Types of Logistics Strategies

Types of Logistics StrategiesLogisticsLogistics is the device and science of managing and visualizeling the hang up of goods, energy, learning and a nonher(prenominal) re mentions homogeneous harvestings, abide bys, and people, from the source of fruition to the marketplace. It is exhausting to action any marketing or manu pointuring with reveal logistic aliment. It involves the consolidation of culture, changeation, memorial, wargonho employ, material handling, and packaging. The run responsibility of logistics is the geographical repositioning of cutting materials, work in procedure, and complete inventories where required at the lowest damage possible.1- Overwiew of LogisticsThe word of logistics originates from the ancient Hellenic logos (), which means ratio, word, calculation, reason, speech, oration.Logistics as a ideal is con casered to burgeon forth from the contracts compulsion to total themselves as they fly the coopd from their tail to a frontward position. In ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine empires, in that respect were military forwardicers with the backing Logistikas who were responsible for financial and return distri b argonlyion matters.The Oxford slope dictionary defines logistics as The emergence of military science having to do with procuring, brinytaining and transporting material, personnel office and facilities.A nonher dictionary definition is The duration cerebrate positioning of resources. As such(prenominal), logistics is commonly seen as a complexify of engineering which creates people brasss rather than apparatus clays.Military logisticsIn military logistics, experts manage how and when to move resources to the places they ar needed. In military science, maintaining aces tot up lines magical spell disrupting those of the enemy is a crucial- approximately would say the close crucial-element of military strategy, since an armed force with come forth food, fuel and amm bui ld blockion is defenseless(prenominal).The Iraq war was a dramatic example of the greatness of logistics. It had become truly necessary for the US and its entirelyies to move grand amounts of men, materials and equipment e unfeignedplace great distances. Led by Lieutenant General William Pagonis, Logistics was successfully aimd for this movement. The surmount of the British in the Ameri bottom War of Independence, and the defeat of Rommel in World War II, subscribe been bigly attri exclusivelyed to logistical failure. The historical leaders Hannibal Barca and Alexander the expectant argon considered to cast been logistical geni occasions.1. Logistics wayLogistics Management is that divorce of the ply concatenation which plans, implements and controls the efficient, effective forward and antonym flow and storage of goods, serves and related information amidst the rate of origin and the s cappage of consumption in range to meet clients requirements. line of d escent logisticsLogistics as a business c unitary clippt evolved only in the 1950s. This was primarily due to the increasing complexity of extend mavins business with materials and sendping out products in an increasingly globalized supply cosmic string, c distributivelying for experts in the sphere who be cal take Supply Chain Logisticians. This corporation be defined as having the slump circumstance in the acquire touchst single at the decline era for the right price and is the science of process and in corporates all industry sectors. The end of logistic work is to manage the actualisation of project life cycles, supply chains and resultant efficiencies.In business, logistics whitethorn withstand either interior(a) focus(inbound logistics), or external focus ( outbound logistics) top the flow and storage of materials from point of origin to point of consumption (see supply chain wariness). The main functions of a logistics manager include Inventory Manag ement, purchasing, transport, w arhousing, and the organizing and intend of these activities. Logistics managers combine a full general knowledge of to severally one of these functions so that in that location is a coordination of resources in an fundamental law. in that respect ar dickens fundamentally contrastive forms of logistics. One optimizes a unshakable flow of material by dint of a nedeucerk of transport think and storage nodes. The opposite coordinates a chronological succession of resources to keep out near project. Logistics as a concept is considered to evolve from the militarys need to supply themselves as they moved from their base to a forward position. In ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine empires, there were military officers with the title Logistikas who were responsible for financial and supply scattering matters.Production logisticsThe term is utilize for describing logistic processes within an industry. The spirit of production logistics is t o ensure that each bare(a) machine and workstation is organism fed with the right product in the right measuring rod and quality at the right point in time.The issue is not the transportation itself, but to contour and control the flow with the value adding processes and abstract non-value adding ones. Production logistics squeeze out be applied in real as well as new dos. Manufacturing in an existing plant is a constantly changing process. Machines atomic number 18 exchanged and new ones added, which gives the opport intacty to improve the production logistics form accordingly. Production logistics fork overs the means to choose through customer response and capital force2. commercialized vehicle functioningCommercial Vehicle Operations is an mussinession of Intelligent Transportation Systems for transports.A veritable(prenominal) establishment would be purchased by the managers of a truckage union. It would have a satellite navigation system, a scummy calculator and a digital radio receiver in each truck. E genuinely fifteen minutes the ready reckoner transmits where the truck has been. The digital radio table aid forwards the data to the key office of the trucking company. A computer system in the interchange office manages the fleet in real time low control of a team of dispatchers.In this way, the central office knows where its trucks argon. The company routes psyche thins by using barcoded containers and pallettes to track scads feature into a bigger container. To minimize handling-expense, wrong and waste of vehicle cognitive content, optimal-sized pallets are a lot constructed at dissemination points to go to particular destinations.A good load-tracking system will help come back more(prenominal) than 95% of its hemorrhoid via truck, on planned schedules. If a truck run lows off its route, or is delayed, the truck can be deviate to a lift out route, or urgent loads that are promising to be late can be diverted to air freight. This dispense withs a trucking company to deliver a authentic premium aid at only slightly higher appeal. The outdo proprietary systems, such as the one campaignd by FedEx, achieve better than 99.999% on-time deli rattling.Load-tracking systems mathematical function queuing theory, linear computer programing and minimum spanning tree logic to expect and improve arrival times. The admit means of machinetel these are plebeianly secret recipes deeply orphic in the software. The basic scheme is that supposed(p) routes are constructed by combining road segments, and then poor ones are eliminated using linear programming.The controlled routes allow a truck to avoid flagitious traffic ca utilize by rush-hour, accidents or road-work. Increasingly, governments are providing digital notification when roadways are kn suffer to have bring