Executive Summary
The process of getting goods to the customers has traditionally been called physical distribution which starts at the factory. Managers try to choose a set of warehouses and transportation carriers that will deliver produced goods to final destinations efficiently. This paper shall be defining the process of the logistic, where it operates, and what it implies in the business process. The paper shall also be discussing the process capabilities, the problems and weaknesses in the current process, how it can be restructured and the changes for the process.
The company selected for this research paper is Next which is a British clothes retailer, one of the largest retailers in United Kingdom after Marks Spencer and Bhs. The company was founded in 1864 in Leeds its headquarters in Leicester. With somewhere around 659 outlets by 2008 all over the world, out of which 501 are in UK and Erie and the rest 158 retail shops in countries like UAE, Pakistan, Denmark, Iceland, India and Saudi Arabia etc with 61,751 employees.
Next introduced online shopping in 1999 which provides an entire book from which the customers can shop easily from, this was another first by the company in online shopping in the UK. The book in question over here is the Next Directory, launched in a hard copy by the company in 1980 for mail order shopping by the customers. Next is always improving its customer services by introducing innovative ways for the customers to shop.
Business Process of Next
Next operates in the clothing industry, the net income of the company since 2008 is 354 million and revenue is 3,329 million. The company mostly operates through the Next Directory (which is a home shopping catalogue) that is it makes 21 of its sale through the directory.
Next targets everyone, they have clothing for all, from children to teenagers to young adults and to adults. The company sells clothing accessories from shoes to clothing for women, men and as well as children. (Next 2010)
Market Logistics
Recently physical distribution has been expanded into the broader concept of supply chain management. Supply chain management also known as SCM, can be defined as the management of activities that obtain materials and services and transforms them into intermediate goods and final products and also delivers the product to its final destination through a distribution system. Unfortunately the supply chain only sees markets as a final destination point. The company would be more effective by considering its target markets requirement first and then designing a supply chain later. This modern view is at the heart of todays market logistic systems and it leads to the examination of the supply chain as the demand chain. Demand chain thinking can lead to ideas that increase the productivity of the organization.
Market logistics can be defined as the planning, implementation and the controlling of the physical flow of material and the flow of the final product, from start to finish, so that it is able to meet the requirements of the customer and makes profit for the organization as well. (Christopher Peck 2003)
It must be remembered that information systems plays a very vital role in managing the marketing logistics. Major gains in logistical efficiency have been resulted from information technology advances, point of sales terminals, electronic data interchange (EDI), electronic funds transfer (EFT) and satellite tracking etc.
Challenges Faced by the Company
Next is being faced with some challenges due to its market logistics. These challenges can cause the company a great deal of problems. These challenges are as follows-
Increase in Labor Costs
Since there is an increase in the labor costs, the profitability rate of the company would go down. For example, manufacturing costs in the UK factories average around 2.50 per item. This cost has been rising at some 5 per year in recent years, mainly because of increases in the labor costs which make up a large proportion of the manufacturing costs.
Old Equipment Technology
The technology that is being used by the manufactures is quite old and is creating problems for Next. If there is no technical innovation then the company would not be able to compete with its competitors. Technical innovation is very important for a company like Next and its manufacturers, if it wants to have a competitive edge over its competitors. Innovation can be defined as a product or a service that is newly introduced by any company. Innovation is basically the driving force for any organization and it is very important that the whole company is involved in this process, but the hardest part is how to sustain innovation. It is very important to understand the core competencies of the company, the systematic approach and as well as innovative corporate culture of the company. The role of technical innovation in a company is to improve the companys quality, to create new markets, gain information about its competitors, competition becomes less intense due to the technology and it also improves the production processes of the company. Many companies around the world are reengineering their organizational structures, roles and processes so that they can become agile, customer focused and value driven organizations because the trend of computer technology is increasing day by day. (OBrien 2004)
Inflexibility of the Manufacturers
