Logistics deals with the flow of goods and related information from one point to another, ensuring an item is delivered at the right place and at the right time while minimizing the total operational costs. 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, armamaments, ammunitions, and spare parts apart from the transportation of troops themselves. Meanwhile, civil logistics deals with the acquisition, movement, and storage of raw materials, semi-finished goods, and finished goods. For organizations that provide services such as garbage collection, mail deliveries, public utilities, and after-sales services, logistical problems also need to be addressed.
Logistics occupies a significant amount of operational cost of an organization or country. For example, logistical costs of organizations in the United States incurred about 11%of United States national gross domestic product (GDP) in 1997. Such situation is also similar for the countries in the European Union (EU) where logistics incurred 8.8 to 11.4% of the national GDP in 1993.
Logistics management is the part of supply chain management and supply chain engineering that 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 point of consumption to meet customers’ requirements. The complexity of logistics can be modeled, analyzed, visualized, and optimized by dedicated simulation software. The minimization of the use of resources is a common motivation in all logistics fields. A professional working in the field of logistics management is called a logistician.
Nomenclature
The term logistics is attested in English from 1846, and is from French: logistique, where it was either coined or popularized by Swiss military officer and writer Antoine-Henri Jomini, who defined it in his Summary of the Art of War (Précis de l’Art de la Guerre). The term appears in the 1830 edition, then titled Analytic Table (Tableau Analytique), and Jomini explains that it is derived from French: logis, lit. ‘lodgings’ (cognate to English lodge), in the terms French: maréchal des logis, lit. ‘marshall of lodgings’ and French: major-général des logis, lit. ‘major-general of lodging’:
Autrefois les officiers de l’état-major se nommaient: maréchal des logis, major-général des logis; de là est venu le terme de logistique, qu’on emploie pour désigner ce qui se rapporte aux marches d’une armée.
Formerly the officers of the general staff were named: marshall of lodgings, major-general of lodgings; from there came the term of logistics [logistique], which we employ to designate those who are in charge of the functioning of an army.
The term is credited to Jomini, and the term and its etymology criticized by Georges de Chambray in 1832, writing:
Logistique: Ce mot me parfait ere tout-à-fait nouveau, car je ne lavas encore vu nulled part dens la literature militaria. … il paraît le faire dériver du mot loges, etymologies singular …
Logistic: This word appears to me to be completely new, as I have not yet seen it anywhere in military literature. … he appears to derive it from the word lodgings [loges], a peculiar etymology …
Chambray also notes that the term logistique was present in the Dictionnaire de l’Académie française as a synonym for algebra.
The French word: logistique is a homonym of the existing mathematical term, from Ancient Greek: λογῐστῐκός, Romanized: logistics, 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, either ignorant of Joline’s statement that it was derived from loges, or dubious and instead believing it was in fact of Greek origin, or influenced by the existing term of Greek origin.
Logistics activities and fields
Inbound logistics is one of the primary processes of logistics 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.
Outbound logistics is the process related to the storage and movement of the final product and the related information flows from the end of the production line to the end user.
Given the services performed by logisticians, the main fields of logistics can be broken down as follows:
- Procurement logistics
- Distribution logistics
- After-sales logistics
- Disposal logistics
- Reverse logistics
- Green logistics
- Global logistics
- Domestics logistics
- Concierge service
- Reliability, availability, and maintainability
- Asset control logistics
- Point-of-sale material logistics
- Emergency logistics
- Production logistics
- Construction logistics
- Capital project logistics
- Digital logistics
- Humanitarian logistics
Procurement logistics consists of activities such as market research, requirements planning, make-or-buy decisions, supplier management, ordering, and order controlling. The targets in procurement logistics might be contradictory: maximizing efficiency by concentrating on core competences, outsourcing while maintaining the autonomy of the company, or minimizing procurement costs while maximizing security within the supply process.
Advance logistics consists of the activities required to set up or establish a plan for logistics activities to occur.
