A

SEMINAR REPORT
ON
Logistics And Supply Chain Management

CONTENTS INCLUDED:
1. Abstract
2. Introduction
3. Function of logistics
4. Function of supply chain management
5. What is logistics
6. What is supply chain management
7. Importance of logistics and chain supply management
8. Conclusion
9. References
Abstract:
The goal of this Major Qualifying Project was to analyse the performance of warehouse Operations
relating to the client LG Electronics at AGUNSA’s Distribution Centre in Santiago. By gathering
information from REPORT warehouse documents, meetings with The various warehouse departments,
observational analysis of the processes, and time-data Collection of these operations, I was able to
assemble a general overview of LG operations and identify the weaknesses and wastes within these.
Through the analysis of incoming Shipment timed data; I was able to present the current performance of
Reception Operations and make recommendations to diminish costs incurred within this process, which
could potentially increase capacity of warehouse operations by 20%.
Introduction:

In today’s industries, companies are consistently looking for improvement within their Operations. The
search for competitive advantage and differentiation has been more critical than ever before as the
number of competitors in the various industries continues to grow. Integration of the supply chain has
become an important way for companies to gain competitive advantage

Logistics management is that part of the supply chain which plans, implements and controls the
efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services and related information
between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customers ‘requirements. A
professional working in the field of logistics management is called a logistician. Software is used for
automating logistics activities which helps the supply chain industry in automating the work flow as
well as management of the system. Very few generalized software are only available in the new market
in the said topology. This is because there is no common rule to generalize the system as well as work
flow even though the practice is more or less the same. Most of the commercial companies do use one or
the other custom solution. There are various software that are being used within the departments of
logistics mainly in Conventional Departments and for Container Trucking.

Supply chain management (SCM) is "the systemic, strategic coordination of the traditional business
functions and the tactics across these business functions within a particular company and across
businesses within the supply chain, for the purposes of improving the long term performance of the
individual companies and the supply chain as a whole. “It has also been defined as the "design,
planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net
value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronizing supply with
demand and measuring performance globally.
Functions of Logistics:

1) Order processing- The Logistics activities start from the order processing which might be the work of
the commercial department in an organization. The commercial department is the one who ensures that
the payment terms and the delivery terms have been met and then processes the order from within the
company.

2) Materials handling- Material handling is the movement of goods within the warehouse. It involves
handling the material in such a way that the warehouse is able to process orders efficiently. Although it
may sound a mundane task, it is an important one and an on-going activity in any warehouse.

3) Warehousing- The important point in warehousing is that the warehouse should be nearby to the
dealer or the distributors’ place and it should facilitate the easy delivery of goods. If there was a product
which was from a branded company, but which takes 1 week to deliver, then this product might not
move as much in the market as another product which is taking 2 days to deliver even though.

4) Inventory control- If a firm has 100 units of a product in stock, but the demand is only of 10 units,
then the company has uselessly invested in 90 units. This is money which can be used as a working
capital and it is money on which banks are applying interest.

5) Transportation- Now we come to one of the major logistics activities which is one of the most
resources heavy and revenue heavy segment of logistics. There is a single reason that transportation is
costly – Fuel. Be it petrol, Diesel or gas, fuel is costly, and it is mostly consumed in transportation
activities. This is why companies spend lakhs to control the transportation expenses because it is one of
the highest variable expense to any company.

6) Packaging- There are two types of packaging – One which the customer sees on the shelf of
supermarkets or hypermarkets where the package appears attractive and makes the customer buy the
packages. The other is transport packaging where the products are packed in bulk so as to avoid any
breakage or spillage and yet allow them to transfer huge volumes of the product safely from one place to
another.
Function of Supply Chain Management:

SCM is a cross-functional approach that includes managing the movement of raw materials into an
organization, certain aspects of the internal processing of materials into finished goods, and the
movement of finished goods out of the organization and toward the end consumer. As organizations
strive to focus on core competencies and becoming more flexible, they reduce their ownership of raw
materials sources and distribution channels. These functions are increasingly being outsourced to other
firms that can perform the activities better or more cost effectively. The effect is to increase the number
of organizations involved in satisfying customer demand, while reducing managerial control of daily
logistics operations. Less control and more supply chain partners led to the creation of the concept of
supply chain management. The purpose of supply chain management is to improve trust and
collaboration among supply chain partners, thus improving inventory visibility and the velocity of
inventory movement.

Main functions of Supply Chain Management are as follows:

• Inventory Management

• Distribution Management

• Channel Management

• Payment Management

• Financial Management

• Supplier Management

• Transportation Management
What Is Logistics?

Logistics is also known as Physical Distribution management. Logistics is an activity carried out by
many different companies for the physical distribution of goods. FMCG, consumer durables, and many
other industries regularly manufacture goods. These goods have to be transported to the distributors and
dealers and lastly to the end consumer. Logistics is the means to transport the goods from the company
to the middlemen or the end consumer. However, Logistics does not mean “transport” only. There are
many different logistics activities or functions of logistics which are used by a company.
For example – If you have to deliver a good from your warehouse to a dealer, then you need to adjust
the inventory that you have in your warehouse (because goods are leaving). Similarly, you need to have
entries that the goods have left from your warehouse and reached the dealer. In between, you also need
to ensure that goods are handled in the appropriate manner and they reach in the desired condition to the
dealer. If there are any returns from the dealer, they have to be accounted too.

What Is Supply Chain Management?