This is basically a cross functional approach that is related to the raw materials that are to be used in order to process a product to its finished form. In the case of Next, the organization will not succeed until and unless they do not get their inventory on time. Therefore, flexibility is a major part of supply chain management that has to be taken into view and the organization has to make sure that it is cost-effective. For this, the distribution channels have to be deeply studied so that the demands of the customers can be met easily and the concept of supply chain management arose when more partners came into existence and the company loss its control and there are many models which are used so that supply chain management can be studied and as we know that the activities of supply chain can be broken down in three parts. They are as follows-
Strategic level
Tactical level
Operational levels (Blanchard 2007)
Transportation
Another problem that is being faced by the company is transportation. For example, transport from the manufacturers to the Next warehouse is arranged by Next itself, which is also considered as an extra cost, who pays local haulage companies to collect from the factories. Transit time between the manufacturers and Next is practically of 4 hours. Conventionally wrapped shirts and blouses are packed in cardboard cartons measuring 60cm x 60cm x 60cm, each weighing 0.03 tons when full and containing 100 items. Local haulers charge around 150.00 for collection using a large articulated lorry and trailer. Internal dimensions of the trailers used are 13.5 meters long and 2.6 meters wide, with a loading space 2.9 meters high. To handle smaller volumes, a small rigid box van can be used. The internal dimensions in this case are 6 meters long, 2.4 meters wide and 2.5 meters high. Haulers charge around 120.00 per trip in this case. Whereas, hanging garments are considered to be less economic in terms of transport costs for the company. The most effective use of volume is through the use of a lorry towing a drawbar trailer. These accommodate around 7,500 hanging garments at a cost of 175.00 per trip. The standard articulated lorry trailers only accommodate 5,000 hanging garments whilst the limit in a small rigid box van is only 2,250 hanging items.
Why transport has become a problem for the company, the reason is that if the company orders a small order size, it would have to pay the entire payment, and sometimes when the transport companies are on strike, the products cannot reach Next and Next can lose money and customers. (Christopher Peck 2003)
Solutions for Improvements of the Logistic Process
The solutions that can be used by Next to improve their marketing logistics are as follows-
Developing Integrated Supply Chain
Successful supply chain management requires a high level of functional and organizational integration. Generally, organizations divide their responsibilities for managing the flow of material and services into three departments. These departments are connected to the supply chain management as follows
Purchasing Department Purchasing is considered to be the management of the buying raw materials for the production process. Purchasing includes deciding which suppliers to use, negotiating contracts and deciding whether to buy locally or not. (Ayers 2006)
Production Department Production is considered to be the management of the transformation process. This means that this department is connected with the production of products and services for their end customers for either consumption or for further process. This department uses assembly lines or machinery for the production of goods and services.
Distribution Department Distribution is considered to be the management of the flow of materials from manufacturers to the customers from warehouses to retailers, including the storage of products and transportation of products from the company to its end customers. (Ayers 2006)
Phase 1Independent
Supply Chain EntitiesPhase 2 Internal Integration
Internal Supply Chain
Materials management departmentPhase 3 Supply Chain Integration
Integrated Supply ChainCompanies that are willing to develop integrated supply chain must go through three different phases
Phase 1 The external suppliers and customers are considered to be independent from the organization. The relationships with these entities are formal and there is little information sharing among them.
Phase 2 The firm starts with internal integration by creating a materials management department. Materials management means that the decisions are made by a firm concerning the purchase of materials, services, inventories, staffing patterns, production levels and schedules and distribution channels. (Ayers 2006)
Phase 3 The internal supply chain is extended to embrace the suppliers and the customers of the organization. This phase connects the external supply with the suppliers and customers, which is not under the control of the organization. The organization in this phase changes its focus from product or service orientation to customer based orientation.
The integrated supply chain actually provides a structure for operating decisions in the organization. The demands of the customers have to be met and it is essential to have a very good communication network with the suppliers for which it is important that the correct information is communicated to him and this is done through process integration. As mentioned in the paper above, the supply chain business process integration involves collaboration between different groups as this is essential to operate in an integrated supply chain. However, it is also imperative to implement a process. (Ayers 2006)
Managing Customer service
Demand management this includes both internal as well as external collaboration so that the lead time can be reduced along with customer feedback and forecasts of the organization.
