Hub and Spoke, Essay Example

Although the hub and spoke concept is used in various modes of industry, it is particularly useful in transportation. In general, it makes a transportation more effective and efficient by simplifying a network of pathways; this method is names after the bicycle wheel, which has many points throughout the wheel at which may spokes intersect (McMahon, 2013). This method is useful for many different modes of transportation, including maritime, air, truck, and rail.

Even though the hub and spoke concept could be applied to many different forms of transportation, its usefulness it each category remains the same. Firstly, this model allows a company to centralize control. In situations where freight transportation is involved, this will allow the company to organize its product in one main location and then ship the items to all its various warehouses or other locations. Using the example of the bicycle wheel, the central location will be the hub. Centralizing the main location will allow for more efficient business, a smaller number of employees, and a higher degree of organization.

A second advantage of the hub and spoke model is that it allows the company to transfer its product from one secondary location to another if necessary for needs like stocking. If one location is out of an item that another one needs, a secondary location that is closer to it than the hub would be able to deliver it, although control for this action would likely take place at the hub. This is a useful technique for the airline industry; it would be silly for the airline to have passengers take direct flights all the time, especially when these flights are to lesser travelled areas. Instead, it makes sense to either have a plane stop at a hub or the secondary location where a majority of the visitors wish to visit, then transfer the remaining passengers to a smaller plane to deliver them to their final destination.

Although the hub and spoke method is useful, it required a well-organized hub; if the operations in the hub are negatively impacted, so will all of the operations in the secondary locations. Therefore if the hub and spoke method is being used, the company needs to ensure that its hub is running smoothly at all times.

References

McMahon, M. (2013). What is the Hub and Spoke Model?.Wise Geek. Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-hub-and-spoke-model.htm