Recent rise of Chinese shipping ports poses great threats to Korean competitors. Korean shipping ports are facing a great challenge and, to become logistics hubs in the northeastern Asian region, they need to secure more effective competitiveness.
This paper hypothesizes that unification of the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system is a solution to the recent threats and reviews that how Korean government can improve the tool.
The structure of the study follows as: (1) Definition of electronic documents, (2) Comparison of port productivity before and after the introduction of the EDI system, (3) Current status of the system in the overseas ports, (4) Reviewing precedent studies in domestic and overseas ports, and (5) Policy proposals for enhancing the efficiency of the EDI system.
Globalization of economic activities and advanced information technologies urge seamless flow of goods and information between countries, as well as within a country or a company. Government policies on logistics play a pivotal role in maintaining corporate competitiveness and performing value-added logistics in the ports. Among the policies, government should put its first priority on the unification of the EDI system. In this regard, it is required to rearrange the jurisdiction of the related authorities. Also, government need to set up commanding office of logistics which can produce cooperation between ministries and can consistently enforce the policies.
This study demonstrates five major advantages of the unified EDI system. (1) Improving port operators' productivity, (2) Promoting efficient work environments (3) Enhanced customer satisfaction by quick response, (4) Encouraging customers' competitiveness by keeping appropriate inventory levels, and (5) Expanding corporate economic activities.
To this end, it is imperative to choose the optimal framework which can be readily maintained and equipped with later technological expansions, and to build websites in compliance with global web-building guidelines and protocols.