The Role of Logistics in Supply Chain Management for Students

Supply chain management (SCM) is the management of the materials, information, and finances involved in a business’s supply chain in order to maximize efficiency and profits. Logistics is an important part of SCM that involves the coordination of resources needed to generate efficient, cost-effective supply chains. Learning the role of logistics in SCM is a critical part of any student's education.

What is Logistics?

Logistics is the coordination of resources and activities needed to execute the movement and storage of goods from point A to point B. Logistics includes both the physical movement of goods and the necessary coordination of data, including supply chain performance and customer service levels. Logistics activities include inventory optimization, purchase order (PO) fulfillment, reverse logistics, multi-modal transportation, and warehousing.

Why is Logistics Important in Supply Chain Management?

Logistics plays an integral role in supply chain management, allowing businesses to effectively and efficiently manage their inventory. Logistics enables businesses to maintain an optimal balance of raw materials and products, which can reduce costs and improve performance. Logistics also enhances customer service by ensuring timely delivery, as well as providing data on the status of shipments. Additionally, logistics can address unexpected supply chain issues, ensuring quick and accurate problem resolution.

How Does Logistics Impact Supply Chain Performance?

Logistics can have a significant impact on supply chain performance, including time-to-market, delivery speed, cost efficiency, inventory accuracy, and customer satisfaction. Logistics enables businesses to reduce their time-to-market by utilizing supply chain visibility and anticipating potential issues, as well as utilizing multi-modal transportation capabilities. Logistics also improves delivery speed by utilizing tracking and tracing capabilities, as well as forecasting and inventory optimization techniques. Logistics also enhances cost efficiency by minimizing costs related to inventory, transportation, and procurement, as well as utilizing data to identify areas of improvement.

What Technologies are Behind Logistics?

The development of various technologies has allowed companies to maximize efficiency and profits when dealing with the logistics of their supply chains. These technologies include cloud and mobile technology, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, warehouse management systems (WMS), transportation management systems (TMS), and advanced analytics. Cloud technology provides a secure environment for businesses to store and share data, while mobile technology facilitates seamless communication and data collection among partners, vendors, customers, and other stakeholders. RFID tags provide a method for tracking inventory, while WMS and TMS enable businesses to manage their warehouses and transportation operations. Finally, Advanced Analytics put data gathered from sensors, RFID tags, and other sources to use so businesses can effectively monitor, analyze, improve, and proactively respond to supply chain issues.

Sample Pseudocode for Logistics

Pseudocode is a simplified version of a computer program written in a language that is easy for humans to understand. Pseudocode uses structured programming techniques which make programs easier to read, understand, and debug. The following is an example of pseudocode used to perform logistics-related actions in a supply chain.

# Track shipment info
TRACK(shipmentID):
    GetShipmentInfo = getShipmentInfo(shipmentID)
    while(getShipmentInfo != NULL):
	    LoggingInfo = GetShipmentInfo.loggingData
	    if (LoggingInfo.status != "Delivered"):
       		StoreLoggingData(LoggingInfo)
	    GetShipmentInfo = getShipmentInfo(shipmentID)

The preceding pseudocode instruction tells the system to get shipment information for the given shipment ID, log the data, and store it. It then checks the status of the shipment and continues the loop until the status is “Delivered.”

Conclusion

Logistics plays a key role in supply chain management and is a critical component of efficient and profitable businesses. Logistics activities include inventory optimization, PO fulfillment, reverse logistics, multi-modal transportation, and warehousing. Additionally, logistics enables businesses to reduce their time-to-market, improve delivery speed, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction. Logistics is facilitated by the use of various technologies, such as cloud and mobile technology, RFID tags, WMS, TMS, and advanced analytics. Finally, pseudocode can be used to create efficient processes to support logistics operations in a supply chain.

 

Move anything anytime with QikTruck

Copyright 2022