Fulfillment of the order
Manufacturing flow management
Supplier relationship management
Product development and commercialization
Returns management. (Ayers 2006)
Information Technology
Retailing is the sale of goods in small quantities directly to consumers from a location that is fixed. In todays world companies like Next have become more customers oriented. And the only thing the customer wants is to get best satisfaction from the product they are willing to purchase. The customers want compete satisfaction for example, the product is easily available in the market, is of high quality and it is of reasonable price. Plus it is very important that companies like Next need to innovate, why, because people need something different after a little while, they get tired from using the same product, it is important that the product is always up-to-date so that it is able to in fulfill the growing demands the customers. And if the company does not innovate, it would lose its customers along with its position in the market. (OBrien 2004)
The internet has dramatically changed the way companies serve their customers and clients. Traditionally supply chain includes factories, warehouses, retailers or distributors. Some companies have used the internet to eliminate elements of their supply chain by substituting information for inventories. For example, in the in order to fulfillment process of the customers, it requires those activities which are required by a company to deliver a product or a service to the customer. The order fulfillment process is based on information sharing by the management of the company. Inventory placement of the order fulfillment process is based on 4 elements, they are inventory pooling, forward placement, information sharing and vendor managed inventories and the postponement of a customized product which is done by the company. It is necessary for the firms to properly manage their supplier and so supply chain management is very important. These days the retailers are using radio frequency identification so that they can keep a better track of their inventory.
The radio frequency identification system provides an automatic integration with back end software solutions as well. This provides an end to end integration of data in the real time quickly and accurately. This system reduces errors that are made by humans and it helps to reduce the companys high costs as well. This tells them about the products present on shelves of the stores, goods available in the warehouse and about the suppliers. The frequency that is used for RFID system is radio frequency, the communication that is used for this is non-line sight. The data volume of a radio frequency identification system is that it can carry large volume of data and the range of data readability for this system is that it can read from a long distance. This technology is good for the firm as well as the supplier because the supplier can come to know what raw material or product the firm requires and so they can update their own inventory as well using the same ways.
Electronic commerce or e-commerce is basically about doing the business using the Internet and the World Wide Web. Other terms for e-commerce are e-business and e-tailing. Online catalogs are available on the websites from the where the customer can easily see the list of products i.e. the catalog available along with other details such as price. They can even compare prices of their desired products on the Internet and can place the order easily from home. This way of doing business is advantageous in one of the ways that the customers can place their order at any time of the day and at any place using Internet on their computer as there is no restriction on time to place the order. Nowadays more of the rich consumers are also engaged in their own business activities so they dont have ample time to visit a store to place an order so they might prefer to place online orders and so they will prefer those companies that provide online services to the customers. This is a good idea and the supplier instead of supplying products to the firms can do this business themselves and sell directly to the customers. (OBrien 2004)
Internet as a Distribution Channel
I believe that using the Internet as a distribution medium is more conducive to selling certain types of products and less conducive to selling others, why, because it sometimes so happens that there are products which might not be available in one country might be available in another for example, books. A person can buy books online from e-bay or Amazon. I believe it is a good idea to sell imperishable products online but it is not a good idea to sell perishable products like food items online. The internet is the major platform for the ever expanding lists of information and entertainment services and as well as business applications (these would include enterprise collaboration and electronic commerce systems) for a company like Next. (Plant 2000)
The e-tailers online are taking security measures to reduce the risk of buying and selling online. Several basic security measures are being used to solve this security problem 1) encrypt (code and scramble) the data passing between the customer and the merchant, 2) encrypt the data passing between the customer and the company authorizing the credit card transaction and 3) take sensitive information offline. (OBrien 2004)
Investment in Research and development
Due to the growing trends and needs of the society, it is thus essential for Next to have an effective research and development department. As continuous development as well as innovation is going on in the current scenario, Next has to keep pulling new customers in order so that the sales of the business can increase. Therefore, the company needs to invest research and development (RD) and it would need to create a separate department for research and development, so that it is able to provide the managers of the company with information they need to make decisions, which in return will help the company to provide those products that are in demand by their customers. The company needs to keep on innovating and bringing new products to the market so that it is able to retain its old customers and gain some new ones as well. (Graham 2005)
Producers of physical products must decide on market logistics, i.e. the best way to store and move their goods and services to their market destinations. The logistical task is to coordinate the activities of the suppliers, purchasing agents, manufacturers, marketers channel members and as well as customers. Major gains in logistical efficiency have come from advances in information technology. Though cost of market logistics can be high, a well planned market logistic program can be a potent tool in competitive marketing. Ultimately the goal of market logistic is to meet the requirements of the customers but in an efficient and profitable manner. It is important for the managers of the market logistic to make four decisions. These decisions are based on order processing, warehousing, inventory and transportation. The company needs to set up permanent committee which is composed of managers of different market logistic activities. The committee members can meet up periodically and develop policies that will improve the overall logistical efficiency of the company.
