Logistics has been, is, and will likely continue to be a challenge for practitioners and theorists involved in supply, production, distribution, as well as recycling, disposal, and return processes.
It is inextricably linked to changes in the techniques and technologies that support and secure this movement. Turbulent market volatility, constant pressure to reduce costs, the search for ways to shorten delivery times, ensuring traffic safety and the expected level of risk, and competitive struggle at all levels of human existence exert constant pressure on logisticians to find rational solutions in a given situation. As can be seen, significant problem situations arise:
-
are existing logistics solution concepts universal or individual in nature?
-
is there a set of solutions in real-world conditions that brings benefits to every participant in the logistics process?
-
is it possible to “close” logistics processes into a specific loop and, through their continuous improvement, evolve toward a model solution?
One should be aware that the set of problems presented above is not fully exhaustive – it is intended to prompt reflection on the current state of logistics development and modestly point to the author’s idea for their solution.
Logistics chain
The concepts of logistics development presented by various scientific centers and practitioners indicate a diverse approach to this issue. Despite attempts to unify this area, model solutions are unfortunately not visible. Both scientists and practitioners use the term logistics, often understanding it differently. Therefore, attempts to describe the course of logistics processes depend on the author, who “includes” the group of factors they consider essential. However, while maintaining a scientific, objectifying research methodology, this is a subjective view. As an example, we can trace the views on logistics of Ronald H. Ballou, Benjamin S. Blanchard, David F. Ross, Sunil Chopra and Peter Meindl, S. Krawczyk, K. Rutkowski, and K. Ficoń. Ronald H. Ballou points to the evolution of logistics leading to modern Supply Chain Management (SCM). He states that: logistics is a collection of functional activities (transportation, inventory, control, etc), which repeated many times throughout the channel trough which raw materials are converted into finished products and consumer value is added. Benjamin S. Blanchard, while analyzing the areas of logistics functioning, drew attention to definitions published by the CLM (Council of Logistics Management), I. T. Mentzer regarding the Supply Chain (SC) and Supply Chain Management (SCM), as well as Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) defined by the US Department of Defense. The analysis of these concepts allowed Blanchard to define the essential areas of modern logistics functioning. (…)
The article contains 23,681 characters.
Source: Logistyka Magazine 5/2012