Suchergebnisse

Motivating workers is an important element in developing a quality
culture in a business firm. This can only be achieved through a
macro‐quality mission statement developed by upper, middle, and lower
management and communicated throughout the organization. Discusses the
"how to" of developing a quality service mission statement
and presents the strategy for using it to improve a firm′s market
position. Provides examples of a successful mission statement and
analyses their formats.

In general, distribution costs fall into two discrete areas:
staff/administration costs, i.e. those cost centres associated with
supporting the line distribution functions; and line/operational costs,
i.e. those cost centres dealing with the functional areas in a logistics
operation. Identification of these costs is essential if a manager is to
manage his logistics operation correctly. Planning for budgets, the
development of those plans and the setting of standards to judge
performance are based on tracking these costs. The relationships between
these cost groups have to be identified and functional accounts set up
to keep track of them.

Organisation of the physical distribution function within business firms is a recent development in the United States. The development of physical distribution organisational structures has generally taken the form of a firm transferring the warehousing, traffic, order processing, inventory, and purchasing responsibilities from many individual departments to a single management unit headed by a distribution manager. The reason for this departmental re‐shuffling has not been just to streamline decision making, but rather, to make the firm's physical distribution operations more effective and efficient.

The smooth operation of a logistics system in an international
environment requires careful planning on the
part of the firm. All aspects have to be planned for
and every possible contingency examined. Once the
shipment leaves the shipper′s dock it is out of his control
until it arrives at the consignee′s location. International
logistics systems work best when all the possible
interfaces are planned for. One of the most important
areas is packaging. It is the package that will determine
whether the product arrives at a customer′s location
in proper condition. It is the package that will give the
transportation company the information it needs to
move the product to the proper customer location.

International customer service is critical to the successful
maintenance of profitable relationships with customers. An overview of
international marketing in general is presented, customer service is
examined, and some customer service management suggestions are
discussed. The latter, it is claimed, can provide the differential
advantage for a firm to gain market share internationally and the
solution to long‐term survival.

Product recalls are no longer in the realm of theoretical possibilities; it is a regular fact of business life among manufacturers of both industrial and consumer products. Machine tools, automobiles, television sets, appliances, cosmetics, clothes — no product is immune and the list is virtually endless. The actual number of product units recalled every year among the various classes of products is mind‐boggling, and the cost of recalling them runs into millions of dollars. And as for the future, the prognostication from the evidence so far is that the number and types of products as well as the companies involved will continue to grow. The principal reasons for this prognostication are:

Inventory management is an extremely important function to any business, since inadequacies in control can result in serious problems. If inventories are managed in an inefficient manner, it is likely that delays in production, dissatisfied customers, or curtailment of working capital will result.

The classical definition of PDM focuses on the broad spectrum of distribution activity, from the inbound raw materials; to the finished product flow; and to the end user. The definition is often stated as "all of the activities involved in the flow of goods from the manufacturer to the consumer which include inventory control, transportation, warehousing, order processing, materials management, and purchasing". But despite the broad view described in the definition, little attention is given to the raw materials flow and to the entire area of Materials Management. Physical Distribution managers tend to disregard the inbound flow and regard it as the responsibility of some other management group in the company, specifically purchasing and/or production. The need for a well co‐ordinated and efficient distribution system demands that the PD manager pay more attention to the inbound material flow. The outcome of the decisions that a PD manager makes depends to a great degree on how well materials management and PDM are co‐ordinated in a firm:

The control of inventory in physical distribution management is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks for the industry practitioner. Inventory is one of the largest cost elements in distribution and an error in judgment may result in serious trouble for the firm. According to Bowersox the basic function of inventory is to increase profitability through manufacturing and marketing, but the exact quantities of inventory to be carried are not often agreed to by management. Some departments such as marketing may want an abundance of inventory, while finance desires that levels be kept down. Because of such conflicts the exact determination of what levels of inventory a firm should carry is not easily performed.

The physical distribution function of a firm is a complex process. It consists of all the activities involved in the flow of goods from the raw material supplier to the final consumer and incorporates the major activity centres of purchasing, warehousing, transportation, order processing, and inventory control. The goal of a firm's distribution operation is to insure that established customer service levels are achieved at a minimum total cost.

Describes the major strategies used in setting prices in
international markets. Emphasizes the issue of developing pricing
strategies early in the development phase of new product development and
discusses bundling strategies with the emphasis on adding value to
mature products/services through bundling. Discusses long‐term issues in
international pricing including the development of pricing parity, the
concentration of buying power in international buying groups, and the
increase in retaliatory measures by nations against predatory pricing by
competitiors.

Superior customer service is necessary to maintain a competitive
edge in international logistics. In order to develop a comprehensive
customer service programme, a company must establish service levels for
its customers, beginning with order cycle time and including all aspects
of the customer service cycle. Discusses the importance of service
standards and the areas in customer service where they should be
developed. Describes standard variances and stresses the need to develop
incentives for meeting service standard goals.

Customer service has long been recognised as the output of an
organisation′s logistics effort. There is some evidence that suggests
that the types and levels of customer service desired are contingent on
a particular industry or position within the marketing channel. Most of
these investigations, however, have emphasised only regional or national
relationships. Logistics by its very nature has a significant
international orientation and therefore it is necessary to understand
the role of customer service from an international perspective. However,
it is not clear whether an international customer service policy is
feasible or for that matter even desirable. This article develops a
framework for studying customer service across national boundaries.
While it may be desirable to print warranties in local languages,
measurable factors such as average delivery time and product tracing
retain their traditional importance.

The year 1980, the decade of the 80s, twenty years until the year 2000. The next ten years may be among the most critical faced by American business, and physical distribution managers in particular, in our history. Further, the developments in physical distribution practice and management, and especially the way in which some of the critical problems are solved, will have impacts on the health and progress of business into the year 2000 and beyond. The following paragraphs address some of the critical problems and issues faced by physical distribution managers. Where possible recent trends which affect these concerns are identified and the potential development of these trends through the 1980s is traced.