big bucks capacity.A good system lets the computer, dispatcher and driver collaborate on finding a good route, or a order to move the load. One special value is that the computer can automatically eliminate routes over roads that cannot take the burthen of the truck, or that have knock obstructions.Usually, the drivers log into the system. The system helps remind a driver to rest. Rested drivers operate the truck more skillfully and safely.When these systems were first-year introduced, whatsoever drivers resisted them, viewing them as a way for management to sight on the driver.A well-managed expert transportation system provides drivers with huge amounts of help. It gives them a view of their knowledge load and the network of roadways.Components of CVO includeFleet dispositionFreight Administrationelectronic ClearanceCommercial Vehicle administrative ProcessesInternational Border cover ClearanceWeigh-In-Motion (WIM)Roadside CVO safeOn-Board Safety superviseCVO Fleet cautionHazardous Material Planning and contingency ResponseFreight In-Transit superviseFreight Terminal Manage ment3. CONTAINERIZATIONContainerization is a system of intermodal freight transport lading transport using criterion ISO containers (kn ingest as Shipping Containers or Isotainers) that can be wonky and shut intact onto container carrys, aimingroad cars, planes, and trucks.Containerization is withal the term given to the process of determine the outstrip carton, turning point or pallet to be utilize to lineageize a single token or make out of items.ISO Container dimensions and payloads there are five common ideal aloofnesss, 20-ft (6.1 m), 40-ft (12.2 m), 45-ft (13.7 m), 48-ft (14.6 m), and 53-ft (16.2 m). United States domestic commonplace containers are for the most part 48-ft and 53-ft ( kick and truck). Container capacity is careful in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU, or sometimes teu). A twenty-foot equivalent unit is a measure of containerized encumbrance capacity equal to one stock(a) 20 ft (length) 8 ft (width) 8 ft 6 in (height) container. In syst em of measurement units this is 6.10 m (length) 2.44 m (width) 2.59 m (height), or approximately 38.5 m. These cover at about US$2,500 in China, the biggest manufacturer.Most containers today are of the 40-ft (12.2 m) florilegium and are known as 40-foot containers. This is equivalent to 2 TEU. 45-foot (13.7 m) containers are as well designated 2 TEU. Two TEU are equivalent to one forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU). high-pitched cube containers have a height of 9 ft 6 in (2.9m), while half-height containers, utilise for heavy loads, have a height of 4 ft 3 in (1.3 m). When converting containers to TEUs, the height of the containers typically is not considered.The usage of US measurements to describe container size (TEU, FEU) despite the fact the rest of the world uses the calculated system reflects the fact that US raptus companies played a major part in the festering of containers. The overwhelming need to have a standard size for containers, in order that they fit all s hips, cranes, and trucks, and the length of time that the current container sizes have been in use, makes changing to an blush metric size impractical.The maximum gross destiny for a 20-ft teetotal cargo container is 24,000 kg, and for a 40-ft, (inc. the 2.87 m (9 ft 5 in) high cube container), it is 30,480 kg. Allowing for the swindle visual modality of the container, the maximum payload mass is there tightend to approx. 21,600 kg for 20-ft, and 26,500 kg for 40-ft containers.Shipping Container HistoryA container ship being loaded by a portainer crane in Copenhagen Harbour.Twistlocks which capture and constrain containers. Forklifts knowing to handle containers have similar devices.A container freight train in the UK.Containers produced a huge reduction in port handling hails, contribute significantly to lower freight charges and, in turn, boosting trade flows. Almost every manufacture product humans accept spends some time in a container. Containerization is an strategi c element of the innovations in logistics that revolutionized freight handling in the 20th century.Efforts to ship cargo in containers date to the 19th century. By the 1920s, coerce lines on several continents were carrying containers that could be transferred to trucks or ships, but these containers were invariably small by todays standards. From 1926 to 1947, the scratch unification brink and Milwaukee Railway carried motor aircraft carrier vehicles and shippers vehicles loaded on flatcars in the midst of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois. root word in 1929, Seatrain Lines carried railroad boxcars on its ocean vessels to transport goods amongst wise York and Cuba. In the mid-1930s, the Chicago Great Western Railway and then the bracing Haven Railroad began piggy-back service (transporting highway freight bourdons on flatcars) circumscribed to their own railroads. By 1953, the CBQ, the Chicago and Eastern Illinois and the Southern Pacific railroads had united the innovation. Most cars were surplus flatcars weaponed with new decks. By 1955, an additional 25 railroads had begun some form of piggy-back trailer service.The first vessels purpose-built to carry containers began surgical process in Denmark in 1951. Ships began carrying containers between Seattle and Alaska in 1951. The worlds first truly intermodal container system use purpose-built container ship the Clifford J. Rodgers built in Montreal in 1955 and owned by the White highroad and Yukon Route. Its first trip carried 600 containers between North Vancouver, British Columbia and Skagway, Alaska on November 26, 1955 in Skagway, the containers were unloaded to purpose-built railroad cars for transport north to the Yukon, in the first intermodal service using trucks, ships and railroad cars. Southbound containers were loaded by shippers in the Yukon, moved by truck, rail, ship and truck to their consignees, without opening. This first intermodal system operated from November 195 5 for galore(postnominal) years.A converted container apply as an office at a building site.The widespread use of ISO standard containers has driven modifications in other freight-moving standards, gradually forcing removable truck bodies or swap bodies into the standard sizes and shapes (though without the strength needed to be stacked), and changing completely the worldwide use of freight pallets that fit into ISO containers or into commercial vehicles.Improved cargo credential is similarly an important benefit of containerization. The cargo is not visible to the passing(a) viewer and thus is less likely to be stolen and the doors of the containers are generally sealed so that tampering is more evident. This has reduced the falling off the truck syndrome that long plagued the shipping industry. expend of the aforementioned(prenominal) basic sizes of containers across the globe has lessened the problems caused by contrastive rail guess sizes in varied countries. The lega l age of the rail networks in the world operate on a 1,435mm (4ft 8in) gauge track known as standard gauge but many countries like Russia, Finland and Spain use broader gauges while other many countries in Africa and South the States use narrower gauges on their networks. The use of container trains in all these countries makes trans- committal between diametrical gauge trains easier, with automatic or semi-automatic equipment.Some of the largest global companies containerizing containers today are Patrick Global Shipping, Bowen Exports and Theiler Sons Goods, LLC.Loss at sea of ISO ContainersContainers occasionally fall from the ships that carry them, something that occurs