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P.Michalk
1.INTRODUCTION
Acompanyactingonafreemarketneedstoofferaproductwithclearcharac-
teristicswhichconstituteanadvantageforacustomer,comparedtocompeting
products.Atthesametimethecompanyhastostriveforaprofitinorder,notonly
tosurvive,butalsotogrow.
TheBalticSeaconstitutesanaturalBarrierbetweenScandinaviaandCentral
Europe,sothatRoRo-ferryServices(seagoingvesselsspecialisedontransporting
vehicles,suchastrucks)havelittlecompetitionfromothertransportmodeswhen
itcomestotransportsfromCentralEuropetoScandinavia(thoughlandconnec-
tionsexists).However,theferryservicesstillhaveacommodity-character,asser-
vicefeaturesonlydifferslightly.Thisrisesthequestion,howashippingcompany
candesignaRoRo-transportproductthatstillis„better”thancompetingproducts.
Thepaperathandshalldescribeamodelthatallowsforquantifyingthequali-
tiesofatransportproductfromacustomersview.Thismodelallowsforplanning
accordingtoanindicator,thatincludescostaswellastimeandfrequencyaspects,
incomparisontocompetingproducts.ItthereforeallowstheidentificationofRoRo-
ferryservicesthatofferacustomeraclearanddistinctivebenefitincomparison
tocompetingproducts.Thecustomerviewinthiscase,shallbetheviewoftruck
operators,whichhavetofullfillcertainrequirements(lowtransportprices,transport
timewindowsetc.)oftheirowncustomers,andwhowillusetheRoRo-ferryservice
thatmeetstheirownrequirementsbest.Theywillnaturallyseekoutcheapservices,
butalsodecideupontimefactors.Thisdoesnotautomaticallymean,thattheywill
choosethequickestferryservice,asotherfactorsplayintothetimefactoraswell
(forexampleobligatorydriverbreaksanddeliverytimewindows).
2.MODELSTRUCTURE
2.1.GeneralStructure
Anumberofstudieshavebeenconcernedwiththequestion,whichproductfea-
turesareimportanttothecustomerofatransportservice.
Bühler(2005)foundcosts,timeofdeliveryandtransporttimetobethemost
importantdeterminingfactorsfortheselectionofatransportservice,whereby
transportcostswereclearlymoreimportant.Beuteetal(2003)andLeyn(2010)
foundcoststobemostimportant,followedbytransporttime.Geiger(2011)found
longtransporttimesandcoststobethestrongestbarriersforusingalternativesto
roadtransport,againindicatingthatthesetwofactorsarethetwomostimportant
toacustomer.Ludvigsen(2006)foundcoststobeasimportantasreliability,but
thisstudywasconductedinaEuropeancontext,whiletheaforementionedwere
conductedwithinaGermancontext.Mostofthisstudiesalsoidentifiedotherdeci-
sionfactors,buttheimportanceofthisfactorsweresmallerthanthatofcostsand