Global logistics is technically the process of managing the “flow” of goods through what is called a supply chain, from its place of production to other parts of the world. This often requires an intermodal transport system, transport via ocean, air, rail, and truck. The effectiveness of global logistics is measured in the Logistics Performance Index.
Distribution logistics has, as main tasks, the delivery of the finished products to the customer. It consists of order processing, warehousing, and transportation. Distribution logistics is necessary because the time, place, and quantity of production differ with the time, place, and quantity of consumption.
Disposal logistics has as its main function to reduce logistics cost(s) and enhance service(s) related to the disposal of waste produced during the operation of a business.
Reverse logistics denotes all those operations related to the reuse of products and materials. The reverse logistics process includes the management and the sale of surpluses, as well as products being returned to vendors from buyers. Reverse logistics stands for all operations related to the reuse of products and materials. 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 for the purpose of recapturing value or proper disposal. More precisely, reverse logistics is the process of moving goods from their typical final destination for the purpose of capturing 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. This includes 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 is concerned with highly complicated technological systems for which reliability, availability and maintainability are essential, ex: weapon systems and military supercomputers.
Asset control logistics: companies in the retail channels, both organized retailers and suppliers, often deploy assets required for the display, preservation, promotion of their products. Some examples are refrigerators, stands, display monitors, seasonal equipment, poster stands & frames.
Emergency logistics (or humanitarian logistics) is a term used by the logistics, supply chain, and manufacturing industries to denote specific time-critical modes of transport used to move goods or rapidly in the event of an emergency. The reason for enlisting emergency logistics services could be a production delay or anticipated production delay, or an urgent need for specialized equipment to prevent events such as aircraft being grounded (also known as “aircraft on ground”—AOG), ships being delayed, or telecommunications failure. Humanitarian logistics involves governments, the military, aid agencies, donors, non-governmental organizations and emergency logistics services are typically sourced from a specialist provider.
The term production logistics describes logistic processes within a value-adding system (ex: factory or a mine). Production logistics aims to ensure that each machine and workstation receives the right product in the right quantity and quality at the right time. The concern is with production, testing, transportation, storage, and supply. Production logistics can operate in existing as well as new plants: since 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 efficiency. Production logistics becomes more important with decreasing batch sizes. In many industries (e.g. mobile phones), the short-term goal is a batch size of one, allowing even a single customer’s demand to be fulfilled efficiently. Track and tracing, which is an essential part of production logistics due to product safety and reliability issues, is also gaining importance, especially in the automotive and medical industries.
Construction logistics has been employed by civilizations for thousands of years. As the various human civilizations tried to build the best possible works of construction for living and protection. Now construction logistics has emerged as a vital part of construction. In the past few years, construction logistics has emerged as a different field of knowledge and study within the subject of supply chain management and logistics.
Military logistic
In military science, maintaining one’s 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 resources and transportation is defenseless. The historical leaders Hannibal, Alexander the Great, and the Duke of Wellington are considered to have been logistical geniuses: Alexander’s expedition benefited considerably from his meticulous attention to the provisioning of his army, Hannibal is credited to have “taught logistics” to the Romans during the Punic Wars and the success of the Anglo-Portuguese army in the Peninsula War was due to the effectiveness of Wellington’s supply system, despite the numerical disadvantage. The defeat of the British in the American War of Independence and the defeat of the Axis in the African theater of World War II are attributed by some scholars to logistical failures.
Militaries have a significant need for logistics solutions and so have developed advanced implementations. Integrated logistics support (ILS) is a discipline used in military industries to ensure an easily supportable system with a robust customer service (logistic) concept at the lowest cost and in line with (often high) reliability, availability, maintainability, and other requirements, as defined for the project.
In military logistics, Logistics Officers manage how and when to move resources to the places they are needed.
Supply chain management in military logistics often deals with a number of variables in predicting cost, deterioration, consumption, and future demand. The United States Armed Forces’ categorical supply classification was developed in such a way that categories of supply with similar consumption variables are grouped together for planning purposes. For instance, peacetime consumption of ammunition and fuel will be considerably lower than wartime consumption of these items, whereas other classes of supply such as subsistence and clothing have a relatively consistent consumption rate regardless of war or peace.