The process of getting goods to the customers has traditionally been called physical distribution which starts at the factory. Managers try to choose a set of warehouses and transportation carriers that will deliver produced goods to final destinations efficiently. This paper shall be defining the process of the logistic, where it operates, and what it implies in the business process. The paper shall also be discussing the process capabilities, the problems and weaknesses in the current process, how it can be restructured and the changes for the process.
The company selected for this research paper is Next which is a British clothes retailer, one of the largest retailers in United Kingdom after Marks Spencer and Bhs. The company was founded in 1864 in Leeds its headquarters in Leicester. With somewhere around 659 outlets by 2008 all over the world, out of which 501 are in UK and Erie and the rest 158 retail shops in countries like UAE, Pakistan, Denmark, Iceland, India and Saudi Arabia etc with 61,751 employees.
Next introduced online shopping in 1999 which provides an entire book from which the customers can shop easily from, this was another first by the company in online shopping in the UK. The book in question over here is the Next Directory, launched in a hard copy by the company in 1980 for mail order shopping by the customers. Next is always improving its customer services by introducing innovative ways for the customers to shop.
Business Process of Next
Next operates in the clothing industry, the net income of the company since 2008 is 354 million and revenue is 3,329 million. The company mostly operates through the Next Directory (which is a home shopping catalogue) that is it makes 21 of its sale through the directory.
Next targets everyone, they have clothing for all, from children to teenagers to young adults and to adults. The company sells clothing accessories from shoes to clothing for women, men and as well as children. (Next 2010)
Market Logistics
Recently physical distribution has been expanded into the broader concept of supply chain management. Supply chain management also known as SCM, can be defined as the management of activities that obtain materials and services and transforms them into intermediate goods and final products and also delivers the product to its final destination through a distribution system. Unfortunately the supply chain only sees markets as a final destination point. The company would be more effective by considering its target markets requirement first and then designing a supply chain later. This modern view is at the heart of todays market logistic systems and it leads to the examination of the supply chain as the demand chain. Demand chain thinking can lead to ideas that increase the productivity of the organization.
Market logistics can be defined as the planning, implementation and the controlling of the physical flow of material and the flow of the final product, from start to finish, so that it is able to meet the requirements of the customer and makes profit for the organization as well. (Christopher Peck 2003)
It must be remembered that information systems plays a very vital role in managing the marketing logistics. Major gains in logistical efficiency have been resulted from information technology advances, point of sales terminals, electronic data interchange (EDI), electronic funds transfer (EFT) and satellite tracking etc.
Challenges Faced by the Company
Next is being faced with some challenges due to its market logistics. These challenges can cause the company a great deal of problems. These challenges are as follows-
Increase in Labor Costs
Since there is an increase in the labor costs, the profitability rate of the company would go down. For example, manufacturing costs in the UK factories average around 2.50 per item. This cost has been rising at some 5 per year in recent years, mainly because of increases in the labor costs which make up a large proportion of the manufacturing costs.
Old Equipment Technology
The technology that is being used by the manufactures is quite old and is creating problems for Next. If there is no technical innovation then the company would not be able to compete with its competitors. Technical innovation is very important for a company like Next and its manufacturers, if it wants to have a competitive edge over its competitors. Innovation can be defined as a product or a service that is newly introduced by any company. Innovation is basically the driving force for any organization and it is very important that the whole company is involved in this process, but the hardest part is how to sustain innovation. It is very important to understand the core competencies of the company, the systematic approach and as well as innovative corporate culture of the company. The role of technical innovation in a company is to improve the companys quality, to create new markets, gain information about its competitors, competition becomes less intense due to the technology and it also improves the production processes of the company. Many companies around the world are reengineering their organizational structures, roles and processes so that they can become agile, customer focused and value driven organizations because the trend of computer technology is increasing day by day. (OBrien 2004)
Inflexibility of the Manufacturers
This is basically a cross functional approach that is related to the raw materials that are to be used in order to process a product to its finished form. In the case of Next, the organization will not succeed until and unless they do not get their inventory on time. Therefore, flexibility is a major part of supply chain management that has to be taken into view and the organization has to make sure that it is cost-effective. For this, the distribution channels have to be deeply studied so that the demands of the customers can be met easily and the concept of supply chain management arose when more partners came into existence and the company loss its control and there are many models which are used so that supply chain management can be studied and as we know that the activities of supply chain can be broken down in three parts. They are as follows-
Strategic level
Tactical level
Operational levels (Blanchard 2007)
Transportation
Another problem that is being faced by the company is transportation. For example, transport from the manufacturers to the Next warehouse is arranged by Next itself, which is also considered as an extra cost, who pays local haulage companies to collect from the factories. Transit time between the manufacturers and Next is practically of 4 hours. Conventionally wrapped shirts and blouses are packed in cardboard cartons measuring 60cm x 60cm x 60cm, each weighing 0.03 tons when full and containing 100 items. Local haulers charge around 150.00 for collection using a large articulated lorry and trailer. Internal dimensions of the trailers used are 13.5 meters long and 2.6 meters wide, with a loading space 2.9 meters high. To handle smaller volumes, a small rigid box van can be used. The internal dimensions in this case are 6 meters long, 2.4 meters wide and 2.5 meters high. Haulers charge around 120.00 per trip in this case. Whereas, hanging garments are considered to be less economic in terms of transport costs for the company. The most effective use of volume is through the use of a lorry towing a drawbar trailer. These accommodate around 7,500 hanging garments at a cost of 175.00 per trip. The standard articulated lorry trailers only accommodate 5,000 hanging garments whilst the limit in a small rigid box van is only 2,250 hanging items.
