Root Cause Analysis for the Overstock of Goods in Arab Marine Ports

In global supply chain, Marine ports are critical nodes where value adding and logisticsrelated activities take place. The integration of ports on supply chain management creates high level of uncertainty for downstream activities due to the increasing of processes complexities and range. One of the common problems in Marine Ports in Middle East is the accumulation of goods which lead to delay in the downstream activities of the supply chain. Therefore, the main objectives of this study is first to demonstrate the causes of overstock or accumulation of goods problem at Marine ports in practically in Alexandria and Jeddah seaports using cause and effect diagram (fishbone diagram). Second, is to identify root causes of this problem especially for hazardous material and automotive products using Pareto analysis. Finally, recommend a solution for this problem based on the root cause analysis in order to minimize the probability of problem occurrence and improve the performance of the supply chain. Case study research strategy was used to identify and examine the causes of this problem in real–life context and determine their frequency. In particular, two case studies were conducted Alexandria and Jeddah ports. Structured interviews conducted with the executives of ports. The study findings shows that the main two root causes of overstock or the accumulation of goods in the Arab marine ports are the complicated customs and documentary procedures and delay in conducting inspection procedure in particular for the hazardous goods and automotive goods.