Izabela Wielicka: Last year, the bimonthly “Logistyka” celebrated its 40th anniversary. This is probably the oldest logistics magazine in Poland?
Iwo Nowak: Perhaps not the oldest, but it is true that we are one of the longest continuously published logistics magazines on the market. However, if we take into account the fact that we operate in the sphere of both science and practice simultaneously, we are definitely the oldest periodical combining these two, often separate, areas. It is precisely thanks to this combination of “fire and water” that our magazine facilitates the two-way flow of information and knowledge between science and practice. Thanks to this, “Logistyka” has maintained its unique character for so many years. Observing the logistics magazine market, it is clear that there is no other such title. On one hand, there are magazines with a scientific profile, and on the other, typically commercial titles. We position ourselves in the middle, although it is not for me to determine whether this is the “golden mean”. That is already being judged by the Readers themselves, who have been buying us for so many years.
I.W.: Today, logistics is one of the most important branches of the modern economy. 40 years ago, this field was not as popular. What were the beginnings of the “Logistyka” magazine?
I.N.: We must go back to 1970, when the quarterly “Magazynowanie i Transport Towarów” (Warehousing and Transport of Goods) appeared, published by the Technical Publishing House NOT in Warsaw and the State Warehousing Services in Warsaw. The first editor-in-chief was the initiator of the quarterly, Stanisław Teski. At that time, the magazine (headquartered at ul. Wspólna 1/3 in Warsaw) was an organ of: the Office of State Reserves, the State Council for Material Economy, and the Office of Material Economy. The topics covered in its pages concerned problems of warehouse construction and equipment, warehouse work technology, cargo, external transport means, transshipment technology, work organization, management, and warehousing economics. After the introduction of martial law in Poland on December 13, 1981, the Minister of Material Economy, by his order of December 23, 1982, stopped the publication of the quarterly. Similar decisions halted almost all magazines and newspapers at that time – fortunately, not for long. As for our title, on March 3, 1983, the President of the Main Office for Control of Publications and Performances, at the request of the Undersecretary of State in the Office of Material Economy, granted permission for the publication of the quarterly “Problemy Magazynowania i Transportu” (Problems of Warehousing and Transport) by the Institute of Warehousing Economy in Poznań (IGM). As you can see, the title and publisher changed, but the magazine continued the thematic line of both the Warsaw quarterly “Magazynowanie i Transport Towarów” and the “Problemy Magazynowania” (Problems of Warehousing) published in Poznań by IGM since 1979. In the 1980s, the editors-in-chief of the magazine, whose headquarters had permanently moved to Poznań at ul. Estkowskiego 6, were: Ambroży Stachowiak, Prof. Elżbieta Gołembska, and Prof. Stefan Abt. It was they who co-created Polish logistics thought in those years. The changes in politics and, above all, in the economy progressing from the turn of the 80s and 90s resulted in the transformation of both the Institute of Warehousing Economy itself into the Institute of Logistics and Warehousing (ILiM), and the title of the quarterly from “Problemy Magazynowania i Transportu” to “Logistyka” (from January 1994). The thematic scope of the magazine was also expanded. It additionally covered electronic data interchange (EDI) and automatic identification – especially using barcodes. The next editor-in-chief was Zbigniew M. Skowroński, and he was supported by, among others, Dariusz Gościniak, Karol Górski, Mieczysław Kaczmarek, Stanisław Krzyżaniak, and Andrzej Weselik. In May 2001, I joined the editorial team of “Logistyka”, which had already switched to a bimonthly publishing cycle. After the well-deserved retirement of editor Z.M. Skowroński at the beginning of 2002, the Management of ILiM entrusted me with the position of editor-in-chief of the magazine, which I have had the honor of leading to this day.
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