ELEMENTS AND RELATIONS OF COOPERATION
Concepts of the problem area
Services include:
■ all activities provided for economic entities engaged in production activities that do not directly create material goods, i.e., services for production purposes,
■ all activities provided for national economy entities and for the population intended for individual, collective, and general social consumption purposes.
■ physical performance of activities by people, machines, equipment, etc.
■ use of various types of devices for energy transmission, electromagnetic wave transmission, etc.
■ making material things available for use, such as real estate, machinery, and means of transport.
Service logistics is, in essence, a specific type of distribution logistics, involving the performance of work through various systems of cultural infrastructure (intellectual, infrastructural, technological, transport, etc.). Distribution logistics, applied first and foremost in the sphere of production, has recently and increasingly perfectly revealed its usefulness in services as well. Service-oriented, it means the process of coordinating all intangible activities that must be carried out to perform a service in a cost-effective manner and in accordance with customer requirements. The main direction of these activities covers three areas:
■ minimizing waiting time, i.e., the lead time of the ordered service
■ managing service potential
■ delivery of the service, preferably through a distribution channel.