an estimated 2,000 to 10,000 times each year. For instance, on November 30, 2006, a container washed ashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, along with thousands of bags of its cargo of tortilla chips. Containers lost at sea do not needfully sink, but seldom float very high out of the water, qualification them a shipping hazard that is difficult to detect. Freight from lost containers has provided oceanographers with upset(prenominal) opportunities to track global ocean currents.Double-stack containerizationA Railroad car with a 20 tank container and a accomplished 20 container.Most flatcars cannot carry more than one standard 40 foot container, but if the rail line has been built with sufficient perpendicular headway, a well car can accept a container and mute leave seemly clearance for another container on top. This usually precludes operation of double-stacked wagons on lines with overhead electric automobile wiring (exception Betuweroute). Double stacking has been used in North America since American President Lines introduced this double stack ruler under the name of Stacktrain rail service in 1984. It saved shippers specie and now accounts for or so 70 percent of intermodal freight transport shipments in the United States, in part due to the generous perpendicular cle arances used by US railroadsISO Container types miscellaneous container types are on tap(predicate) for contrary inescapablyGeneral purpose dry van for boxes, cartons, cases, sacks, bales, pallets, drums in standard, high or half heightHigh cube palletwide containers for europallet compatibilityTemperature controlled from -25c to +25c reeferOpen top bulktainers for bulk minerals, heavy machineryOpen side for loading oversize palletFlushfolding flat-rack containers for heavy and bulky semi-finished goods, out of gauge cargoPlatform or bolster for barrels and drums, crates, cable drums, out of gauge cargo, machinery, and processed woodlandVentilated containers for organic products requiring ventilation tank car containers for bulk liquids and dangerous goods roster floor for difficult to handle cargoDetermining the best carton, box or palletWhile the origination of the best container for shipping of impudently created product is called Containerization, the term in addition appl ies to find the right box and the best placement inside that box in order forgatherlment. This whitethorn be planned by software modules in a warehouse management system. This optimization software calculates the best spatial position of each item withing such constraints as stackability and crush apology4. CROSS DOCKINGCross-docking is a practice in logistics of unloading materials from an entranceway semi-trailer truck or rail car and loading these materials in outbound trailers or rail cars, with half-size or no storage in between. This may be through to change type of conveyance, or to behavior material intended for different destinations, or to combine material from different origins.Cross docking is used to decrease inventory storage by streamlining the flow between the supplier and the manufacturer.Typical applicationsHub and spoke ar putments, where materials are brought in to one central locating and then sorted for delivery to a variety of destinationsConsolidati on arrangements, where a variety of smaller shipments are combined into one big shipment for economy of transportDeconsolidation arrangements, where large shipments (e.g. cable car lots) are broken down into smaller lots for ease of delivery.Factors influencing the use of cross-docksCustomer and supplier geographics oddly when a single corporate customer has many ternary branches or using pointsFreight cost for the commodities being transportedCost of inventory in transitComplexity of loadsHandling methodsLogistics software integration between supplier(s), vendor, and shipper5 . distributionDistribution is one of the four aspects of marketing. A distributer is the middleman between the manufacturer and retail merchant. aft(prenominal) a product is manufactured it is typically shipped (and usually change) to a allocator. The distributor then carry ons the product to retailers or customers.The other three separate of the marketing mix are product management, pricing, and pro motion.Traditionally, dispersion has been seen as relations with logistics how to get the product or service to the customer. It must answer questions such asShould the product be sold through a retailer?Should the product be distributed through sell?Should multi-level marketing cables be used?How long should the product line be (how many members)?Where should the product or service be available?When should the product or service be available?Should distribution be exclusive, selective or extensive?Who should control the line of business (referred to as the crinkle captain)?Should channel relationships be informal or contractual?Should channel members share advertize (referred to as co-op ads)?Should electronic methods of distribution be used? atomic number 18 there physical distribution and logistical issues to deal with?What will it cost to keep an inventory of products on workshop shelves and in channel warehouses (referred to as filling the pipeline)?The distribution ch annel highroadsA number of understudy carry of distribution may be availableSelling claim, such as via place order, Internet and telephone gross gross revenueAgent, who typically sells call for on behalf of the makerDistributor ( in like manner called sellr), who sells to retailersretailer (also called dealer), who sells to end customersAdvertisement typically used for consumption goodsDistribution carry may not be restricted to physical products alone. They may be right as important for moving a service from producer to consumer in original sectors, since some(prenominal) direct and indirect channels may be used. Hotels, for example, may sell their services (typically rooms) directly or through travel agents, tour operators, airlines, tourist boards, centralized reservation systems, etc. on that point have also been some innovations in the distribution of services. For example, there has been an amplify in franchising and in term of a contract services the latter offering anything from televisions through tools. There has also been some evidence of service integration, with services linking together, peculiarly in the travel and tourism sectors. For example, links now exist between airlines, hotels and car rental services. In addition, there has been a significant enlarge in retail outlets for the service sector. Outlets such as estate agencies and building society offices are displace out traditional grocers from major shop areas.. line of products membersDistribution channels can thus have a number of levels. Kotler defined the simplest level, that of direct contact with no intermediaries involved, as the zero-level channel.The succeeding(a) level, the one-level channel, features just one mediator in consumer goods a retailer, for industrial goods a distributor, say. In small markets (such as small countries) it is practical to reach the whole market using just one- and zero-level channels.In large markets (such as larger countries) a second level, a wholesaler for example, is now mainly used to extend distribution to the large number of small, neighbourhood retailers In lacquer the chain of distribution is a great deal complex and further levels are used, evening for the simplest .Channel structureTo the mixed levels of distribution, which they refer to as the channel length, Lancaster and Massingham also added another structural element, the relationship between its membersConventional or free-flow This is the usual, widely