Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for purchasing transport services to enable small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) to improve relationships with logistics service providers (LSPs) and enhance their own competitive advantage and profitability. Many SMEs lack competence in purchasing transport services and a subsequent lack of “purchasing power” …
The “Law of Industrial Dynamics” is a well‐known phenomenon which leads to significant swings in demand as orders are passed down along a supply chain. Large fluctuations in demand result for the manufacturer leading to policies which counteract the objectives of materials logistics management which are to reduce inventories while maintaining strategic stocks, improve product quality, min…
The purpose of this paper is to present a decision-making framework for outsourcing levels of logistics activities. These are: execution level of basic activities (such as transportation, warehousing); value-added activities; planning and control level of activities (such as transportation and inventory management); and strategic decision-making level of activities (distribution network design).
Many traditional retailers use the internet as a complementary business channel and thus sell products through multiple channels. In contrast, “pure player” internet retailers only sell products via the internet. A proliferation of pure players over the past few years has intensified competition in the online shopping market and the question of who is better at offering physical distributio…
Industrial enterprises are having to meet changes in customers' requirements at ever shorter intervals. The life cycles of products are becoming shorter, the pay‐back time of development costs likewise. Various concepts, such as Just‐in‐Time (JIT) and Total Quality Control (TQC) have been developed to meet the ever stricter demands made on products, their production and distribution proce…
Discusses new distribution planning techniques which take advantage of state-of-the-art software packages. Compares and contrasts new planning techniques against traditional distribution requirements planning (DRP). Describes how new solutions can truly optimize operations, and provide feasible plans to run the company. Concludes that in order to compete in today’s manufacturing environment, …
This double special issue called for logistics solutions and supply chains in times of climate change. The purpose of this editorial is to investigate the current and future implications of climate change, and in particular, energy efficiency for logistics and supply chain management (SCM).
Examines the interdependence between facility location, transportation and inventory issues in a distribution network design problem. Management of inventories, determination of transportation policy, and location of plants and distribution centers are normally carried out by different groups of people in an organization. These activities interact, however, when the transportation is used to re…
Logistics managers are faced with greater customer volatility, higher customer service expectations and pressure to reduce costs. If these conflicting pressures are to be reconciled, increased supply chain flexibility is vital. Enhanced flexibility is achieved through two types of changes to the supply chain: structural changes, including processes, physical resources and linkages/relationships…
In the past few years significant changes in computer technology have taken place. The development of the mini and micro computer for business applications has occurred in the past five years. New mass storage devices, faster central processing units and more sophisticated input/output devices have also been developed recently. These technological developments have fostered further use of the c…
Logistics is becoming an increasingly important part of overall retail strategy because it provides opportunities for enhanced profit, market growth and sustainable competitive advantage. This research examines the underlying factors which impact retail logistics. The factors found are warehousing/transportation, supplier performance/communications, internal information systems, activity levell…
The paper aims to provide an overview of the evolution of relationship-related research in the areas of logistics and supply chain management.
Explores how firms can use time‐based strategies within their distribution operations. Exploratory results are presented detailing strategic distribution responses employed to meet competitive challenges and gain competitive advantages. These firms have proactively worked to make their operations more flexible and allow them to respond more quickly to customer requests. They have developed ca…
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how perceived service quality influences both a shipper’s satisfaction and subsequent loyalty in third-party logistics outsourcing relationships.
Purpose – The objective of the study is to examine the extent to which quality management practices, tools and methods are employed and adopted in Australian companies. Design/methodology/approach – To address the aim of the study, a survey instrument was developed and data were collected from a field research on a sample of manufacturing, retail, and logistics companies. Findings – T…
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the performance management (PM) process may be affected by the design and contents of logistics service performance (LSP) contracts between customer and supplier.
This paper aims to describe how research literature and logistics practitioners respectively describe the link between logistics and corporate social responsibility, focusing on the link between strategic logistics change (location, capacity and number of facilities as well as the design of supplier and customer network) and labor rights.
The purpose of this paper is to present a framework to manage product returns for reverse logistics by focusing on estimation of returns for select categories of products in the Indian context.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the issues pertinent to sourcing internationally from low-cost countries (LCCs) and to understand which issues are associated most strongly with a firm’s logistics performance.
