The place of the international physical distribution function (or shipping function as it is conventionally called in the United Kingdom) has been largely neglected in the area of logistics or physical distribution studies. This neglect, in particular of the export shipping function, is...

As the president of a large cosmetics manufacturing firm put it, “All of management's mistakes end up in inventory”. This seems to be an accurate description of the 1977 situation at Matheson Foods. Finished goods inventories had ballooned to $40 million, which represented 16 weeks demand...

Continual rising fuel costs and rapidly increasing vehicle costs have generated management awareness of the costs incurred in physical distribution. Inevitably, management attention on the distribution function is drawn towards potential cost savings and increases in efficiency. Where transport...