Due to the fact that logistics infrastructure costs represent a significant burden for agricultural enterprises and also have a significant impact on the overall business result, the purpose of this study is to present the current level of logistics infrastructure and its utilization in enterprises with different types of agricultural production. The material for the analysis consisted of research results conducted in 40 agricultural enterprises located in the Southern Poland region. These were farms specializing in field crops (group A), livestock farming using concentrated feed (group B), farms growing various crops and raising various animals (group C), and farms specializing in horticultural crops (group D). The classification of the farms was made based on the study by the Foundation of Assistance Programmes for Agriculture (FAPA) titled “Methodology for calculating direct surplus and principles of agricultural farm typology”.
The agricultural enterprise as a logistics system
Modern logistics consists of integrated operational systems based on knowledge. Logistics knowledge is becoming an essential key to solving complex problems related to the flows of materials, goods, and services in logistics chains. All this makes it necessary to treat this knowledge as the totality of processes enabling creative support for enterprise management. Without it, the efficient functioning of an enterprise is impossible. Thus, it becomes a creator of increasingly newer logistics management concepts. In an open market economy system, every enterprise functions in a certain external market environment as a relatively isolated system that influences the economic processes occurring within a given enterprise. In the model structure of every enterprise, including agricultural ones (Figure 1), 4 essential subsystems can be distinguished: the supply subsystem (supply logistics), production (production logistics), distribution (distribution logistics), and disposal (disposal logistics).
A characteristic feature of the presented system is the interlocking of movement and storage processes. At the interface of these subsystems, there is so-called inventory logistics, which deals with the issues of accumulation, maintenance, and distribution of inventory, as well as transport responsible for the fast, efficient flow of raw materials and finished products.
The essence of the systemic approach to logistics processes occurring in an enterprise lies in the fact that the mutual dependencies between the elements of the logistics system are prioritized over the importance of individual elements. The principle of “thinking about the whole” inherent in systems theory creates a framework for planning actions and predicting their direct consequences. As a result of applying this principle, a so-called synergy effect appears, consisting of achieving additional benefits from combined actions compared to the sum of the results of actions taken separately.
The place and role of logistics infrastructure in the logistics system
An essential condition for the functioning of any logistics system, such as an agricultural enterprise, is the existence of specific logistics infrastructure. The intensity and efficiency of economic activity depend to a large extent on the efficiency of logistics processes and flows, which in this case are characterized by high mass, differentiation in time and space, and dynamics of change. Consequently, logistics infrastructure, which directly determines the efficiency of physical logistics processes, largely decides the effectiveness of the conducted economic activity. Furthermore, the infrastructure is tasked with ensuring, from a technical perspective, the fast and efficient flow of goods, protection against the loss of utility properties of inventory, and appropriate technical means ensuring the collection and processing of information for the purpose of its rapid transmission, ensuring optimal control of logistics processes.
The technical infrastructure of logistics processes includes:
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means of transport and handling in the form of devices and transport equipment used for moving means of production and agricultural produce within production and storage buildings, as well as transport carried out as part of internal and external transport
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production and storage buildings (livestock buildings, warehouses, silos, cold stores, tanks, manure slabs), used for agricultural production and enabling the storage, protection, and preservation of purchased or produced means of production, as well as produced agricultural products
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packaging used to secure product quality, as well as for forming specialized load units
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information processing means used for the collection, processing, and flow of information between individual links of the physical process of the flow of raw materials, materials, and finished products.
The article comes from the journal “Logistyka” 3/2011.