Logistics Organizations: Ideologies, Principles and Practice

Taking into account the commercial evolutions, the three components (dimensions) of operational management may be emphasised, which support logistics, such as: management of flows necessary for responding to the intensification of the commercial exchanges; management of the interfaces used for responding to issues occurred and formation of the networks; management of sustaining the product, having as aim the improvement of the service at the client. The involvement of logistics leads to satisfying the client and reducing costs. In order to accomplish this performance, it is recommended to use four organising principles, namely - knowing and accelerating the flows of information; knowing and accelerating the flows of products; knowing and complying with the mutual commitments; knowing and managing the risk.

This article analyzes the development of a collaborative logistics chain implemented in the form of the Consolidation and Collaboration Centers (CCC). The results show the importance of the properties of the Information System (IS) to achieve this. These properties are 1) interoperability not required with internal IS, 2) centralization of information through pooled interdependence, and 3) a SaaS (Software as a Service) information platform managed by a service provider. These qualities are magnified with reference to the logistics company Charter Logix. Finally, the governance of this supply chain is discussed, highlighting the role of different actors in the supply chain in pooling physical and information flows. At a time when the price of fuel calls into question the organization of the flows of terrestrial goods, the search for efficiency in the logistic processes has become a concern that can not be more current for the retail sector. As such, collaborative experiences of consolidation and mutualisation emerge. According to Simatupang and Sridharan (2002), two archetypes of collaborations can be distinguished to classify these experiences (Durand et al., 2012). On the one hand, vertical collaborations between actors in the same supply chain take shape through the experiences of CPFR (Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment) or SPM (Shared Procurement Management). On the other hand, horizontal collaborations between players in the same market are developing to consolidate flows with the implementation of MPM (Mutualized Procurement Management) or pooling system. It is also possible to combine these two types of collaboration (SimatupanandSridharan, 2002), and this is what the current study proposes to analyze through the case of the Consolidation and Collaboration Centers (CCC) set up by Charter LogixIndia. The idea is both simple and pragmatic: Suppliers who do not have enough volume to carry out a direct delivery by full truck deliver a shared warehouse, the CCC. From the CCC, a "consolidated" multi-vendor delivery is then organized to the platforms through full truck. The current time is therefore witnessing the reproduction of a classic model of logistics organization that advocates the establishment of advanced supplier stocks (van den Berg and Zijm, 1999, Ganeshan, 1999, Lavastre et al., 2012) and a synchronous supply (GiardetMendy, 2007). Nevertheless, this model of pooling physical flows also involves pooling logistical distribution information related to the re-provisioning process (de Corbière et al., 2011). The supply chain governance, from the point of view of physical flows and information flows, is therefore reexamined by the implementation of the CCCs. This article proposes an analysis of the organizational transformations associated with the establishment and operation of CCC by Charter LogixIndia through the following research question: How information systems share the evolution of supply chain governance associated with CCCs? In the first part of the article, the case study carried out is presented and, by the adopted inductive approach, it allows a fine description of the physical and informational flows associated with the implementation of the CCC. In the second part, this article then contributes to literature in logistics in two ways: on one hand a theoretical light is brought on the properties of the information system necessary to support the new logistic organization; on other hand, the relevance of the governance associated with the CCC is discussed in relation to other experiences of pooling. The first part of this article aims at presenting CCCs in their different dimensions. The study begins with clarifying the methodology, and the inductive approach that is adopted to carry out the case study. Then, the contextual elements of the

This paper concerns the sourcing strategy of the logistics services and the organization of the buyer-supplier relationships. It aims at identifying the sourcing strategy for the different types of logistics services and to design the proper way to organize the buyer-supplier relationships. Previous literature usually addresses this topic, by adapting the general portfolio models to the logistics services with no regard for their specific nature. In addition, it seems that such models are not adequate to identify appropriate sourcing strategies as well as to suggest how to manage the attendant relationships. Therefore, on the one hand the paper defines an original portfolio model specific for the logistics services and then classify them into the resulting portfolio matrix. On the other hand, five different forms of governance of the logistics services ranging from market to hierarchy are identified, by means of three dimensions, i.e. physical, strategic and organizational. The form...

ArXiv, 2018

In this position paper, we present our vision on the future of the logistics business domain and the use of information technology (IT) in this domain. The vision is based on extensive experience with Dutch and European logistics in various contexts and from various perspectives. We expect that the vision also holds for logistics outside Europe. We build our vision in a number of steps. First, we make an inventory of the most important trends in the logistics domain - we call these mega-trends. Next, we do the same for the information technology domain, restricted to technologies that have relevance for logistics. Then, we introduce logistics meta-concepts that we use to describe our vision and relate them to business engineering. We use these three ingredients to analyze leading concepts that we currently observe in the logistics domain. Next, we consolidate all elements into a model that represents our vision of the integrated future of logistics and IT. We elaborate on the role o...

Journal of Business Logistics, 2017

Logistics has evolved from a description-based discipline to one based upon theoretical grounding from other business disciplines to define, explain and understand complex interrelationships, resulting in the identification of the discipline's primary domain and major concepts-the "what's" of logistics. General theories, however, lack the domain specificity critical to understanding the inner workings within key relationships-the how's, why's and when's-that drive actual outcomes. Middle-range theorizing enables researchers to focus on these inner workings to develop a deeper understanding of the degree to, and conditions under which, logistics phenomena impact outcomes as well as the mechanisms through which such outcomes are manifested. The paper seeks to spur logistics research at the middle-range level by presenting a context and mechanism-based approach to middle-range theorizing, outlining a process with guidelines for how to theorize at the middle range, and providing a template and examples of deductive and inductive middle-range theorizing.

Logistics Research, 2010

The authors are members of a working group of the Scientific Advisory Board of German Logistics Association (BVL).

Studia Ekonomiczne Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny W Katowicach, 2012

Despite the enormous strides of the logistics profession in the last twenty years, it is still neither widely recognized nor easily understood by business professionals outside it. In part, it is because the profession itself has not yet succeeded in providing a widely accepted and easily understood definition of the field and its thrust. 1 A comprehensive survey of companies practicing world class logistics can be found in CLM (1995). Compare also recent winners of the German BVL logistics prize such as the OTTO Direct Merchandising Group, BMW, and SIEMENS' Private Telecommunications Division.

Logistics Information Management, 1995

Journal on Chain and Network Science, 2002

This paper presents the theoretical background for a recently initiated research programme on the utilisation and development of logistics resources in supply and distribution networks. The paper opens with a discussion of previous approaches to logistics with a particular focus on whether and how resources have been dealt with. We conclude that attention has mainly been directed toward processes and activities, while resources have primarily been regarded as the means to an end. Further, we identify a need to focus on networks rather than supply chains since all companies belong to more than one chain. Accordingly, it is suggested that considering logistics networks in terms of inter-linked resources provides a fruitful complement to existing models. We continue by presenting some basic features of resources in general and by developing the foundations of the framework that is to be applied in the research programme. The basic building blocks are four types of resources that are cr...