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The answer to this is on your feet! Look at the shoes you are wearing; they may look simple,
but it took a complex process to get them from raw materials to a product you can wear. The
functions in this process are what make up logistics.
Let's say you are wearing running shoes imported from Taiwan, made of leather and manmade materials.
The soles may have been manufactured from synthetics made in India and formed into soles in Malaysia,
then sent to Taiwan. The uppers may be leather taken from cattle raised in Argentina, cut in China,
and sewn to the soles in Taiwan. The laces may be manufactured in Romania. The tongue may be made
from the synthetics in India, but sewn in Pakistan.
The pieces are manufactured into the final product in Taiwan, and trucked to a port where they are shipped
via ocean container, to say, Vancouver. From there they go by train to Calgary, where they are unloaded
into a warehouse for a large retail chain. As stores place orders, the shoes are shipped out to a store
where you shop and eventually purchase them.
This is "globalization" and is not unusual today. Here are some of the logistics functions that allowed this to happen:
- purchasing - of raw materials, assembled products, finished products from all over the world. Where can you get the quality you want at the best price?
- manufacturing operations - how should the machines be organized, how many workers do you need, where do you stock your materials and finished products, how many products do you manufacture on each production run? And the list goes on . . .
- transportation - domestic and international, from raw materials to finished product; who moves what, and when, and for what price?
- warehousing - product is either moving (transportation) or not (warehousing). This is becoming a very sophisticated area and a key to shortening the time to market for products.
- inventory control - how much product is on hand, on order, intransit, and where is it? Inventory drives logistics.
- import/export - international regulations and documentation can be complex. It takes a specialist to understand the best way to get product across borders.
- information systems - globalization on today's scale is possible because there is technology that transfers the needed information.
Logistics is performing any of the above functions, or combinations of the above. It is the functions that occur within a single company. Logistics functions used to be considered unavoidable costs to a company, but today they are recognized as crucial to a company's competitiveness and profitability. It encompasses so many jobs, that people with talents and interests in one area can specialize. For example, if you like working with numbers and are analytical, inventory might suit you. If you prefer dealing with different countries and cultures, international transportation might be the ticket, or import/export if you are good with details.
Whatever area you specialize in, you will work closely with other areas because they are all inter-related.
And you may start out in transportation but later want to switch to warehousing, where you will also use your
transportation knowledge. The beauty of logistics is that it is a huge field, encompassing many jobs and personality types.
To get a further flavour, you might want to check out some online sites and magazines:
www.manufacturing.net
www.ctl.ca
www.mmdonline.com
www.trafficworld.com
www.logisticsworld.com
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