Logistics Concepts and Structure The Term Logistics

1
Logistics Concepts and Structure The Term
Logistics

• Te-Cheng Yu
• Dept. of Logistics Management,
• National Kaohsiung Marine University

2
Outline

• The Chinese word
• The English word
• Era of business logistics
• Beginning in the 1970s
• Time to emergency logistics
• From logistics to supply chain management

3
The Chinese word

• logistics(??) appears in the days of Chu-Han
  empire, China. (???,???0091)lt??????gt.
• The story of The Three Heroes in the Early Han
  is the idiosyncratic and valuable resources to
  define the term logistics(????).
• The logistics of Chang Liang is a sort of
  military strategy which requires the mastery in
  classical texts and tactics, and the combination
  of personal wisdom and environmental resources
  for providing the commander in chief with
  successful tactics for making decision and
  issuing orders to the field commander and soldier
  so as to attack cities and capture territories in
  a blow.

4
The Chinese word (contd)

• In the struggle of Chu-Han, while Hsiao Hos
  protectively and completely transporting foods
  and supplies by land and by water for avoiding
  the shortage of civilian and military goods as
  well as materials in Guanzhong (around Xian
  area) is no doubt the most valuable logistics
  practice in creating sustained competitive
  advantage.

5
The English word

• The English word logistics appears to have been
  derived from both the Greek word logistikos and
  the French word logistique.
• Logistikos is rooted in the concept of logic and
  means skilled in calculation. In addition to
  logistique, it is probably influenced by the
  French loger meaning to quarter (or lodge)
  soldiers. Hence, the combination of logic,
  calculation, and quartering soldiers appears to
  have yielded the word.

6
The English word (contd)

• The term logistics entered military terminology
  in 18"' century Europe(marechal des logis Alger,
  1985). There were three principal types of
  logistics utility in the military context,
  include Encamping and quartering troops, and
  stocking of supply depots.
• The term logistics was first employed in a formal
  sense in the American lexicon in the late 19th
  century. Rear Admiral Alfred T. Mahan, American
  naval strategist, introduced the word logistics
  into the US Navy (Ostirowski, 1996).

7
The English word (contd)

• The term received a written definition in 1905
  logistics is a branch of the art of war
  pertaining to the movement and supply of armies
  (Baker, 1905).
• Until World War II the term logistics began to
  be used pervasively to describe the support of
  military forces and their equipment.

8
The English word (contd)

• Beginning in the 1960s, logistical support of
  weapon systems became an integral part of the
  planning and design stages of these systems.
  Logistics was focused on engineering issues,
  calculating initial support requirements, and
  programming resources to keep a system
  operational after introduction.
• The Persian Gulf War (Jan. 16, 1991April 6,
  1991) probably contributed to increased
  recognition because of the frequent mention by
  news commentators of the logistical challenges
  associated with the so-called 7,000-mile supply
  pipelineto support the war effort in the Persian
  Gulf countries.

9
Era of business logistics

• The term logistics migrated to the business
  sector under the label of physical distribution,
  which had a focus on the outbound side of the
  logistics system

10
Era of business logistics (contd)
A simple logistics channel
11
Era of business logistics (contd)

• The logistics concept began to appear in the
  business-related literature in the 1960s as
  academicians in marketing saw potential in
  applying the principles of military logistics to
  physical distribution of consumer goods (Langley,
  1986). Business logistics evolved into a
  dichotomy of
• Inbound logistics (materials management or
  physical supply) to support production, where the
  plant is the customer
• Outbound logistics (physical distribution of
  product) to support external customers.

12
Beginning in the 1970s

• The term logistics crept into the lexicon of the
  common culture.
• Event logistics has been defined as "the
  activities between the event and chaos.
• Logistics is now being used with regard to the
  supply support of activities from church picnics
  to the Olympics.
• The popular press has written of the logistics of
  waging a Presidential campaign.

13
Time to emergency logistics

• During the US famine relief efforts in Bangladesh
  in 1974 and in Somalia in 1992 and 1993,
  logistics was applied to deal with emergency
  cases.
• Logistics was applied to the distribution of food
  (Logistics Handbook for Relief and Development,
  1987)
• Logistics was applied to provide relief to
  victims of the floods in Honduras in 1998 and of
  recent hurricanes.

14
From logistics to supply chain management

• Most recently, the business community began
  viewing logistics as a component of a larger
  evolving concept, supply chain management (SCM).
• SCM is a linking of all Firms up and down the
  supply chain (from ultimate material sources to
  ultimate customers) in a collaborative and
  seamless network (Blaser and Westbrook, 1995).
• SCM is the collaborative integration of all
  logistics processes by all players in a chain,
  from original suppliers through end users.

15
From logistics to supply chain management (contd)

• The process is a customer-driven system involving
  the sharing of information, risks, and assets
  among partners to achieve an integrated,
  seamless, responsive distribution system.
• SCM literature views business logistics as a
  component of supply chain management. It is
  differentiated from logistics in that it involves
  all partners (suppliers, carriers, other
  distribution channel participants, and customers)
  up and down the supply chain and, hence, is more
  than the internal integration of logistics
  activities within a firm. (Cooper, Lambert, and
  Pagh, 1997).
• The key concepts of SCM are pull system,
  customer-driven, strategic alliances, shared
  data, and system (as opposed to firm)
  optimization.

16
Next.

• Definitions of Logistics