recognized, channel with a range of middle-men passing the goods on to the end-user.Single operation A temporary channel may be set up for one transaction for example, the sale of property or a particular proposition civil engineering project. This does not share many characteristics with other channel transactions, each one being unique. plumb marketing system (VMS) In this form, the elements of distribution are integrated.The inseparable marketMany of the marketing principles an d techniques which are applied to the external customers of an organization can be just as effectively applied to each subsidiarys, or each departments, internal customers.In some parts of certain organizations this may in fact be formalized, as goods are transferred between separate parts of the organization at a transfer price. To all intents and purposes, with the possible exception of the pricing appliance itself, this process can and should be viewed as a radiation pattern buyer-seller relationship.less(prenominal) obvious, but just as practical, is the use of marketing by service and administrative departments to optimize their theatrical role to their customers (the rest of the organization in general, and those parts of it which deal directly with them in particular). In all of this, the lessons of the non-profit organizations, in dealing with their clients, offer a very useful parallel.Channel DecisionsChannel strategyProduct (or service)CostConsumer locationChannel mana gementThe channel decision is very important. In theory at least, there is a form of trade-off the cost of using intermediaries to achieve wider distribution is supposedly lower. Indeed, most consumer goods manufacturers could never justify the cost of exchange direct to their consumers, except by mail order. In practice, if the producer is large enough, the use of intermediaries ( oddly at the agent and wholesaler level) can sometimes cost more than going direct.Many of the speculative arguments about channels thence revolve round cost. On the other hand, most of the practical decisions are come to with control of the consumer. The small company has no alternative but to use intermediaries, often several layers of them, but large companies do have the choice.However, many suppliers seem to assume that once their product has been sold into the channel, into the number one of the distribution chain, their rail line is finished. Yet that distribution chain is merely presumptuo us a part of the suppliers responsibility and, if he has any aspirations to be market-oriented, his job should really be extended to managing, albeit very indirectly, all the processes involved in that chain, until the product or service arrives with the end-user. This may involve a number of decisions on the part of the supplierChannel social statusChannel motivatingMonitoring and managing channelsChannel membershipIntensive distribution Where the majority of resellers stock the product (with convenience products, for example, and particularly the brand leaders in consumer goods markets) price competition may be evident.Selective distribution This is the normal pattern (in both consumer and industrial markets) where qualified resellers stock the product.Exclusive distribution Only specially selected resellers (typically only one per geographical area) are allowed to sell the product.Channel motivationIt is difficult enough to motivate direct employees to provide the necessary sales and service support. motivating the owners and employees of the independent organizations in a distribution chain requires even great effort. There are many devices for achieving such motivation. Perhaps the most usual is bribery the supplier offers a better margin, to tempt the owners in the channel to press the product rather than its competitors or a competition is offered to the distributors sales personnel, so that they are tempted to push the product. At the other end of the spectrum is the almost symbiotic relationship that the all too rare supplier in the computer field develops with its agents where the agents personnel, support as well as sales, are trained to almost the same standard as the suppliers own staff.Monitoring and managing channelsIn much(prenominal) the same way that the organizations own sales and distribution activities need to be monitored and managed, so will those of the distribution chain.In practice, of course, many organizations use a mix of different channels in particular, they may complement a direct salesforce, work on the larger accounts, with agents, covering the smaller customers and prospects.Vertical marketingThis relatively recent development integrates the channel with the original supplier producer, wholesalers and retailers working in one integrated system. This may arise because one member of the chain owns the other elements (often called corporate systems integration) a supplier owning its own retail outlets, this being forward integration. It is mayhap more likely that a retailer will own its own suppliers, this being backward integration. (For example, MFI, the piece of furniture retailer, owns Hygena which makes its kitchen and bedroom units.) The integration can also be by claim (such as that offered by McDonalds hamburgers and Benetton clothes) or simple co-operation (in the way that Marks Spencer co-operates with its suppliers). secondary approaches are contractual systems, often led by a wh olesale or retail co-operative, and administered marketing systems where one (dominant) member of the distribution chain uses its position to co-ordinate the other members activities. This has traditionally been the form led by manufacturers.The intention of vertical marketing is to give all those involved (and particularly the supplier at one end, and the retailer at the other) control over the distribution chain. This removes one set of variables from the marketing equations.Other research indicates that vertical integration is a strategy which is best pursued at the mature stage of the market (or product). At earliest stages it can actually reduce profits. It is arguable that it also diverts attention from the real business of the organization. Suppliers rarely jump in retail operations and, in theory, retailers should focus on their sales outlets rather than on manufacturing facilities ( Marks Spencer, for example, very deliberately provides considerable amounts of good assi stance to its suppliers, but does not own them).Horizontal marketingA rather less frequent example of new approaches to channels is where two or more non-competing organizations agree on a joint ship a joint marketing operation because it is beyond the capacity of each individual organization alone. In general, this is less likely to revolve around marketing synergy.LOGISTICS IN FOOD DISTRIBUTION nutrition distribution, a method of distributing (or transporting) food from one place to another, is a very important means in public nutrition. Where it breaks down, famine, malnutrition or nausea can occur. During some periods of antediluvian patriarch Rome, food distribution occurred with the policy of swelled free bread to its citizens under the provision of a common good.There are three main components of food distributionTransport infrastructure, such as roads, vehicles, rail transport, airports, and ports.Food handling technology and regulation, such as refrigeration, and sto rage, warehousing.Adequate source and supply logistics, based on demand and need. randomness logisticsIn general, it is exactly logistics of information.The field of information logistics aims at developing concepts, technologies and applications for need-oriented information supply. Information-on-demand