Warehouse managers need answers to such questions as: How many orders can we process in the next eight hours; How many people are needed to get this block of orders out in the next four hours; How can we schedule the arrival of our trucks and customer trucks to minimise waiting time; What...

A case study is presented which shows how savings of some 16% in annual running costs were achieved for a large, internal transportation system. The method of analysis and implementation that were used are believed to be applicable to a wide variety of transportation systems. The original system...

In a recent article Maister discusses the role of centralised inventory in a logistics system and provides a proof of the square root law recognised to be useful for this purpose by several authors (Starr and Miller, Brown, and Heskett et al.). However, the previous authors applied the law to...

Between 1970 and 1976 the competitive and economic environment in which retailers operated experienced a turbulence unprecedented in recent history. During this period the compression of institutional life cycles coupled with dramatic shifts in consumer life styles plagued many retailers. In...

As logistics and distribution emerge as major disciplines, more rigorous and advanced analysis is required on each of the major decision areas within the total logistic and distribution systems. This article concentrates on the warehouse location problem, reviewing comparatively a taxonomy of...

This monograph gives an insight into the evolution of materials management as a form of organisation. Under the question “What is materials management?”, the contents, tasks and relations are described. The advantages of applying the concept of materials management are handled as answers to...

Inventory management is an extremely important function to any business, since inadequacies in control can result in serious problems. If inventories are managed in an inefficient manner, it is likely that delays in production, dissatisfied customers, or curtailment of working capital will result.

Whilst it is a truism that the distributor is the link between the supplier and the consumer, even where a manufacturer, for example, sells direct to the consumer, the distributor often provides information to the manufacturer and services to the consumer which generate more business and...

There are two, or to be more accurate, three different ways of conceiving the concept of Materials Administration. (1) MA can be conceived of as a philosophy aiming at improved effectiveness and efficiency in the company, i.e. as a rationalisation approach among others. (2) MA can be conceived...

A great deal of attention in physical distribution management has been raised by both practitioners and academicians as to what type of carrier service is desired by shippers and consignees. From the viewpoint of the buying system, the selection of an appropriate transport mode and the selection...