Help - Search - Members - Calendar
Full Version: How are things Shipped
Dumpshock Forums > Discussion > Shadowrun
Voran
I was wondering, would shipping of items be more or less similar to nowadays? So when a factory ships a pallet of new comlinks...it be the same as a factory shipping off a pallet of iphones? Or planes with cargo holds of 195,000 of them? Or 5-10 rifles in a crate, or a dozen pistols, or somesuch?

What would the logistics a runner would have to face if they acquired a pallet of commlinks? Would the corp be able to track these commlinks? Or are they basically just dead hardware until you use your 'simcard' to personalize and link them?
Northfalcon
Yes, I think that the Physical movement from the factory to the store or the customer is pretty much the same as today, just with more drones.

I would also assume that most stuff gets shipped turned off, so tracking it is difficult until somebody turns it on, unless there is a trackingchip on the pallet.

The factory also needs to be sure that the right individual gets owner rights so they probably ship an activationcode seperatly. If you get your hands on that its easy, just remeber to turn of tracking in the options smile.gif, if not ask your friendly neighborhood hacker/decker to transfer ownership to you.
Tymeaus Jalynsfein
QUOTE (Northfalcon @ Apr 14 2015, 07:13 AM) *
Yes, I think that the Physical movement from the factory to the store or the customer is pretty much the same as today, just with more drones.

I would also assume that most stuff gets shipped turned off, so tracking it is difficult until somebody turns it on, unless there is a tracking chip on the pallet.


RFID's are purpose built just for such things. smile.gif
Beta
Don’t forget RFID tags, in pretty much everything. The pallet, the packing containers, the items themselves. Of course those are only an issue if someone nearby actually checks them, but they tie into the fact that things have more of an individual identity. It isn’t just that someone inside your phone there is a serial number on a label (maybe), it is that manufacturers know exactly which commlinks they were shipping, to who, which box they were in, what pallet the box was on, what truck owned by what delivery company they were in….and can trace it the other way, too.

And I’d assume that those individual item identities would be part of their matrix identification too.

As I understand it, this is what the decker change owner stuff is all about-- laying some sort of plausible trail that makes it seem legit that you own this thing, can use it without suspicion, can sell it to someone else, etc. At times this could possibly involve new RFID tags, I’d think (essentially giving the item a new identity, then creating some basic background for it on the net).
Koekepan
In the bigger picture, standard pallets and containers made such a massive difference to logistics, as an infrastructural step, that it would take monumental upheavals to change them - and compelling reasons.

Right now I'm not aware of any reasons which would meet the case, so I'd assume that would stay similar.

What's likelier to change is the fuel of shipment. Already cargo ships travel at below design cruising speed to save bunker fuel, despite the fact that they already move 2000 ton-miles per gallon. I would be far from surprised to see sail making a return for less time critical shipments, just to save costs.
Sengir
QUOTE (Voran @ Apr 14 2015, 02:55 AM) *
I was wondering, would shipping of items be more or less similar to nowadays? So when a factory ships a pallet of new comlinks...it be the same as a factory shipping off a pallet of iphones? Or planes with cargo holds of 195,000 of them? Or 5-10 rifles in a crate, or a dozen pistols, or somesuch?

Shadowrun isn't the post-scarcity manufacture-from-home society it should have been through the Drexlerian nanites of 4th edition, so there will still be huge manufacturers doing bulk shipments.

On the other hand, individual shipping to the end user could use drones, express couriers, even mages if you are paying enough...basically anything which can be used to justify that runners inside Seattle can get common items within an hour or so and don't have to list them all on their charsheet in advance wink.gif
Wothanoz
So, I manage for a logistics company, the largest in the world, in fact. Basically, all we do is move boxes from point A to point B in the shortest time possible. It's simple. And I'm also an avid reader of science and science-fiction(my, the lines are blurring these days, thank you Google and your car), and I've often thought about what the impact of some technologies that are either emergenet, or implied on my field.

1) RFIDs. The poster who said they would be on everything? He isn't wrong. Every night at work, we have a problem with things disappearing. Letters get trapped in places where you don't see them, boxes are tucked away in corners, hell, we've lost entire trucks, only to find them at the end of the night. We do everything we can to mitigate and prevent that, but it constantly happens.

But man, if we could slap a sticker on a box, and have it tracked through the facility? That would ease a lot of headaches. It also would help for industrial engineering: if you can instantly track the location and destination of a package, then you can readily shift resources to handle it. So everythign would get RFID tags on it, everything.

Oh, man, do you know how awesome it would be if when a box got shredded by the conveyor belts(it happens), everything that spilled out was tagged? My visor would highlight them all, and I could grab another box(which would pop up on my visor too, so I wouldn't walk two miles around the building to find something) and put everything in it, sticker it, transfer ownership to that box, and ship it on it's merry little way. Dude, it would make my life so freaking easy.

Heck, we have problems with site security: some of our more rural and small locations have had problems with people using reciprocating saws to cut into the roofs of trailers parked over night so they could break into the trailers and steal... stuff. Seriously, what the fuck? You broke into our trailer, madeus fill out a ton of paperwork, just to steal a freaking lawnmower? What. The. Fuck.

Yeah, RFIDs go on every damn thing. EVERYTHING.

2) Vehicle operation: If vehicles can drive better than a person, and safe, then it gets adopted. Two years ago, our division lost more money from accidents and safety violations(mostly involving the delivery vehicles) than we lost from no making "production" quotas. I think it's obvious where you can recoup money faster. The "ups driver" wouldn't really drive his truck, but he would probably be involved with every delivery(people seem to like humans more than robots for interaction, go figure).

However, for time sensitive deliveries, and anything long distance, a Rigger could be useful. Would be useful. Considering the great health care we give our employees currently, in 2070 I wouldn't be surprised if long term employees for UPS wouldn't have VCR implants. Heck, the insurance covers it.


Iduno
Wouldn't it be easier for UPS to use drones (preferably microdrones, they're tougher to spot) to deliver the "you weren't at the door when we pretended to try to deliver" notes? You could use a few of them and get a whole neighborhood at once.
Wothanoz
QUOTE (Iduno @ May 6 2015, 09:33 AM) *
Wouldn't it be easier for UPS to use drones (preferably microdrones, they're tougher to spot) to deliver the "you weren't at the door when we pretended to try to deliver" notes? You could use a few of them and get a whole neighborhood at once.


But then we wouldn't have flesh and blood employees to torment?

But nah, seriously, the personal interaction is a thing to remember.
Voran
I imagine its a mix. The mix of drone stuff, might have been the Old Drone stuff, had a cargo hauler drone that one of the Merc SR's, Picador? Talked about being useful for dropping resupplies while in field. I could see similar things even in cities (not feral). Load up your little sky truck and send it to a location. I also figure there are unmanned drone land trucks winding through the city at all hours.
Draco18s
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.
Dumpshock Forums © 2001-2012