Abstract
The objective of this chapter is to create an introduction to all subsequent chapters of the book. This is a description of basics of logistics and logistics management used in every part of the supply chain, in every sector of the regional economies and the global economy. The primary research question to be answered is: What is the role of logistics in creation of the supply chain's success? The answer will allow for presenting logistics as a main element of supply chain management in the current global economic ecosystem. It will be a guideline for the readers about how to think about logistics support for all discussed functional areas of supply chain management mentioned in the following parts of the book.
TopIntroduction
Logistics is an area of economics and management very popular in the last few decades, mostly because of the growing awareness of managerial staff about the role of planning and control in creating the success of companies and supply chains. Therefore, many books and articles address problems related to logistics issues. However, because of that, logistics has different meanings and definitions, what is confusing when talking about particular functions of the company or supply chain management. The unification of the terms is necessary to make the analysis of business processes easier and to facilitate the communication between practitioners and research staff.
These problems formed the basis for the creation of this chapter. The Author hopes it will help to understand the role of particular functional areas to build the entire logistics support system in the presented sector as a whole, and in the individual organizations, which build the sector environment.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Secondary Process: Logistics process supporting the primary process.
Make-or-Buy: A situation when the organization has to decide if order goods or services or make them on its own.
Primary Process: Process of production of a good or service.
Cradle-to-Cradle Concept: A concept of using end-of-life products to re-process them or disassemble to recover raw materials or parts.
Megatrends: Long-term trends in the global economy.
Trade-Off: A situation when an optimization or lowering the cost of operations in one functional area result in growing costs in other area. An example can be lower inventories but more frequent deliveries.
eEPC Notation: Extended event-driven process chain notation. A business process management notation created by A.W. Scheer to map, simulate, and optimize business processes.
Closed-Loop SCM: Supply chain management concept based on the assumption that both primary and reverse flows should be an object of logistics activities and the reverse flow can be a source of resources.