Logistics Management and Essential Elements Involved

1. Logistics Management and Essential Elements Involved What is logistics management? Logistics management is an essential component of the supply chain designed to exercise control over the movement of goods from source to the destination. The process of logistics management begins with raw material procurement and ends with customer satisfaction after proper delivery. It as a set of elements which links the gap between producers and consumers. The main 6 functional elements of this process are defined as follows: 1. Planning Planning is considered as the most essential element before starting the logistics process. Interactive planning helps in effective organisation and management which ensures that all the logistics requirements are fulfilled. Through planning, the data of previous times is analysed by keeping the needs of customers in mind. It includes:  Selecting an appropriate vendor  Choosing routes  Discovering the delivery method, etc.

2. 2. Human Resource A knowledgeable staff is among the crucial elements of logistics management. Whether it is a delivery boy or an inventory manager at the factory, they all deserve to be properly trained and well-versed with their duties and responsibility. A logistics manager should be well versed in communication skills to handle any adverse situations and maintaining good relationships with various contacts in the industry. It can be beneficial in tapping multiple business opportunities. 3. Technology Technology plays an important role in logistics management by speeding up the process and reducing human efforts. Nowadays, no logistics can be effective enough without including technical things and automation in the whole process. Technology can help in real-time tracking of goods and raw material. For example, it can provide the following information regarding the movement of goods:  When were goods dispatched from supplier  Receipt of goods in a factory  Delivery to the customer 4. Procurement, Distribution, and Delivery This category includes the timely supply of all the support pieces of equipment and containers which are necessary to support the packaging and distribution of principal goods. It includes maintenance and support activities which are essential for initiating and sustaining transportation requirements. 5. Equipment It includes identifying the needs of hardware, software, and software development, etc. The demand for equipment depends upon the human factors and skills of employees operating the system. Some of the equipment required in the process of management are:  Computer resources  Condition monitoring equipment  Special test equipment  Maintenance fixtures

3. 6. Monitoring Logistics process is incomplete without feedback and analysis to make it better. Whenever new strategies are implemented to the system, they should be monitored regularly to cut down the unnecessary activities. It is important to measure the outcome of various implementations to know about the success and failure of implemented strategies. These feedbacks help in analysing and improving. New ideas and suggestions from the employees should also be recorded properly to reveal any flaw in the system. Conclusion So, these are the elements responsible for effective logistics management. Every element plays an important role in logistics management hence should be taken care of. The company implementing logistics management by there own should focus on collaboration between theses elements rather than competition.