The article participated in the 4th edition of the “Piórem logistyka” competition.
In the field of practical applications of systems science, operations research has developed the most and reached the highest degree of maturity in its class. Issues are subjected to operations research only when, through systems analysis, the system for which the research problem has been formulated has been correctly identified, and the assumptions for an effective solution and practical implementation of the results have been determined. This group of studies includes systems engineering, most often understood as the design (synthesis) of systems or value analysis, which led to the creation of general systems theory. Systems engineering includes:
- the philosophy of action systems (called the systems approach);
- the theory of action systems, including models for identification, evaluation, and optimization analysis of systems;
- applied action systems engineering, including methods of systems analysis and synthesis.
The subject of consideration of the discussed theory are action systems, which include, among others, logistics systems, while the intended result of these considerations are identification, evaluation, optimization, and other models.[2] Systems analysis provides us with essential knowledge about the construction of systems. In practice, it uses various sets of research methods and tools. Its great advantage is the introduction of scientific research through the prism of cybernetic-mathematical concepts. The choice of tool is preceded by a comprehensive study of the problem, in which analytical reasoning schemes are used, variable goals and variant solutions are sought, and the consequences of introduced changes are compared. Within systems analysis itself, three main directions of research have developed:
- analysis of material systems, using methods necessary for the operation, evaluation, and design of better solutions for the studied systems;
- analysis of information systems, material and non-material flows that occur in action chains;
- analysis of management and control systems as decision-making processes.
The presented characteristics of systems analysis indicate a multifaceted connection with other disciplines – both systemic and traditional fields of knowledge, including, among others, logistics. Modern logistics is treated as a discipline of knowledge that requires a fully systemic approach to research. This approach concerns the consideration of logistics and its logistics systems in various aspects. Adopting appropriate criteria in the analysis of logistics systems allows for the determination of the external environment in which logistics systems operate. Furthermore, it enables the systematization of phenomena occurring around logistics systems, which consequently allows for the proper classification and analysis of logistics structures.
The analysis of logistics concepts and definitions clearly indicates the necessity of applying systems theory. The identities have been compiled in Table 1.
| Systems Theory | Logistics in a system framework |
| 1 | 2 |
| Interdisciplinary field of scientific research. | A field of knowledge dealing with the rational management of logistics chains. |
| Description and disclosure of theoretical regularity of behavior, development of practical action systems. | Theory and practice of controlling the flow of goods from the producer to the final consumer. |
| Treats the studied systems as relatively isolated from the environment. | A system participating in the spatial-temporal transformation of logistics goods creates a logistics system. |
| System: a collection of elements and the relationships that occur between them. | A logistics system is an ordered organism, it can be considered on a micro scale (e.g., an enterprise), meso, macro, euro, or global scale, whose connections concretize logistics organizational structures. |
| The structure of the system is determined by material and non-material substance. | The structure of the system is formed by flows of material goods and services (non-material goods) and the information accompanying these flows. |
| Among many attributes of a system, action chains, processes, and others are distinguished. | The transformation of material and non-material goods over time in a logistics system framework creates a logistics process. Integrated logistics processes create logistics chains. |
Table 1. Identities between systems theory and the systemic approach to logistics.
Source: Own elaboration.