services are a typical application area for information logistics, as they have to fulfil user needs with respect to content, location, time and qualityInformation Logistics consists of two words information and logistics. Information can mean a lot of things, but usually is text (syntax with a semantic meaning) and logistics which is the transportation of somatotrophin from point A to point B. In a simplified mind is a newsletter information logistics, also an e-mail or even the ordinary mail you receive.Information logistics is concerned with the supply of information to individuals andTypes of Logistics StrategiesTypes of Logistics StrategiesLogisticsLogistics is the art and s cience of managing and controlling the flow of goods, energy, information and other resources like products, services, and people, from the source of production to the marketplace. It is difficult to accomplish any marketing or manufacturing without logistical support. It involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging. The operating responsibility of logistics is the geographical repositioning of raw materials, work in process, and finished inventories where required at the lowest cost possible.1- Overwiew of LogisticsThe word of logistics originates from the ancient Greek logos (), which means ratio, word, calculation, reason, speech, oration.Logistics as a concept is considered to evolve from the militarys need to supply themselves as they moved from their base to a forward position. In ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine empires, there were military officers with the title Logistikas who were responsible for financ ial and supply distribution matters.The Oxford English dictionary defines logistics as The branch of military science having to do with procuring, maintaining and transporting material, personnel and facilities.Another dictionary definition is The time related positioning of resources. As such, logistics is commonly seen as a branch of engineering which creates people systems rather than machine systems.Military logisticsIn military logistics, experts manage how and when to move resources to the places they are needed. In military science, maintaining ones supply lines while disrupting those of the enemy is a crucial-some would say the most crucial-element of military strategy, since an armed force without food, fuel and ammunition is defenseless.The Iraq war was a dramatic example of the importance of logistics. It had become very necessary for the US and its allies to move huge amounts of men, materials and equipment over great distances. Led by Lieutenant General William Pagonis, Logistics was successfully used for this movement. The defeat of the British in the American War of Independence, and the defeat of Rommel in World War II, have been largely attributed to logistical failure. The historical leaders Hannibal Barca and Alexander the Great are considered to have been logistical geniuses.1. Logistics ManagementLogistics Management is that part of the supply chain which plans, implements and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customers requirements.Business logisticsLogistics as a business concept evolved only in the 1950s. This was mainly due to the increasing complexity of supplying ones business with materials and shipping out products in an increasingly globalized supply chain, calling for experts in the field who are called Supply Chain Logisticians. This can be defined as having the right item in t he right quantity at the right time for the right price and is the science of process and incorporates all industry sectors. The goal of logistic work is to manage the fruition of project life cycles, supply chains and resultant efficiencies.In business, logistics may have either internal focus(inbound logistics), or external focus (outbound logistics) covering the flow and storage of materials from point of origin to point of consumption (see supply chain management). The main functions of a logistics manager include Inventory Management, purchasing, transport, warehousing, and the organizing and planning of these activities. Logistics managers combine a general knowledge of each of these functions so that there is a coordination of resources in an organization. There are two fundamentally different forms of logistics. One optimizes a steady flow of material through a network of transport links and storage nodes. The other coordinates a sequence of resources to carry out some proje ct. Logistics as a concept is considered to evolve from the militarys need to supply themselves as they moved from their base to a forward position. In ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine empires, there were military officers with the title Logistikas who were responsible for financial and supply distribution matters.Production logisticsThe term is used for describing logistic processes within an industry. The purpose of production logistics is to ensure that each machine and workstation is being fed with the right product in the right quantity and quality at the right point in time.The issue is not the transportation itself, but to streamline and control the flow through the value adding processes and eliminate non-value adding ones. Production logistics can be applied in existing as well as new plants. Manufacturing in an existing plant is a constantly changing process. Machines are exchanged and new ones added, which gives the opportunity to improve the production logistics system accordingly. Production logistics provides the means to achieve customer response and capital efficiency2. Commercial vehicle operationCommercial Vehicle Operations is an application of Intelligent Transportation Systems for trucks.A typical system would be purchased by the managers of a trucking company. It would have a satellite navigation system, a small computer and a digital radio in each truck. Every fifteen minutes the computer transmits where the truck has been. The digital radio service forwards the data to the central office of the trucking company. A computer system in the central office manages the fleet in real time under control of a team of dispatchers.In this way, the central office knows where its trucks are. The company tracks individual loads by using barcoded containers and pallets to track loads combined into a larger container. To minimize handling-expense, damage and waste of vehicle capacity, optimal-sized pallets are often constructed at distribution points to go to particular destinations.A good load-tracking system will help deliver more than 95% of its loads via truck, on planned schedules. If a truck gets off its route, or is delayed, the truck can be diverted to a better route, or urgent loads that are likely to be late can be diverted to air freight. This allows a trucking company to deliver a true premium service at only slightly higher cost. The best proprietary systems, such as the one operated by FedEx, achieve better than 99.999% on-time delivery.Load-tracking systems use queuing theory, linear programming and minimum spanning tree logic to predict and improve arrival times. The exact means of combining these are usually secret recipes deeply hidden in the software. The basic scheme is that hypothetical routes are constructed by combining road segments, and then poor ones are eliminated using linear programming.The controlled routes allow a truck to avoid heavy traffic caused by rush-hour, accidents or road-work. Increasing ly, governments are providing digital notification when roadways are known to have reduced capacity.A good system lets the computer, dispatcher and driver collaborate on finding a good route, or a method to move the