1、Logistics English Luo De,Jin Bo. Logistics EnglishM.HIGHER EDUCATION PRESS.2007,(1) Service response logistics activities Service response logistics has three primary activities: waiting time, capacity, and delivery (see Figure 4.1). Waiting time refers to the management of the time a customer must
2、wait before the service is consumed or rendered. Capacity is the management, scheduling, and staffing of people and equipment to meet a predetermined level of customer service that is consistent with preestablished cost trade-offs. Scheduling too little capacity may lead to lost sales, while schedul
3、ing too much may enhance customer service levels but unprofitable increase operations costs. The third service response logistics activity is delivery. It is defined as choosing the distribution channels to deliver the service to the customer. The three service response logistics activities must ope
4、rate together to meet customer service requirements. If they do not operate as a system, they do not yield the full benefits. Also, service response logistics must coordinate with the rest of logistics. Almost all products have service attached to them, and many services have attached products. That
5、 is why the model in Figure 4.1 shows traditional logistics activities and service response activities as a coordinated system. Evolution of the integrated logistics concept To those not involved in integrated logistics, it appeared from out of the blue. This is far from the truth! Integrated logist
6、ics has been around throughout human history. The great explorers like Alexander the Great, Columbus, and Magellan applied logistics concepts to expand territories and find shorter trade routes. The term “ logistics” as used today originated in the military during World War . Military logistics focu
7、sed on the strategic movement of military personnel and supplies. When military logisticians returned from the war, they began to apply what they had learned to the problems of business logistics. In the early 1960s, Peter Drucker brought the concept to the forefront. In an article entitledThe Econo
8、mys Dark Continent,Drucker said that:We know little more today about distribution than Napoleons contemporaries knew about the interior of Africa. We know it is there, and we know it is big, and thats about all. In that same article, Drucker also pointed out that distribution was a last frontier for
9、 top management to find strategic efficiencies. Then, distribution referred to many of the activities included in todays concept of integrated logistics. Many variables affected the evolution and growth of integrated logistics. The first was the growth of consumer awareness and the marketing concept
10、 of the 1960s Product lines expanded to meet the rising demand for more selections. This product line expansion put great pressure on distribution channels to move more products and keep costs down, especially in transportation and inventory. A second factor was the introduction of the computer. Com
11、puter experts and integrated logistics managers quickly found a multitude of computer applications for logistics. These applications offered still greater efficiency in transportation routing and scheduling, inventory control, warehouse layout and design, and every aspect of integrated logistics. In
12、 fact, computers allowed integrated logistics managers to model integrated logistics systems and then analyze the effects of proposed changes； this application greatly advanced the systems approach. The third variable leading to the growth of integrated logistics was the worldwide economy in the 197
13、0s and 1980s.Global recessions and rising interest rates caused many firms to refocus attention on reducing costs, especially in transportation and inventory. To maintain a cost advantage, many firms were forced to reevaluate overall transportation needs. Also, rising interest rates turned attention
14、 to maintaining minimum inventory levels because of the cost of capital. Globalization of business and the development of world trade blocks are a fourth factor influencing the growth of integrated logistics. Most firms competing internationally find it increasingly difficult to compete on price wit
15、hout more effective and efficient delivery of their products. Integrated logistics can provide firms with a cost advantage. Furthermore, trading blocks in Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Americas (European Union, Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperati
16、on, Southern African Development Community, North American Free Trade Agreement and now the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas) require integrated logistics to tie the participating countries into single marketplaces. The final factor affecting integrated logistics is the growth of just-in-time ma
17、nufacturing (JIT), supply management, transportation, and electronic data interchange (EDI) in the 1980s and 1990s.As manufacturers adopted total quality management (TQM), JIT, and EDI, integrated logistics management has come to the forefront. Effective TQM and JIT require optimizing the inbound an
18、d outbound transportation and more efficient inventory management. EDI has helped make this possible. EDI applications in integrated logistics, especially in warehouse management and transportation, aid in efficient storage and fast movement of product. The integrated logistics value-added concept “
19、 Value-added is another term linked with integrates logistics. It means to enhance the customers perception of a products value by creating economic utility. Four economic utilities add value to a product or service. They are (1) form utility, (2) possession utility, (3) time utility, and (4) place
20、utility (see Figure 4.2). Form utility Manufacturing creates form utility through the production process； it makes a product in the shape, size, and color, and so on demanded by consumers. Integrated logistics creates form utility through break-bulk operations in the plant, warehouse, or truck termi
21、nal. Break-bulk operations separate consolidated shipments into smaller individual shipments, which are then delivered to customers. Possession utility Possession utility is defined as the transfer of ownership from one party to another, that is, the sale of a product or service. Marketing, through
22、its sales function, creates this value-added benefit. The product is of no real value unless the customer possesses it for use, by either owning or leasing it. Place and time utility Integrated logistics provides place and time utility. Place utility refers to moving a product from one point to anot
23、her point where demand exists. In doing so, integrated logistics expands the physical boundaries of a market. That adds economic value to the product because consumers can obtain a product that would otherwise be unavailable. Transportation creates place utility. Time utility is having the product/
24、service available when demanded. It is provided through transportation, inventory management, and facility structure. Time utility also allows products with time-critical shelf lives to be marketed in the form requiredfresh. Time and place utilities interest marketing managers who promote products a
25、t selected stores. A firm will lose sales and profits if a product is not available in stores when the promotion begins. Consumers may lose confidence and fail to respond to future promotions. They may purchase from other stores. This may be due to a lack of replenishment, that is, a stockout, or be
26、cause a new product has not yet reached the store. The reason for the stockout is irrelevant to the consumer. If the promoted product is new, but not available when advertised, it may never get past the introductory stage in its life cycle. The four economic utilities provide value to the customers by allowing them to