Why transport has become a problem for the company, the reason is that if the company orders a small order size, it would have to pay the entire payment, and sometimes when the transport companies are on strike, the products cannot reach Next and Next can lose money and customers. (Christopher Peck 2003)
Solutions for Improvements of the Logistic Process
The solutions that can be used by Next to improve their marketing logistics are as follows-
Developing Integrated Supply Chain
Successful supply chain management requires a high level of functional and organizational integration. Generally, organizations divide their responsibilities for managing the flow of material and services into three departments. These departments are connected to the supply chain management as follows
Purchasing Department Purchasing is considered to be the management of the buying raw materials for the production process. Purchasing includes deciding which suppliers to use, negotiating contracts and deciding whether to buy locally or not. (Ayers 2006)
Production Department Production is considered to be the management of the transformation process. This means that this department is connected with the production of products and services for their end customers for either consumption or for further process. This department uses assembly lines or machinery for the production of goods and services.
Distribution Department Distribution is considered to be the management of the flow of materials from manufacturers to the customers from warehouses to retailers, including the storage of products and transportation of products from the company to its end customers. (Ayers 2006)
Phase 1Independent
Supply Chain EntitiesPhase 2 Internal Integration
Internal Supply Chain
Materials management departmentPhase 3 Supply Chain Integration
Integrated Supply ChainCompanies that are willing to develop integrated supply chain must go through three different phases
Phase 1 The external suppliers and customers are considered to be independent from the organization. The relationships with these entities are formal and there is little information sharing among them.
Phase 2 The firm starts with internal integration by creating a materials management department. Materials management means that the decisions are made by a firm concerning the purchase of materials, services, inventories, staffing patterns, production levels and schedules and distribution channels. (Ayers 2006)
Phase 3 The internal supply chain is extended to embrace the suppliers and the customers of the organization. This phase connects the external supply with the suppliers and customers, which is not under the control of the organization. The organization in this phase changes its focus from product or service orientation to customer based orientation.
The integrated supply chain actually provides a structure for operating decisions in the organization. The demands of the customers have to be met and it is essential to have a very good communication network with the suppliers for which it is important that the correct information is communicated to him and this is done through process integration. As mentioned in the paper above, the supply chain business process integration involves collaboration between different groups as this is essential to operate in an integrated supply chain. However, it is also imperative to implement a process. (Ayers 2006)
Managing Customer service
Demand management this includes both internal as well as external collaboration so that the lead time can be reduced along with customer feedback and forecasts of the organization.
