When undertaking to present a few thoughts on the premises of an audit, one must first clarify the essence of the issue at hand. Before beginning considerations on its complex nature, a justified need arises to address the fundamental question: what exactly is a logistics audit? Contrary to appearances, the answer to this question is not at all simple, as the term itself is not always understood unequivocally.
Adopting the term ‘logistics’ means nothing more or less than the fact that it should utilize techniques of a logistics approach, based, for example, on the method of ‘crushing questions’ or the eight golden rules of logistics, which, however, does not specify its scope. If, on the other hand, one were to use a different term and assume it refers to an ‘audit of logistics’, then it could be assumed that it concerns the sphere of logistics itself, that is, the system, processes, and management itself. But would such a framing provide the only complete and more satisfying picture of the essence of the issues discussed? Undoubtedly in part yes, but it mentions nothing about the characteristics of this audit itself. Either way, it is the same dilemma we face when talking about the costs of logistics activities (or logistics costs), while using the less accurate term ‘logistics costs’. Without aspiring to make final determinations on this very complex issue, for the purposes of this article, the name ‘logistics audit’ will be used, but of course with the reservations made above, which thus means extending the meaning of this term to both mentioned scopes of perceiving this issue.
A logistics audit (Latin: audire – to hear or to conduct an investigation) is a systematic and independent analysis primarily of the logistics system. It means a review of logistics activities in the field of the quality of its functioning. The analysis is conducted to determine whether these activities and their results are consistent with those planned and whether the adopted methods are effectively applied and appropriate for achieving the set logistics goals. The audit is therefore about determining the organization’s compliance with logistics principles, and especially its ability to meet the requirements of the “7R” formula.
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 4/2004.