Describes the complementary standard mixed loads concept (the standard mix concept in short), which allows for assembling mixed loads at an upstream echelon. These standard mixed loads are assigned to customer orders at an echelon downstream of the chain. Describes two applications of the use of the standard mix concept in order to identify up‐front the logistic advantages, both in inventory …
In this paper, the management of variety in automobile manufacturing is broadened from simply considering the choice of models, options and parts to include strategic issues in sourcing and logistics systems. Some of the major cost elements associated with varietal increase are identified, leading into a discussion of how logistics system redesign can reduce or, indeed, eliminate the unwanted i…
Europe today represents one of the world's fastest developing market‐places for both goods and services. Rapid changes in the business, political and regulatory environments are placing considerable stress on companies in Europe, whether national or international in their orientation. For many companies, these events are coincidental with the process of evolving into global businesses, which …
The completion of the Single European Market in 1992 has major implications for logistics throughout the 1990s and beyond. However, as logistics has come under the spotlight, many managers and academics have come to realize that their understanding of the field is limited. In particular, both the differences in practice between countries and the future directions for innovation in logistics rem…
In terms of logistics, manufacturers located in peripheral areas are generally considered to be at a disadvantage. Surveys of Scottish manufacturers suggest that any logistical disadvantage is likely to stem more from inadequacies in the quality of transport services than from higher movement costs. The paper attempts to explain why manufacturers in peripheral areas do not incur a significant t…
Since the emergence of physical distribution/logistics management as an applied discipline in the early 1960s, the search for requisite skills has dominated the concerns of professionals in this new field. While there had been some earlier attempts to organise educational approaches in this field, the first real national and cohesive attempts were launched with the founding of the Annual Transp…
The decade of the 1980s has been witness to a long period of stable, sustained economic growth in the American economy, with moderate inflation, favourable interest rates, and steady growth in GNP. The decade has been remarkably free of the economic turmoil that marred the 1970s ‐ double digit inflation, double digit prime interest rates, the energy crisis. Nevertheless, the last nine years h…
Despite the proven benefits of high‐performing spare parts logistics, recommendations on how to organize spare parts logistics in China are rather rare. The absence of spare parts logistics concepts for China is surprising, since the spare part business is the profit pool of the capital goods industry: spare parts create about 17 percent of the industry's total revenue. The margins involved i…
Benchmarking has become more commonplace in recent years as managers sought to improve their firms' operations by examining strategic practices of leading companies. The focus of the current research is the benchmarking of logistics among United States manufacturers. The researchers explore the relationships between benchmarking practices and selected organizational variables. Benchmarking rela…
In logistics strategy, it is now being recognized that revenue generation is as important as cost reduction. Although it has long been known that logistics customer service has a positive effect on customer satisfaction, little research has been conducted to determine precisely the degree to which logistics customer service affects sales and generates the revenues for the firm. The purpose of t…
The purpose of this paper is to report on research undertaken to investigate whether current reverse logistics theories and models can be totally applied in developing countries like China using the electronic industry as a case study.
The primary objective of this paper is to show how mathematical modeling can be for solving a third party logistics (3PL) allocation problem.
To provide practitioners of knowledge management with a sense of the importance of reverse logistics as an important part of today’s company policies, especially throughout the product life cycle, with the accompanying technology that supports it and the effects on customer relation management (CRM) and satisfaction.
This study aims to provide a model for designing logistics networks with multiple products. In such a design model, it is important to determine the operation-related parameters accurately.
Tissue engineering (TE) offers treatments for chronic, life threatening, degenerative illnesses and possibilities for restoring cellular or organ functions that have been lost due to injuries or hereditary conditions. However, a prerequisite for the use of TE products as part of future therapies is the development of strategies for safe and efficient supply chain management and versatile servic…
To succeed in an uncertain environment, firms must respond to changing customer needs, and logistics flexibility is an important part of the response. This paper defines logistics flexibility, creates a framework to understand it, and shows how it relates to customer satisfaction.
Presents a history of logistical planning in the USSR and Russia from 1920‐1992. Describes in detail the functions of the centralized distribution system created in the course of Brezhnev‐Kosygin reforms (1965) and dismantled in 1991; a chronology of changes in distribution of producer goods in 1991‐1992 and explains why the newest are less effective than the dismantled distribution syste…
This paper examines the diversification of services and activities by freight forwarders in the UK. Following similar studies conducted in the USA, the paper analyses the trends towards service and revenue diversification that has been observed in this sector.
The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the level of logistics information systems (LIS) adoption in manufacturing companies is influenced by organizational profile variables, such as the company’s size, the nature of its operations and their subsectors.
This article deals with the evolution of customer service practices in grocery products distribution in Brazil (1994‐2001), based on a longitudinal survey of grocery retailers. Data were collected on retailers’ expectations on four relevant dimensions of customer logistics service provided by manufacturers, as well as on their perceptions of logistics service performance of the typical supp…
To present a multi-attribute approach for the selection and ranking of the most suitable 3PL service provider.
British retailers have been at the forefront of logistical changes. By taking control of distribution channels they have transformed their operations. Much of the process by which this has been achieved is well covered in the literature. This paper looks at the macro issues involved and the under‐pinning concepts in logistical transformation in retailing, and attempts to synthesize and provid…
To review the development of software applications and their functionalities/benefits in relation to supply chain management and present scenarios on future development.
The purpose of this paper is to develop a model of logistics innovation based on previous studies in the logistics literature and recommend opportunities for further research.
The purpose of this paper is to develop a model of logistics innovation based on previous studies in the logistics literature and recommend opportunities for further research.
The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate a basic scale for general logistics complexity that allows researchers to control for this issue in their studies.
Despite the increased importance and corporate visibility of logistics – and its concomitant opportunities – the demand for college educated entry-level logisticians continues to greatly exceed their supply. The current study, which responds to this persistent shortfall of talented students, was designed to investigate three primary issues: student familiarity with logistics vis-a`-vis othe…
This article provides an overview of the practical application of modeling to the business logistics network design problem. Various location models are categorized and selected ones are illustrated that represent an example of the class and/or that have been used extensively in practice. Suggestions are made as to how data can be aggregated to facilitate the modeling process. Numerous examples…
This paper aims to derive and verify a collaborative framework that specifies the role of different parties in contemporary logistics setups.
Many traditional retailers use the internet as a complementary business channel while “pure player” retailers only sell products via the internet. The question of who is better at offering electronic physical distribution service quality (e-PDSQ) is open to debate. But, despite e-PDSQ’s importance there are few empirical studies and most have focused on general service quality of internet…