Fulfillment of the order
Manufacturing flow management
Supplier relationship management
Product development and commercialization
Returns management. (Ayers 2006)
Information Technology
Retailing is the sale of goods in small quantities directly to consumers from a location that is fixed. In todays world companies like Next have become more customers oriented. And the only thing the customer wants is to get best satisfaction from the product they are willing to purchase. The customers want compete satisfaction for example, the product is easily available in the market, is of high quality and it is of reasonable price. Plus it is very important that companies like Next need to innovate, why, because people need something different after a little while, they get tired from using the same product, it is important that the product is always up-to-date so that it is able to in fulfill the growing demands the customers. And if the company does not innovate, it would lose its customers along with its position in the market. (OBrien 2004)
The internet has dramatically changed the way companies serve their customers and clients. Traditionally supply chain includes factories, warehouses, retailers or distributors. Some companies have used the internet to eliminate elements of their supply chain by substituting information for inventories. For example, in the in order to fulfillment process of the customers, it requires those activities which are required by a company to deliver a product or a service to the customer. The order fulfillment process is based on information sharing by the management of the company. Inventory placement of the order fulfillment process is based on 4 elements, they are inventory pooling, forward placement, information sharing and vendor managed inventories and the postponement of a customized product which is done by the company. It is necessary for the firms to properly manage their supplier and so supply chain management is very important. These days the retailers are using radio frequency identification so that they can keep a better track of their inventory.
The radio frequency identification system provides an automatic integration with back end software solutions as well. This provides an end to end integration of data in the real time quickly and accurately. This system reduces errors that are made by humans and it helps to reduce the companys high costs as well. This tells them about the products present on shelves of the stores, goods available in the warehouse and about the suppliers. The frequency that is used for RFID system is radio frequency, the communication that is used for this is non-line sight. The data volume of a radio frequency identification system is that it can carry large volume of data and the range of data readability for this system is that it can read from a long distance. This technology is good for the firm as well as the supplier because the supplier can come to know what raw material or product the firm requires and so they can update their own inventory as well using the same ways.
Electronic commerce or e-commerce is basically about doing the business using the Internet and the World Wide Web. Other terms for e-commerce are e-business and e-tailing. Online catalogs are available on the websites from the where the customer can easily see the list of products i.e. the catalog available along with other details such as price. They can even compare prices of their desired products on the Internet and can place the order easily from home. This way of doing business is advantageous in one of the ways that the customers can place their order at any time of the day and at any place using Internet on their computer as there is no restriction on time to place the order. Nowadays more of the rich consumers are also engaged in their own business activities so they dont have ample time to visit a store to place an order so they might prefer to place online orders and so they will prefer those companies that provide online services to the customers. This is a good idea and the supplier instead of supplying products to the firms can do this business themselves and sell directly to the customers. (OBrien 2004)
Internet as a Distribution Channel
I believe that using the Internet as a distribution medium is more conducive to selling certain types of products and less conducive to selling others, why, because it sometimes so happens that there are products which might not be available in one country might be available in another for example, books. A person can buy books online from e-bay or Amazon. I believe it is a good idea to sell imperishable products online but it is not a good idea to sell perishable products like food items online. The internet is the major platform for the ever expanding lists of information and entertainment services and as well as business applications (these would include enterprise collaboration and electronic commerce systems) for a company like Next. (Plant 2000)
The e-tailers online are taking security measures to reduce the risk of buying and selling online. Several basic security measures are being used to solve this security problem 1) encrypt (code and scramble) the data passing between the customer and the merchant, 2) encrypt the data passing between the customer and the company authorizing the credit card transaction and 3) take sensitive information offline. (OBrien 2004)
Investment in Research and development
Due to the growing trends and needs of the society, it is thus essential for Next to have an effective research and development department. As continuous development as well as innovation is going on in the current scenario, Next has to keep pulling new customers in order so that the sales of the business can increase. Therefore, the company needs to invest research and development (RD) and it would need to create a separate department for research and development, so that it is able to provide the managers of the company with information they need to make decisions, which in return will help the company to provide those products that are in demand by their customers. The company needs to keep on innovating and bringing new products to the market so that it is able to retain its old customers and gain some new ones as well. (Graham 2005)
Producers of physical products must decide on market logistics, i.e. the best way to store and move their goods and services to their market destinations. The logistical task is to coordinate the activities of the suppliers, purchasing agents, manufacturers, marketers channel members and as well as customers. Major gains in logistical efficiency have come from advances in information technology. Though cost of market logistics can be high, a well planned market logistic program can be a potent tool in competitive marketing. Ultimately the goal of market logistic is to meet the requirements of the customers but in an efficient and profitable manner. It is important for the managers of the market logistic to make four decisions. These decisions are based on order processing, warehousing, inventory and transportation. The company needs to set up permanent committee which is composed of managers of different market logistic activities. The committee members can meet up periodically and develop policies that will improve the overall logistical efficiency of the company.
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