load. One special value is that the computer can automatically eliminate routes over roads that cannot take the weight of the truck, or that have overhead obstructions.Usually, the drivers log into the system. The system helps remind a driver to rest. Rested drivers operate the truck more skillfully and safely.When these systems were first introduced, some drivers resisted them, viewing them as a way for management to spy on the driver.A well-managed intelligent transportation system provides drivers with huge amounts of help. It gives them a view of their own load and the network of roadways.Components of CVO includeFleet AdministrationFreight AdministrationElectronic ClearanceCommercial Vehicle Administrative ProcessesInternational Border Crossing ClearanceWeigh-In-Mot ion (WIM)Roadside CVO SafetyOn-Board Safety MonitoringCVO Fleet MaintenanceHazardous Material Planning and Incident ResponseFreight In-Transit MonitoringFreight Terminal Management3. CONTAINERIZATIONContainerization is a system of intermodal freight transport cargo transport using standard ISO containers (known as Shipping Containers or Isotainers) that can be loaded and sealed intact onto container ships, railroad cars, planes, and trucks.Containerization is also the term given to the process of determining the best carton, box or pallet to be used to ship a single item or number of items.ISO Container dimensions and payloadsThere are five common standard lengths, 20-ft (6.1 m), 40-ft (12.2 m), 45-ft (13.7 m), 48-ft (14.6 m), and 53-ft (16.2 m). United States domestic standard containers are generally 48-ft and 53-ft (rail and truck). Container capacity is measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU, or sometimes teu). A twenty-foot equivalent unit is a measure of containerized c argo capacity equal to one standard 20 ft (length) 8 ft (width) 8 ft 6 in (height) container. In metric units this is 6.10 m (length) 2.44 m (width) 2.59 m (height), or approximately 38.5 m. These sell at about US$2,500 in China, the biggest manufacturer.Most containers today are of the 40-ft (12.2 m) variety and are known as 40-foot containers. This is equivalent to 2 TEU. 45-foot (13.7 m) containers are also designated 2 TEU. Two TEU are equivalent to one forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU). High cube containers have a height of 9 ft 6 in (2.9m), while half-height containers, used for heavy loads, have a height of 4 ft 3 in (1.3 m). When converting containers to TEUs, the height of the containers typically is not considered.The use of US measurements to describe container size (TEU, FEU) despite the fact the rest of the world uses the metric system reflects the fact that US shipping companies played a major part in the development of containers. The overwhelming need to have a st andard size for containers, in order that they fit all ships, cranes, and trucks, and the length of time that the current container sizes have been in use, makes changing to an even metric size impractical.The maximum gross mass for a 20-ft dry cargo container is 24,000 kg, and for a 40-ft, (inc. the 2.87 m (9 ft 5 in) high cube container), it is 30,480 kg. Allowing for the tare mass of the container, the maximum payload mass is there reduced to approx. 21,600 kg for 20-ft, and 26,500 kg for 40-ft containers.Shipping Container HistoryA container ship being loaded by a portainer crane in Copenhagen Harbour.Twistlocks which capture and constrain containers. Forklifts designed to handle containers have similar devices.A container freight train in the UK.Containers produced a huge reduction in port handling costs, contributing significantly to lower freight charges and, in turn, boosting trade flows. Almost every manufactured product humans consume spends some time in a container. Conta inerization is an important element of the innovations in logistics that revolutionized freight handling in the 20th century.Efforts to ship cargo in containers date to the 19th century. By the 1920s, railroads on several continents were carrying containers that could be transferred to trucks or ships, but these containers were invariably small by todays standards. From 1926 to 1947, the Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee Railway carried motor carrier vehicles and shippers vehicles loaded on flatcars between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois. Beginning in 1929, Seatrain Lines carried railroad boxcars on its sea vessels to transport goods between New York and Cuba. In the mid-1930s, the Chicago Great Western Railway and then the New Haven Railroad began piggy-back service (transporting highway freight trailers on flatcars) limited to their own railroads. By 1953, the CBQ, the Chicago and Eastern Illinois and the Southern Pacific railroads had joined the innovation. Most cars were surplus flatcars equipped with new decks. By 1955, an additional 25 railroads had begun some form of piggy-back trailer service.The first vessels purpose-built to carry containers began operation in Denmark in 1951. Ships began carrying containers between Seattle and Alaska in 1951. The worlds first truly intermodal container system used purpose-built container ship the Clifford J. Rodgers built in Montreal in 1955 and owned by the White Pass and Yukon Route. Its first trip carried 600 containers between North Vancouver, British Columbia and Skagway, Alaska on November 26, 1955 in Skagway, the containers were unloaded to purpose-built railroad cars for transport north to the Yukon, in the first intermodal service using trucks, ships and railroad cars. Southbound containers were loaded by shippers in the Yukon, moved by truck, rail, ship and truck to their consignees, without opening. This first intermodal system operated from November 1955 for many years.A converted container u sed as an office at a building site.The widespread use of ISO standard containers has driven modifications in other freight-moving standards, gradually forcing removable truck bodies or swap bodies into the standard sizes and shapes (though without the strength needed to be stacked), and changing completely the worldwide use of freight pallets that fit into ISO containers or into commercial vehicles.Improved cargo security is also an important benefit of containerization. The cargo is not visible to the casual viewer and thus is less likely to be stolen and the doors of the containers are generally sealed so that tampering is more evident. This has reduced the falling off the truck syndrome that long plagued the shipping industry.Use of the same basic sizes of containers across the globe has lessened the problems caused by incompatible rail gauge sizes in different countries. The majority of the rail networks in the world operate on a 1,435mm (4ft 8in) gauge track known as standard gauge but many countries like Russia, Finland and Spain use broader gauges while other many countries in Africa and South America use narrower gauges on their networks. The use of container trains in all these countries makes trans-shipment between different gauge trains easier, with automatic or semi-automatic equipment.Some of the largest global companies containerizing containers today are Patrick Global Shipping, Bowen Exports and Theiler Sons Goods, LLC.Loss at sea of ISO ContainersContainers occasionally fall from the ships that carry them, something that occurs an estimated 2,000 to 10,000 times each year. For instance, on November 30, 2006, a container washed ashore on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, along with thousands of bags of its cargo of tortilla chips. Containers lost at sea do not necessarily sink, but seldom float very high out of the water, making them