during site activities and
it has the potential to severely obstacle in service of organization performance. There are
major issues, which affect materials management activities, constraints on storage areas,
site logistics with regards to materials handling and distribution, and also ordering and
delivery of materials to kality port.
4.7. Services delivered by kality port
A. The major services deliverd by kality port and terminal are-
 Receiving and Delivering cargoes
 Cargo loading and Unloading
 Un stuffing and Stuffing container goods
 Temporary storage for import and export cargoes
 Container cleaning and maintaining
 Weigh bridge
 Customs control and clearance
B. Equipment of the port- kality port and terminal dry port would have different types of
equipment to achieve the operation. some of the equipment's are-
 Containers(20 fit,40 fit)
 Machines like reach taker (konecrane,terax,fantuzi,forklift,crane ,boss )
 Vehicles like Mack, port tractor, office vehicles ,Total station
 Office materials like computer, furniture products, photo copy and so on
36
C. Necessary documents of the port -kality port and terminal dry port would use different
necessary documents to process the operation. some of the documents are-
 Special service request
 Work order
 Tally sheet
 Deliver order
 Goods release request
 Billing
 Invoice
 Goods release order
 Way bill
D. Its main customer or end users- Kality port and terminal dry port have different types
of customers or end users among those are,
 Freight forwarders
 Importers
 Exporters
 Customs
 Banks
 Individuals
 Transporters
 Transport associations (ESLSE profile, 2015).

37
 CHAPTER FIVE

5. Conclusion and Recommendation of the Study

5.1. Conclusion of the Study

The conclusions drawn from the summary of major findings are presented as follows.
Although, effective material management is the first and critical part for organizational
functions the focus given for it is less.
Besides this, the results of the study revealed that most of the employees and managers do
not have in-depth knowledge on material ordering and Planning, material handling, work
procedures and waste material management and technology, job standard and trainings.
It also, most of the port employee agreed that there is lack of establishment of total
approximate quantities of materials before orders are made, consideration in detail the period
over which deliveries can be spread without affecting the contact, consideration of making
deliveries of materials at scheduled dates and times and keeping adequate buffer stock in case
of delay in receiving materials.
In addition to this , most of the port employee agreed that there is no consideration of
stacking materials at various points how working is going on, lack of planning of sites to
indicate main storage area and stock piles, lack of co-ordination of movement of plant
handling materials, lack of proper designs (which do not allow for effective handling and
fixing of materials),double handling of materials (increase costs and reduce productivity) and
inadequate protection of materials (which can cause problems of workmanship and poor
service).
Moreover, most of the port employee agreed that there are weak procedures for checking,
inspecting and documentation of materials, lack of coordination system of withdrawing
materials from the stores and poor control of material wastage and scrape on sites
Furthermore, most of the port employee agreed that there having technologically advanced
tools(equipment’s’) for the job, having standard for each job and giving comprehensive
training for material management staff employees.

38
 5.2. Recommendation
 The manager of the port should improve materials handling that provides movement
to ensure materials are located and that a systematic approach is required in designing
the system. Handling of materials is the flow component that provides for their
movement and placement. The importance of appropriate handling of materials is
highlighted by the fact that they are expensive and engage critical decisions.
 The top management should aware about and strengthen the coordination among the
different departments of the enterprise in what is expected from them and how they
put it in effect.
 The material management department should be activated to take its rightful place in
the scheme of affair, so that they can educate the staff more on their practices and
how they plan for the material management practices like ordering, planning,
handling, inspections use of technology, evaluation among others. This would enable
staff to have in-depth knowledge of the material management.
 The department itself should have a proper material management plans which
properly align with the port strategic plan so that no matter the changes in
management, the plans was still be followed. These plans should be periodically
reviewed in order to adjust to the dynamic environment.
 Identifying customer need of service and implementing one window service in the
port. Evaluating employee performance pre stated standards.
 The organization should get lesson from best practices other developing countries
port service providers. The enterprise should bench mark them to tackle challenges
related to material management practices for effective implementation of human
functions attainment of the enterprise objectives.
 Use computerized materials management systems to reduce effort and time, and to
achieve more accurate results.

39
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.
Appendex-1
Cpu university collage
Department of accounting and finance (Degree Program)
Research Questionnaire prepared for employees of Kality dry port
Objective- Dear respondent! This questionnaire is prepared to collect relevant data in order to
conduct a term paper on the title assessments of materials management practice in Case of
Kality Dry Port only for academic purpose.
Therefore, you are kindly requested to answer the questions honesty and hence your response in
combination with other respondents is very important. Thus you are required to feel free because your
response was being kept completely confidential.
Part I- Personal Information
Direction 1. Please select the letter that you believe it is your answer.

1. Sex: A. Male B. Female

2. Age in years:
A. 18-25 years B. 26 -35 years C. 36 -45 years D. above 46 years
3. Current educational status:
A. 2nd degree and above B. 1st degree. C. Diploma D. Certificate E. High school complete
F. under high school complete
Part II- The main part of the questionnaires on human resource planning of the enterprise
Direction 2:- please select the choices by putting a tick mark (√).

No Variables Alternatives

I Moderate Disagree
Agreed ly agree

1 Lack of establishment of total approximate quantities of

materials before orders are made.
2 Lack of consideration in detail the period over which
deliveries can be spread without affecting the contact.

3 Having technologically advanced tools(equipments’)for the

job

42c
4 Lack of consideration of making deliveries of materials at
scheduled dates and times.
5 Lack of keeping adequate buffer stock in case of delay in
receiving materials.
6 Non consideration of stacking materials at various points
how working is going on.
7 Lack of planning of sites to indicate main storage area and
stockpiles.
8 Lack of co-ordination of movement of plant handling
materials.
9 Lack of proper designs (which do not allow for effective
handling and fixing of materials).
10 Double handling of materials (increase costs and reduce
productivity).
11 Inadequate protection of materials (which can cause
problems of workmanship and poor service).
12 Weak procedures for checking, inspecting and
documentation of materials.
13 Lack of coordination system of withdrawing materials from
the stores.
14 Poor control of material wastage and Scrape on sites.
15 having standard for each job
16 Giving comprehensive training for material management
staff employees.

d
43
 Appendex-11
Cpu university collage
Department of accounting and finance (Degree Program)
Interview Questions prepared for top level management, assessments of materials
management practice in Case of Kality Dry Port
Objective: - This interview is prepared to collect relevant data in order to conduct research for
academic purpose on the title assessments of materials management practice in Case of Kality
Dry Port only for academic purpose. Therefore, you are kindly requested to give your response
honesty; your response was be kept completely confidential and used only for academic purpose.

1. Could you mention the overall practices of material management of Kality dry port?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

2. What are the key challenges of material management of Kality dry port ?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

3. Haw to evaluate the service performance in related to material managements?

______________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________

4. What measures was be taken to tackle the key challenges of material management of Kality
dryport?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

44