The Egyptian empire obtained its gold from mines in Nubia and the Sudan and its copper from the Sinai peninsula. To obtain silver, however, the Egyptians had to fall back on foreign trade, particularly with the country of the Hittites. ( The Hittite New Empire , 1400–1200 BC, included large...

Traditionally, the distribution activities of a firm have been regarded solely as a cost of doing business. Because of this orientation, the analytical techniques applied to the solutions of problems in this area have tended to be optimising models aimed at reducing total cost subject to various...

The location‐allocation problem involves multiple shipping destinations, with known demands for a given product and known transportation costs from sources to destinations. The problem is to determine the number of facilities and their locations in order to best service the shipping...

Inventory carrying costs, the costs associated with the quantity and value of inventory stored, represent a large portion of the expense attached to distribution activities. These costs also are influenced by the configuration of the physical distribution system utilised. Therefore, accurate...

Retail trade, an essential component in any industrialised marketing system, has received relatively little attention on a macro level. Rather, the formal study of retail trade has been directed at helping retail managers improve the effectiveness of their decisions. Although such analysis is...

How large should a distribution facility be initially? What size additions to the facility should be planned and when? For example, should a regional distribution centre be built to accommodate the projected inventory volume at the time of its completion or the projected volume some five, ten or...

Recent years of shortages, inflation, and rapid advances in technologies causing product obsolescence and tremendous cost decreases—such as integrated circuits—have had pronounced effects on procurement strategy. This article examines several key issues which will shape procurement strategy...

Ever since the industrial revolution, companies have been trying to improve their overall performance. Most of the attention and efforts were directed towards reducing labour cost by improving productivity. This inward‐looking situation was possible as everything produced was usually easily...

In this monograph, our aim is to show a basic approach to producing balanced stock ranges, thus avoiding the cost penalties of over stocking on the one hand whilst averting serious lost sales due to stock shortages on the other. Stocks should not be dealt with in a blanket fashion; certain...

By November 1977, the Zatega Division of Matheson Foods had become firmly established in two major regions of the country as a manufacturer and marketer of Mexican specialty foods, especially taco shells. The Zatega Division had been created in 1970 when the decision to enter this growing market...