a shipping hazard that is difficult to detect. Freight from lost containers has provided oceanographers with unexpected opportunities to track global ocean currents.Double-stack containerizationA Railroad car with a 20 tank container and a conventional 20 container.Most flatcars cannot carry more than one standard 40 foot container, but if the rail line has been built with sufficient vertical clearance, a well car can accept a container and still leave enough clearance for another container on top. This usually precludes operation of double-stacked wagons on lines with overhead electric wiring (exception Betuweroute). Double stacking has been used in North America since American President Lines introduced this double stack principle under the name of Stacktrain rail service in 1984. It saved shippers money and now accounts for almost 70 percent of intermodal freight transport shipments in the United States, in part due to the generous vertical clearances used by US railroadsISO Container typesVarious container types are available for different needsGeneral purpose dry van for boxes, carton s, cases, sacks, bales, pallets, drums in standard, high or half heightHigh cube palletwide containers for europallet compatibilityTemperature controlled from -25c to +25c reeferOpen top bulktainers for bulk minerals, heavy machineryOpen side for loading oversize palletFlushfolding flat-rack containers for heavy and bulky semi-finished goods, out of gauge cargoPlatform or bolster for barrels and drums, crates, cable drums, out of gauge cargo, machinery, and processed timberVentilated containers for organic products requiring ventilationTank containers for bulk liquids and dangerous goodsRolling floor for difficult to handle cargoDetermining the best carton, box or palletWhile the creation of the best container for shipping of newly created product is called Containerization, the term also applies to determining the right box and the best placement inside that box in order fulfillment. This may be planned by software modules in a warehouse management system. This optimization softwar e calculates the best spatial position of each item withing such constraints as stackability and crush resistance4. CROSS DOCKINGCross-docking is a practice in logistics of unloading materials from an incoming semi-trailer truck or rail car and loading these materials in outbound trailers or rail cars, with little or no storage in between. This may be done to change type of conveyance, or to sort material intended for different destinations, or to combine material from different origins.Cross docking is used to decrease inventory storage by streamlining the flow between the supplier and the manufacturer.Typical applicationsHub and spoke arrangements, where materials are brought in to one central location and then sorted for delivery to a variety of destinationsConsolidation arrangements, where a variety of smaller shipments are combined into one larger shipment for economy of transportDeconsolidation arrangements, where large shipments (e.g. railcar lots) are broken down into smalle r lots for ease of delivery.Factors influencing the use of cross-docksCustomer and supplier geography particularly when a single corporate customer has many multiple branches or using pointsFreight costs for the commodities being transportedCost of inventory in transitComplexity of loadsHandling methodsLogistics software integration between supplier(s), vendor, and shipper5 .DISTRIBUTIONDistribution is one of the four aspects of marketing. A distributor is the middleman between the manufacturer and retailer. After a product is manufactured it is typically shipped (and usually sold) to a distributor. The distributor then sells the product to retailers or customers.The other three parts of the marketing mix are product management, pricing, and promotion.Traditionally, distribution has been seen as dealing with logistics how to get the product or service to the customer. It must answer questions such asShould the product be sold through a retailer?Should the product be distributed thr ough wholesale?Should multi-level marketing channels be used?How long should the channel be (how many members)?Where should the product or service be available?When should the product or service be available?Should distribution be exclusive, selective or extensive?Who should control the channel (referred to as the channel captain)?Should channel relationships be informal or contractual?Should channel members share advertising (referred to as co-op ads)?Should electronic methods of distribution be used?Are there physical distribution and logistical issues to deal with?What will it cost to keep an inventory of products on store shelves and in channel warehouses (referred to as filling the pipeline)?The distribution channel bringA number of alternate channels of distribution may be availableSelling direct, such as via mail order, Internet and telephone salesAgent, who typically sells direct on behalf of the producerDistributor (also called wholesaler), who sells to retailersRetailer (a lso called dealer), who sells to end customersAdvertisement typically used for consumption goodsDistribution channels may not be restricted to physical products alone. They may be just as important for moving a service from producer to consumer in certain sectors, since both direct and indirect channels may be used. Hotels, for example, may sell their services (typically rooms) directly or through travel agents, tour operators, airlines, tourist boards, centralized reservation systems, etc.There have also been some innovations in the distribution of services. For example, there has been an increase in franchising and in rental services the latter offering anything from televisions through tools. There has also been some evidence of service integration, with services linking together, particularly in the travel and tourism sectors. For example, links now exist between airlines, hotels and car rental services. In addition, there has been a significant increase in retail outlets for t he service sector. Outlets such as estate agencies and building society offices are crowding out traditional grocers from major shopping areas..Channel membersDistribution channels can thus have a number of levels. Kotler defined the simplest level, that of direct contact with no intermediaries involved, as the zero-level channel.The next level, the one-level channel, features just one intermediary in consumer goods a retailer, for industrial goods a distributor, say. In small markets (such as small countries) it is practical to reach the whole market using just one- and zero-level channels.In large markets (such as larger countries) a second level, a wholesaler for example, is now mainly used to extend distribution to the large number of small, neighbourhood retailers In Japan the chain of distribution is often complex and further levels are used, even for the simplest .Channel structureTo the various levels of distribution, which they refer to as the channel length, Lancaster and Massingham also added another structural element, the relationship between its membersConventional or free-flow This is the usual, widely recognized, channel with a range of middle-men passing the goods on to the end-user.Single transaction A temporary channel may be set up for one transaction for example, the sale of property or a specific civil engineering project. This does not share many characteristics with other channel transactions, each one being unique.Vertical marketing system (VMS) In this form, the elements of distribution are integrated.The internal marketMany of the marketing principles and techniques which are applied to the