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The Importance of Logistics Management

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Logistics Management
In the Second World War logistics also played an integral role. The allied forces’ invasion of Europe was a highly skilled exercise in logistics, However while the Generals and Field Marshals from the earliest times have understood the critical of logistics, strangely it is only in the recent history that business organizations have come to recognize the vital impact that logistics management can play in gaining a competitive advantage (Christopher 1992).
However, we must ask ourselves what is logistics management in the sense that is understood today? There are multiple ways of defining logistics however, the underlying concept might be defined as follows:
Logistics is the process of strategically managing the …show more content…

(Christopher 1992). Each of these steps in the chain will consume time, because of bottlenecks, inefficient processes, and fluctuations in the volume of orders handled there will often be considerable variation of the time taken for these variation activities to be completed which can therefore result in a substantial reduction in the reliability of the delivery (Christopher 1992).

2.2.3 Logistics Activities
Logistics is a collection of working activities that are repeated many times through-out the channel through which raw materials are converted into finished products and value is added in the eyes of consumers (Ballou 1998). Since raw material sources, plants and selling point are not typically located at the same places and the channel represents a sequence of manufacturing steps, logistics activities occur many times before a product arrives in the marketplace.

Figure 2.3.3 Typical Activities in a Firm’s Immediate Supply Chain Source: Ballou, R. H., Business Logistics Importance and Some Research Opportunities, Journal of Logistics Management, Vol.4,

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