Service Attributes

The most important and critical aspect of customer service is physical distribution of the product; that is, making the right product available at the right place and at the right time, followed by the motivation of service success facilitators such as channel members to complete the physical distri­bution. For FMCG or mass-consumed products wherein

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Value Added Logistical Services

The purpose of providing services is to deliver value to the customer for the money he is spend­ing in acquiring a product. To add value to tangible products, the intangibles, such as after-sales service, are provided to the customer. Similarly, for adding value to intangible products, the help of tangibles is taken. For example,

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What Is Supply Chain Management?

Due to emerging competition in the dynamic markets of globalized economies of countries across the world, business organizations the world over have realized that the business process of satisfying the demand of the customer is of critical importance to them. They realized that a functional approach to business process would no more help in

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Supply Chain Linkages

Integrating the supply chain to improve logistics efficiency is the key challenge. Competition today is not between individual companies but between supply chains. Hence, for a supply chain to be success­ful, it should integrate the three individual business processes of procurement, manufacturing and distribution by consolidating the sub-linkages in each of the above functional

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Role of Logistics in the Supply Chain

Logistics basically connects the source of supply with the sources of demand. It bridges the gaps between market demand and the capabilities of supply sources. Logistics helps in bridging these gaps so as to make them invisible at the points of demand in the supply chain. To achieve this, all compo­nents of the logistics

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Mapping the Supply Chain

To understand the implications of cost and value additions at the different stages of inventory movement in the supply chain, it becomes necessary to map the supply chain. Mapping will give an insight into the scope and opportunities that exist for cost reduction and productivity enhance­ment. The movement of inventory across the supply chain

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E-Business Solutions for Supply

These are computer programs to capture, represent, distribute and apply knowledge to solve specific problems in the logistics supply chain. An Integrated Supply Chain is a cross-functional approach. Hence, critical problems in different functional areas can be resolved using a software solution for a particular area or a comprehensive software to cover all the

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Warehousing – A Logistical Challenge

A warehouse acts as a supporting function for logistics and plays a key role in attaining the overall objectives of the firm’s logistical supply chain system. In today’s context, a warehouse is used as a switching facility rather than a long-term storage house. The attention is paid to higher inventory turnover, lower operating costs

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Warehousing Functions

1. Material Storage Function The primary task of a warehouse is to store any material until it has been delivered to the customer or the end user. As the manufacturing and consumption cycle never match, the manufactured material has to be stored somewhere till the demand for the same is generated and the delivery

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Warehouse Options – A Strategic Decision

For acquiring warehouse space the following three options are available: Private warehouse Public warehouse Contract warehouse The considerations for exercising these options depend on various factors such as product characteristics, demand fluctuations, investments, cost of operation, degree of control, scale economics, etc. The warehouse option is a strategic decision having long-term effects on the

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Warehouse Site Selection

The considerations of warehouse site selection revolve around two major factors, i.e., service and the cost. Product availability can greatly be enhanced by locating the warehouse close to a market place. Smaller and frequent deliveries, which nowadays the customer prefers, can be organized. This will enhance the confidence of the customer in the supplier.

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Warehouse Layout Design

For planning the layout and operation of a warehouse system the following fundamental principles hold, which embody the philosophy of good practice: Making the best use of available space. Using a ‘unitized’ load system suitable for storage. Minimizing the movement of goods by allotting proper storage area. Providing flexibility for changing future needs. Providing

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Warehouse Decision Model

The warehouse decision model helps in identifying the strategic, tactical and operational needs of a warehouse system to fit into the overall objectives of a supply chain (see Figure 4.6). Product The nature of a product will primarily decide on the type of warehouse required for the stor­age of goods. For example, perishable agro

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Warehouse Costing

The elements of warehousing cost normally accounted for are transportation, storage and admin­istration. The inventory carrying cost is not included in warehousing cost. The warehousing cost includes fixed and variable cost elements. The fixed cost covers, rental, capital cost, salary wages of the employees, and utilities while the variable cost covers repair and maintenance,

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Warehousing Strategies

Warehousing network plays a major role in the success of the physical distribution of products. However, with the proliferation of a number of warehouses, the cost of logistics operation goes up. Hence, it is a tight-rope walk for the logistics manager to meet the expectations for cost and custom­er service. Under these circumstances, to

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Virtual Warehouse

The concept of virtual warehousing surfaced due to emerging networking and communication technologies in the 1980s. This helped very large organizations operating in the global markets to evolve a framework of competitiveness with effective and efficient logistics operation to develop an advantage over their business rivals. It is defined as a single storage system

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Warehouse Charter

Majority of the firms do not give due importance to warehousing operations. A warehouse is treated as a place for storage of goods till they are shipped. The top management treats a ware­house as a variable in make-and-sell equation and expect to align with production demands to meet sales promises. Often warehouse management do

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Performance Parameters

A warehouse is an integral part of a supply chain and its objectives should align with those of the overall supply chain of a firm. In the absence of a goal congruence, the element of risk in sub­optimizing the operations of a warehouse at the expense of performance of the overall supply chain will

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Cold Chain Infrastructure

The term cold storage refers to a refrigerated chamber for storage of perishable commodities such as fruits, vegetables, fish, eggs, meat, dairy products, etc. In these storage structures, the tempera­ture is controlled so that the quality of the stored perishable products does not deteriorate. In cold storage the temperature is maintained in the range

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Role of Material Handling in Logistics

In the past several years, material handling has emerged as a new and complex science evolving rapidly. For moving the material in and out of warehouse, various kinds of equipment and systems are used depending on the type of products and volumes to be handled. These equipments are used for the movement of goods

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