Answer to Question #170313 in Management for Phuti Mnisi

Question

Analyse at least five major logistics activities that are evident at P&G.

Answer 1

• Storage, warehousing and materials handling

To store the surplus goods produced by a manufacturer until consumers demand them. To achieve this, warehouse buildings are required. These need specialist storage equipment such as shelving or racks and material handling equipment to move them around the warehouse and load and unload delivery vehicles.

• Packaging and unitisation

The packaging is an essential part of that. Unitisation is also important as this assists storage and transportation. The easiest product to move and the store is a cube, so packaging and unitisation attempt to take all different sizes and shapes of product and pack them as near as possible into a cuboid shape.

• Inventory

Inventory is a logistics element that is closely related to storage and warehousing. It is concerned with what stock to hold, where the stock is located and how much stock to hold. In effect, inventory is controlling the flows of goods going into and out of a warehouse.

• Transport

A major element of logistics that most will recognise is transported. This includes all modes of transport, including road vehicles, freight trains, cargo shipping and air transport. Without transport, goods would be unable to move from one stage to another within a supply chain. Some goods with short supply chains, such as foods, do not travel far. Other, more complex products consist of many components that can be transported from all over the world.

• Information and control

All the elements need the element of information and control to act as triggers to various operational procedures. We have mentioned the information needed for inventory. Order levels help decide what orders need to be picked and packed in warehouses and enable the planning and organisation of transport. Information and control’s role is to help design information systems that can control operational procedures. They are also key in the forecasting of demand and inventory, as already mentioned. If you are attempting to identify what parts of a supply chain are logistics, the element of logistics is an essential tool.