You are a group of dynamic, smart, recently graduated executives building a consulting business of contemporary practice in the area of freight and distribution, you have recognised there is a big difference between old traditional approaches and the more recent efficient approaches; a gap in the market that you have the ability to commercialise.

You have heard that a large multination company has been tendering to outsource their freight and distribution management, they have approached your largest competitors but you have missed out on being included in the tender process; it would have been worth millions of dollars in revenue for you.

However, an unknown insider of the company has provided you with some very, very interesting information, but you will have to move quickly.

The Unknown Insider has told you that the multinational's new CEO is very displeased with the unimaginative, traditional approach to transport and distribution that has been proposed by your major competitors; it doesn't match the new sustainability-friendly image the multinational has been advertising. The new CEO does not want to go through the tender process again but may have to accept one of the proposals. The CEO is so annoyed that any workable proposal that would improve the multination's green image would be welcomed with open arms and supported with all the CEO's resources. The CEO has to make a decision in 3 weeks. The Unknown Insider recognizes that your company has the knowledge and ability to produce a workable proposal.

The Unknown Insider has also advised you that the Multinational is concerned about cost, lead-time, and because of their recent marketing campaign, a keen interest in promoting their image of sustainability, particularly a low carbon footprint.

With this advanced information you want to make an impression by quickly providing a detailed report satisfying their requirements. You know the information provided is a little sketchy, due to the time constraints a few assumptions must be made, but they will help you to put forward an effective proposition that will impress the organization and secure the multimillion-dollar consulting account.

The only information you have is a barcode of the proposed product they are going to test you with and the quantity they are going to send in the trial shipment. They will want information on the mode of transport that will be used in the various legs of the transport and they will want an idea of the length of time shipments will take, an idea of the relative freight costs and carbon footprint. The best way to impress will be to determine different freight routes based on the least comparative freight cost, the shortest lead-time and the minimum carbon footprint.

Your Lecturer will give you the envelope that includes the barcode, the GPS code of the destination. From the barcode, and some research you will determine their main manufacturing plant. Using Google Earth you will be able to determine distance and determine the various modes of transport that could be used. You will need to plot and measure the distance from the manufacturing company to the appropriate airport, seaport and/or railhead. You will also need to plot and measure the distances when the product arrives in the closest port to their national distribution centre.

Once you have determined the distance of the various transport legs you will need to determine the approximate delivery time, the relative cost and the relative carbon footprint of the routes you have determined based on purely time, purely cost and purely carbon footprint and then provide a route that is the best combination of these ( lowest cost + lowest lead-time + lowest Carbon-footprint).

The following information is assumptions that you have made. At this point in time, because it is only an example of your knowledge and not a completed proposal it only needs to be in comparative terms, i.e. just an indication of which mode or the use of several modes may be better than other choices. You will have to research the carbon-footprint of each mode and include it in the table.