Introduction
The purpose of logistics is to get the right product to the right customer in the right condition, at the right place, at the right time, and at the right cost. (www.referenceforbusiness.com)
Logistics involves numerous processes which need to be implemented and coordinated to achieve this.
In other words, Logistics is the complete management of the storage and movement of goods and services. Logistics embraces all the flows (people, material, cash, resource and information) and functions (manufacture, transport, assembly, and warehousing) that constitute the supply chain from raw materials to the end customer. The ultimate target is to enable the ‘seamless supply chain’ as coined by the Department of Trade and Industry. All players think and act as one to satisfy the end-user – the customer.
Now our trainer material suppliers have been hard at work producing the raw materials we will need to start manufacturing our products. At this stage, multiple parts of the logistics function will be preparing for their roles. From the distribution of the raw materials from their current location to the manufacturing location, the warehouses where the raw materials are located to the warehouses where the finished product will be stored and the transport of the finished inventory to the end-user or retailer, there is much to plan and prepare for. Inventory, transport, and procurement departments will be working behind the scenes to ensure everything is in place for the smooth production and delivery of the new trainers to market.