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Informationen zum Autor James F. Robeson is the author of Logistics Handbook, a Simon & Schuster book. Klappentext The Logistics Handbook encompasses all of the latest advances in warehousing and distribution. It provides invaluable "how to" problem-solving tools and techniques for all the ever-increasing logistical problems managers face -- making it the most complete and authoritative handbook to date.Special features include:* The most in-depth coverage of a wide range of topics, including information systems, benchmarking, and environmental issues* Contributions found nowhere else from the leading executives, consultants, and academics in the field, such as C. John Langley, James Heskett, and David Anderson* State of the art graphics* Information-packed appendixes of logistics publications and organizationsThis all-inclusive reference will enable the next generation of managers to thoroughly integrate their logistics operations at all levels -- strategic, structural, functional, and implementation -- into a comprehensive logistics strategy. Leseprobe Chapter 1 Evolution of the Integrated Logistics Concept Bernard J. La Londe One of the challenges in writing on the subject of "evolution of the integrated logistics concept" is trying to decide where to begin. To be sure, logistics was an integral part of warfare dating from the dawn of recorded history. The ability to move people, machines, arms, and supplies was an important determinant of the winner and loser in early conflicts and remains so today. In a book on the Gulf War, it is noted on the first page that U.S. forces planned, moved, and served 122 million meals during the brief engagement -- a task comparable to feeding all the residents of Wyoming and Vermont three meals a day for forty days. There is a long and illustrious history of logistics as an element of both ancient and modem warfare. One view of the derivation of logistics is that it comes from logistique, the title given to an officer in Napoleon's army responsible for quartering the troops and finding forage for the horses and other animals. The importance of transporting products from their point of production to their point of consumption is also well documented in historical files. Applied logistics probably began when early cultures found that, because of a refined expertise, one community produced excess quantities of certain goods such as arrowheads and another community downstream could make better goods of another sort, such as pottery, because of access to better materials. Thus, applied logistics began with the inception of trade. In a more contemporary context, the industrial revolution and the advent of the mass production and mass consumption economy heralded the beginning of mass distribution in the industrialized countries of the world. As early as 1915, the two functions of marketing were identified as demand creation and physical supply. With urbanization and scale economies in the factory, the buyer and the seller grew further apart and it was necessary to bring the goods to the buyer. Specialized middlemen and transportation services emerged to serve this growing need. The task of the seller was not only to make and sell the product but also to deliver it to the buyer. In the early days of the United States, this often meant serving a buyer at a great distance without the benefit of roads or regular delivery services or agents. The purpose of this introduction is to present a view of the "evolution of the logistics concept." As noted in the earlier discussion, distribution -- or logistics -- was recognized as a vital business process from an early time. However, during the past three decades, logistics has evolved considerably. This introductory chapter traces that evolution by addressing three questions: * What is integrated logistics management? * Why did the issue ...