external customers of an organization can be just as effectively applied to each subsidiarys, or each departments, internal customers.In some parts of certain organizations this may in fact be formalized, as goods are transferred between separate parts of the organization at a transfer price. To all intents and purposes, with the possible excep tion of the pricing mechanism itself, this process can and should be viewed as a normal buyer-seller relationship.Less obvious, but just as practical, is the use of marketing by service and administrative departments to optimize their contribution to their customers (the rest of the organization in general, and those parts of it which deal directly with them in particular). In all of this, the lessons of the non-profit organizations, in dealing with their clients, offer a very useful parallel.Channel DecisionsChannel strategyProduct (or service)CostConsumer locationChannel managementThe channel decision is very important. In theory at least, there is a form of trade-off the cost of using intermediaries to achieve wider distribution is supposedly lower. Indeed, most consumer goods manufacturers could never justify the cost of selling direct to their consumers, except by mail order. In practice, if the producer is large enough, the use of intermediaries (particularly at the agent and wholesaler level) can sometimes cost more than going direct.Many of the theoretical arguments about channels therefore revolve around cost. On the other hand, most of the practical decisions are concerned with control of the consumer. The small company has no alternative but to use intermediaries, often several layers of them, but large companies do have the choice.However, many suppliers seem to assume that once their product has been sold into the channel, into the beginning of the distribution chain, their job is finished. Yet that distribution chain is merely assuming a part of the suppliers responsibility and, if he has any aspirations to be market-oriented, his job should really be extended to managing, albeit very indirectly, all the processes involved in that chain, until the product or service arrives with the end-user. This may involve a number of decisions on the part of the supplierChannel membershipChannel motivationMonitoring and managing channelsChannel membershipInte nsive distribution Where the majority of resellers stock the product (with convenience products, for example, and particularly the brand leaders in consumer goods markets) price competition may be evident.Selective distribution This is the normal pattern (in both consumer and industrial markets) where suitable resellers stock the product.Exclusive distribution Only specially selected resellers (typically only one per geographical area) are allowed to sell the product.Channel motivationIt is difficult enough to motivate direct employees to provide the necessary sales and service support. Motivating the owners and employees of the independent organizations in a distribution chain requires even greater effort. There are many devices for achieving such motivation. Perhaps the most usual is bribery the supplier offers a better margin, to tempt the owners in the channel to push the product rather than its competitors or a competition is offered to the distributors sales personnel, so t hat they are tempted to push the product. At the other end of the spectrum is the almost symbiotic relationship that the all too rare supplier in the computer field develops with its agents where the agents personnel, support as well as sales, are trained to almost the same standard as the suppliers own staff.Monitoring and managing channelsIn much the same way that the organizations own sales and distribution activities need to be monitored and managed, so will those of the distribution chain.In practice, of course, many organizations use a mix of different channels in particular, they may complement a direct salesforce, calling on the larger accounts, with agents, covering the smaller customers and prospects.Vertical marketingThis relatively recent development integrates the channel with the original supplier producer, wholesalers and retailers working in one unified system. This may arise because one member of the chain owns the other elements (often called corporate systems int egration) a supplier owning its own retail outlets, this being forward integration. It is perhaps more likely that a retailer will own its own suppliers, this being backward integration. (For example, MFI, the furniture retailer, owns Hygena which makes its kitchen and bedroom units.) The integration can also be by franchise (such as that offered by McDonalds hamburgers and Benetton clothes) or simple co-operation (in the way that Marks Spencer co-operates with its suppliers).Alternative approaches are contractual systems, often led by a wholesale or retail co-operative, and administered marketing systems where one (dominant) member of the distribution chain uses its position to co-ordinate the other members activities. This has traditionally been the form led by manufacturers.The intention of vertical marketing is to give all those involved (and particularly the supplier at one end, and the retailer at the other) control over the distribution chain. This removes one set of variabl es from the marketing equations.Other research indicates that vertical integration is a strategy which is best pursued at the mature stage of the market (or product). At earlier stages it can actually reduce profits. It is arguable that it also diverts attention from the real business of the organization. Suppliers rarely excel in retail operations and, in theory, retailers should focus on their sales outlets rather than on manufacturing facilities ( Marks Spencer, for example, very deliberately provides considerable amounts of technical assistance to its suppliers, but does not own them).Horizontal marketingA rather less frequent example of new approaches to channels is where two or more non-competing organizations agree on a joint venture a joint marketing operation because it is beyond the capacity of each individual organization alone. In general, this is less likely to revolve around marketing synergy.LOGISTICS IN FOOD DISTRIBUTIONFood distribution, a method of distributing (or transporting) food from one place to another, is a very important factor in public nutrition. Where it breaks down, famine, malnutrition or illness can occur. During some periods of Ancient Rome, food distribution occurred with the policy of giving free bread to its citizens under the provision of a common good.There are three main components of food distributionTransport infrastructure, such as roads, vehicles, rail transport, airports, and ports.Food handling technology and regulation, such as refrigeration, and storage, warehousing.Adequate source and supply logistics, based on demand and need.Information logisticsIn general, it is exactly logistics of information.The field of information logistics aims at developing concepts, technologies and applications for need-oriented information supply. Information-on-demand services are a typical application area for information logistics, as they have to fulfil user needs with respect to content, location, time and qualityInformation Logistics consists of two words information and logistics. Information can mean a lot of things, but usually is text (syntax with a semantic meaning) and logistics which is the transportation of sth from point A to point B. In a simplified sense is a newsletter information logistics, also an e-mail or even the ordinary mail you receive.Information logistics is concerned with the supply of information to individuals and