Logistics Concepts

Export/Import Transportation Systems

The transportation industry is a complex of institution that includes not only the carriers themselves (the ocean shipping companies, airlines, and truckers), but also the supporting terminal operators, freight forwarders, customhouse brokers, ship brokers, financial houses, insurance firms, and engineering and manufacturing concerns, There is also an array of governmental agencies, that oversee the operations of the industry and control the rates charged and services provided. Changes in any of these institutions or their foreign counterparts have ramifications on the rest of the industry and affect the service provided to the shipper of goods in international trade.

Physical distribution managers have an array of alternative methods or modes of transportation for the movement of goods across borders and within countries.… Read the rest

Abey Francis

Export Packing List

The export packing list, which may be shown on the commercial invoice or separately, should contain item by item, the contents of cases or containers or of a shipment’s cases, with each item listed separately and with its weight and description set forth in such a manner as to permit a check of the contents by the customs on arrival at the port of destination as well as by the importer. The export packing list must be made in accordance with the instructions of the customer. Great care should be exercised to make certain that the contents of the packages are exactly as indicated in the export packing list.… Read the rest

Abey Francis

Use of Logistics Channel and Public and Private Distribution Facilities – For Material Sources

Use of Logistics Channel

The procurement cycle occurs at the manufacturer/supplier interface and includes all processes necessary to ensure that materials are available for manufacturing to occur according to schedule. During the procurement cycle, the manufacturer orders the components from suppliers that replenish the component inventories. The relationship is quite similar to that between a distributor and manufacturer, with one significant difference: whereas retailer or distributor orders are triggered by uncertain customer demand, component orders can be determined precisely once the manufacturer has decided what the production schedule will be. Component orders are dependent on the production schedule. Of course, if a supplier’s lead times are long, the supplier has to produce to forecast because the manufacturer’s production schedule may not be fixed that far in advance.… Read the rest

Abey Francis

Distribution Center Decisions

When deciding upon locational decision a manager basically decides upon suppliers, plants, ware houses and markets. There may also be other facilities such as super stockists, consolidation centers or transit points.

Besides locating the facilities a manager must also decide how market may be allocated to ware houses and how ware houses will be allocated to plants. The allocation decision can be altered on a regular basis as different costs change and markets evolve. When designing the network, both location and allocation decisions are made jointly.

In some cases, companies want to design supply chain networks, in which a market is supplied from only one factory.… Read the rest

Abey Francis

Location Analysis in Logistics Management

Plant and distribution center location is a common problem faced by logistics managers. Increased production economics of scale and reduced transportation cost have focused attention on distribution centers. In recent years, location analysis has been further extended to include logistics channel design as a result of global sourcing and marketing decisions. Global operations increase logistics channel decision complexity, design alternatives and related logistics cost.

Location Decisions

Location decision stage of location analysis in logistics management,  focus on selecting the number and location of distribution centers. Typical management questions:-

  1. How many distribution centers should the firm use and where should they be located?
… Read the rest
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Abey Francis

Logistical Organization and Development

Prior to the 1950s,functions now accepted as logistics were generally viewed as facilitating or support work. Organizational responsibility for logistics was dispersed throughout the firm. This fragmentation often meant that aspects of logistical work were performed without cross-functional coordination, often resulting in duplication and waste information was frequently distorted or delayed and lines of authority and responsibility were typically blurred. Managers recognizing the need for total cost control began to reorganize and combine logistics functions into a single managerial group. Structuring logistics as an integrated organization first appeared in the 1950s.

The motivation behind functional aggregation was the belief that grouping logistics functions into a single organization would increase the likelihood of integration.… Read the rest

Abey Francis