Some classes of supply have a linear demand relationship: as more troops are added, more supply items are needed; or as more equipment is used, more fuel and ammunition are consumed. Other classes of supply must consider a third variable besides usage and quantity: time. As equipment ages, more and more repair parts are needed over time, even when usage and quantity stay consistent. By recording and analyzing these trends over time and applying them to future scenarios, the US Armed Forces can accurately supply troops with the items necessary at the precise moment they are needed. History has shown that good logistical planning creates a lean and efficient fighting force. The lack thereof can lead to a clunky, slow, and ill-equipped force with too much or too little supply.
Business logistics
One definition of business logistics speaks of “having the right item in the right quantity at the right time at the right place for the right price in the right condition to the right customer”. Business logistics incorporates all industry sectors and aims to manage the fruition of project life cycles, supply chains, and resultant efficiencies.
The term business logistics has evolved since the 1960s due to the increasing complexity of supplying businesses with materials and shipping out products in an increasingly globalized supply chain, leading to a call for professionals called supply chain logisticians.
In business, logistics may have either an internal focus (inbound logistics) or an 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 qualified logistician include inventory management, purchasing, transportation, warehousing, consultation, and the organizing and planning of these activities. Logisticians combine professional knowledge of each of these functions to coordinate 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, while the other coordinates a sequence of resources to carry out some project (e.g., restructuring a warehouse).
Warehouse management system and control
Although there is some overlap in functionality, warehouse management systems (WMS) can differ significantly from warehouse control systems (WCS). Simply put, a WMS plans a weekly activity forecast based on such factors as statistics and trends, whereas a WCS acts like a floor supervisor, working in real-time to get the job done by the most effective means. For instance, a WMS can tell the system that it is going to need five of stock-keeping unit (SKU) A and five of SKU B hours in advance, but by the time it acts, other considerations may have come into play or there could be a logjam on a conveyor. A WCS can prevent that problem by working in real-time and adapting to the situation by making a last-minute decision based on current activity and operational status. Working synergistically, WMS and WCS can resolve these issues and maximize efficiency for companies that rely on the effective operation of their warehouse or distribution center.
Logistics outsourcing
Logistics outsourcing involves a relationship between a company and an LSP (logistic service provider), which, compared with basic logistics services, has more customized offerings, encompasses a broad number of service activities, is characterized by a long-term orientation, and thus has a strategic nature.
Outsourcing does not have to be complete externalization to an LSP, but can also be partial:
- A single contract for supplying a specific service on occasion
- Creation of a spin-off
- Creation of a joint venture
Third-party logistics (3PL) involves using external organizations to execute logistics activities that have traditionally been performed within an organization itself. According to this definition, third-party logistics includes any form of outsourcing of logistics activities previously performed in house. For example, if a company with its own warehousing facilities decides to employ external transportation, this would be an example of third-party logistics. Logistics is an emerging business area in many countries. External 3PL providers have evolved from merely providing logistics capabilities to becoming real orchestrators of supply chains that create and sustain a competitive advantage, thus bringing about new levels of logistics outsourcing.
The concept of a fourth-party logistics (4PL) provider was first defined by Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) as an integrator that assembles the resources, planning capabilities, and technology of its own organization and other organizations to design, build, and run comprehensive supply chain solutions. Whereas a third-party logistics (3PL) service provider targets a single function, a 4PL targets management of the entire process. Some have described a 4PL as a general contractor that manages other 3PLs, truckers, forwarders, custom house agents, and others, essentially taking responsibility of a complete process for the customer.
Horizontal alliances between logistics service providers
Horizontal business alliances often occur between logistics service providers, i.e., the cooperation between two or more logistics companies that are potentially competing. In a horizontal alliance, these partners can benefit twofold. On one hand, they can “access tangible resources which are directly exploitable”. In this example extending common transportation networks, their warehouse infrastructure and the ability to provide more complex service packages can be achieved by combining resources. On the other hand, partners can “access intangible resources, which are not directly exploitable”. This typically includes know-how and information and, in turn, innovation.
