The
key components of logistics – transport, inventory,
warehousing – have been fundamental elements of
industrial and economic life for countless years, but it is only in the last 20
years or so that logistics has been recognized as a major function in its own
right. The main reason that this recognition has only been relatively recent is
the nature of logistics itself. It is a function made up of many sub-functions
and many subsystems, each of which has been, and may still be, treated as a
distinct management operation. Both the academic and the business world now
accept that there is a need to adopt a more holistic view of these different
operations in order to take into account how they interrelate and interact with
one another.
The
appreciation of the scope and importance of logistics and the supply chain has
led to a more scientific approach being adopted towards the subject. This
approach has been aimed at the overall concept of the logistics function as a
whole but, importantly, includes the interrelationship of the individual
subsystems as well. Much of this approach has addressed the need for, and means
of, planning logistics and the supply chain, but has necessarily considered
some of the major operational issues.
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