Supply chain relationship management is a business strategy for improving communication Between
companies and their channel partners. The first ingredient to successful supply chain relationship
management is having the ability to measure a supply chain partner performance. The next is possessing
technology that assists with automating processes, thereby diminishing busy work. The third is shared
Knowledge, for the purposes of openly measuring, managing, and valuing partners. The fourth is the
relationships themselves—which providers truly want to build long-lasting, Beneficial relationships?
Understanding supply chain partners 39; strengths is the area where one can likely to find mutual
benefits. To determine strengths, have measurements in place to understand key performance indicators,
like tenders offered, tenders accepted, on-time pickups, on-time deliveries, and any situations where an
accepted tender is later rejected. Once those baseline measurements are in place, one may begin to
explore mutual opportunities. Opportunities often manifest themselves as situations where product needs
to move, a Transportation provider has capacity, and the added traffic will benefit their network. Once
one begin to explore these opportunities with supply chain partners, natural fits will become apparent,
that can lend themselves to better overall understanding of capacity levels and the establishment of
commitments. While commitments may not be optimal, they are necessary to ensure supply chain
viability when capacity constraints begin to occur. Without solid relationships, joint commitments, and a
good understanding of what each supply chain partner values, transportation providers have a tendency
to gravitate toward higher-paying freight when capacity becomes constrained. The way to ensure that
product is picked up and delivered on time is to leverage technology. Measure provider performance and
use TMS tendering technology to eliminate personal preference, and foster the business relationship by
openly discussing challenges and problems. A relationship based on these fundamental principles builds
trust and creates the mutual success.
Importance Of Logistics And Chain Suppy Management:

Supply chain management had long been a neglected area. However, in the 21st century, businesses
shifted their focus towards supply chain management. The reason was its importance as a source of
competitive advantage. However, logistics is an equally crucial area. It is an important area of supply
chain whose effective use can ensure a balance between supply and demand. Logistics became
particularly important for being the backbone of the entire supply chain. Research has recognized supply
chain as an important source of competitive advantage. There are a large number of examples in the
industry which have proved that successful supply chain management can lead to higher profits and
improvement in performance. However, to a large extent successful supply chain management requires
effective logistics management.
Amazon, Costco and Wal-Mart are some of the brands that proved successful management of
supply chain can have a positive financial impact. However, while focusing upon the management of the
supply chain, it is important that the companies do not lose attention of logistics. It is an inseparable part
of the supply chain and requires both investment and planning. Moreover, successful supply chain
management is impossible without successful logistics management..
Logistics is defined as the part of supply chain that plans, implements and manages the forward
and reverse flow as well as storage of goods, services and related information efficiently and effectively
between the point of origin and consumption to meet customer needs effectively. For logistics the most
important concern is to get the right product to the right place at right time. From the supplier to the
business or from the business to the customer, the role of logistics is everywhere important. However, it
does not mean that logistics is not full of challenges. Businesses mostly get one or two factors right.
Getting all the pieces to fall in place is a big challenge. This is also why the companies are required to
especially focus upon the logistics function. Unless they do so, the resulting errors can take a toll on
revenues and profits.
Overall, superior logistics management leads to superior performance by the businesses.
However, to derive the best results from logistics, it is important that the various functions are aligned
with it. This alignment is important. It is because logistics also serves the marketing and production
departments. Externally, it is the suppliers and customers who are served by logistics. If we see the
entire picture then logistics is somewhere at the centre. This necessitates an effective logistics strategy.
Other important considerations in this regard include the geographical location and the channel/network
strategy. Geographical location is important since it can help at minimizing costs related to supply.
Same is the case with network strategy. Having an effective network strategy ensures that cost efficiency
as well as excellent reach are achieved. There can be additional benefits too. Some businesses have used
logistics excellently for branding purposes. Simultaneously, excellent delivery times and low prices can
also be achieved based on efficient supply chain management. So, the companies that have not yet
focused on logistics management and planning must start doing it. Having a dedicated logistics
department and strategy can enable the businesses to achieve an edge over the competitors. Still, the best
thing is that companies understand the crucial relationship between logistics and various other
departments.
Conclusion:

In today’s dynamic business environment, the rate at which new products reach the market has
increased tremendously. Moreover, due to competitive pricing and innovative marketing Strategies, the
availability of products has to be ensured at the right time at the right price at Locations nearer to the end
user. This requires synchronized concurrent operations by professionals in order to satisfy the
expectations of quality- and price-conscious customers. The question before companies is how they can
efficiently operate and specialize in all functions of the supply chain, including Sourcing, Inbound
Logistics, Warehousing, Production Scheduling & Planning, Manufacturing, Outbound logistics,
distribution, Supplier Tracking, Supplier Risk Management and Information Management. Companies
worldwide are engaging specialists in these fields for agile and flawless executions. This trend is
catching up with Indian firms as well, even as they strive to withstand global competition.
Managing supply chain in such a vast country is most challenging for any organization because
of business practices, government regulations, technology capability, transportation infrastructure, etc.
The current paper has explored Indian organizations for their current level of supply chain management
practices. It has outlined the framework of achieving competitiveness by alignment of supply chain
strategy with business strategy giving due coverage to three dimension namely objectives, processes and
management focus. The research findings reveal that most of the Indian organizations have aligned their
supply chain objectives with the business objectives. They are now on course of aligning their processes
and management focus as per the focal areas of customer service, profit maximization and operational
excellence. An enhanced level of competitiveness would require Indian organizations to manage the
three-dimensional alignment to achieve the agenda set by the business strategy. The supply chain
alignment model suggested in this paper provides a Framework for realizing true supply chain efficiency
and competitiveness.
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