Scm In Logistics

[Jupiter Fuerst]

Logicused strictly in the singular, is a science that deals with the formal principles of reason. If a visitor walks in the house with a wet umbrella, it is logical for one to assume that it is raining outside. Logistics, which involves such concerns as the delivery of personnel or supplies in an efficient manner, can often employ logic, such as by reasoning out the path least likely to interrupt the flow of a delivery:

Both logic and logistics ultimately derive from the Greek logos, meaning "reason." But while logic derives directly from Greek, logistics took a longer route, first passing into French as logistique, meaning "art of calculating," and then into English from there.

Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption according to the needs of customers.[2][3] Logistics management is a component that holds the supply chain together.[3] The resources managed in logistics may include tangible goods such as materials, equipment, and supplies, as well as food and other consumable items.

In military logistics, it is concerned with maintaining army supply lines with food, armaments, ammunition, and spare parts apart from the transportation of troops themselves. Meanwhile, civil logistics deals with acquiring, moving, and storing raw materials, semi-finished goods, and finished goods. For organisations that provide garbage collection, mail deliveries, public utilities, and after-sales services, logistical problems must be addressed.[2]

Logistics deals with the movements of materials or products from one facility to another; it does not include material flow within the production or assembly plants, such as production planning or single-machine scheduling.[2] Logistics occupies a significant amount of the operational cost of an organisation or country. Logistical costs of organizations in the United States incurred about 11% of the United States national gross domestic product (GDP) as of 1997. In the European Union, logistics costs were 8.8% to 11.5% of GDP as of 1993.[2]

Dedicated simulation software can model, analyze, visualize, and optimize logistics' complexity. Minimizing resource use is a common motivation in all logistics fields. A professional working in logistics management is called a logistician.

The French word: logistique is a homonym of the existing mathematical term, from Ancient Greek: λογῐστῐκός, romanized: logistiks, a traditional division of Greek mathematics; the mathematical term is presumably the origin of the term logistic in logistic growth and related terms. Some sources give this instead as the source of logistics,[6] either ignorant of Jomini's statement that it was derived from logis, or dubious and instead believing it was in fact of Greek origin, or influenced by the existing term of Greek origin.

... l'art de bien ordonner les marches d'une arme, de bien combiner l'ordre des troupes dans les colonnes, les tems [temps] de leur dpart, leur itinraire, les moyens de communications ncessaires pour assurer leur arrive point nomm ...

... the art of well-ordering the functionings of an army, of well combining the order of troops in columns, the times of their departure, their itinerary, the means of communication necessary to assure their arrival at a named point ...

The Oxford English Dictionary defines logistics as "the branch of military science relating to procuring, maintaining and transporting material, personnel and facilities". However, the New Oxford American Dictionary defines logistics as "the detailed coordination of a complex operation involving many people, facilities, or supplies", and the Oxford Dictionary on-line defines it as "the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation".[7] As such, logistics is commonly seen as a branch of engineering that creates "people systems" rather than "machine systems".

According to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (previously the Council of Logistics Management),[8] logistics is the process of planning, implementing and controlling procedures for the efficient and effectivetransportation and storage of goods including services and related information from the point of origin to the point of consumption for the purpose of conforming to customer requirements and includes inbound, outbound, internal and external movements.[9]

Academics and practitioners traditionally refer to the terms operations or production management when referring to physical transformations taking place in a single business location (factory, restaurant or even bank clerking) and reserve the term logistics for activities related to distribution, that is, moving products on the territory. Managing a distribution center is seen, therefore, as pertaining to the realm of logistics since, while in theory, the products made by a factory are ready for consumption they still need to be moved along the distribution network according to some logic, and the distribution center aggregates and processes orders coming from different areas of the territory. That being said, from a modeling perspective, there are similarities between operations management and logistics, and companies sometimes use hybrid professionals, with for example a "Director of Operations" or a "Logistics Officer" working on similar problems. Furthermore, the term "supply chain management" originally referred to, among other issues, having an integrated vision of both production and logistics from point of origin to point of production.[10] All these terms may suffer from semantic change as a side effect of advertising.

Logistical activities can be divided into three main areas: order processing, inventory management, and freight transportation. Traditionally, order processing was a time-consuming activity that could take up to 70% of the order-cycle time. However, with new technologies such as bar code scanning, computers, and network connection, customer orders can quickly reach the seller in no time, and the availability of stocks can be checked in real time. The purpose of having an inventory is to reduce the overall logistical cost while improving service to customers. Having a stockpile of finished goods beforehand can reduce the frequency of transportation to and from the customers and cope with the randomness of customer demands. However, maintaining an inventory requires capital investment in finished goods and maintaining a warehouse. Storage and order picking occupy most of the warehouse maintenance cost. Freight transportation forms a vital part of logistics and allows access to broad markets as goods can be transported to hundreds or thousands of kilometers away. Freight transportation accounts for two-thirds of logistical costs and significantly impacts customer service. Transportation policies and warehouse management are closely intertwined.[2]

The rise of commercial transactions through the internet gives rise to the need for "e-logistics". Compared to traditional logistics, e-logistics handles parcels valued at less than a hundred US dollars to customers scattered at various destinations worldwide. In e-logistics, customers' demands come in waves when compared to traditional logistics, where the demand is consistent.[2]

Inbound logistics is one of the primary logistics processes concentrating on purchasing and arranging the inbound movement of materials, parts, or unfinished inventory from suppliers to manufacturing or assembly plants, warehouses, or retail stores.

Procurement logistics consists of market research, requirements planning, make-or-buy decisions, supplier management, ordering, and order control. The targets in procurement logistics might be contradictory: maximizing efficiency by concentrating on core competencies, outsourcing while maintaining the company's autonomy, or minimizing procurement costs while maximizing security within the supply process.

Global logistics is technically the process of managing the "flow" of goods through a supply chain from its place of production to other parts of the world. This often requires an intermodal transport system via ocean, air, rail, and truck. The effectiveness of global logistics is measured in the Logistics Performance Index.

Distribution logistics has, as its main task, the delivery of the finished products to the customer. It consists of order processing, warehousing, and transportation. Distribution logistics is necessary because production time, place, and quantity differ with the time, place, and quantity of consumption.[11]

Reverse logistics denotes all those reusing products and materials operations. The reverse logistics process includes the management and the sale of surpluses, as well as products being returned to vendors from buyers. It is "the process of planning, implementing, and controlling the efficient, cost-effective flow of raw materials, in-process inventory, finished goods, and related information from the point of consumption to the point of origin to recapture value or proper disposal."[12] More precisely, reverse logistics moves goods from their typical final destination to capture value or proper disposal. The opposite of reverse logistics is forward logistics.

'Green logistics describes all attempts to measure and minimize the ecological impact of logistics activities, including all activities of the forward and reverse flows. This can be achieved through intermodal freight transport, path optimization, vehicle saturation, and city logistics.

RAM logistics (see also Logistic engineering) combines both business logistics and military logistics since it concerns highly complicated technological systems for which reliability, availability and maintainability are essential, e.g., weapon system and military supercomputers.

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