Competing logistics

Customer-supplier contacts are facilitated if their respective organizations mirror each other. Various functions of the companies have different frequencies and intensities of contact. They are most intense between the commercial functions. Whereas only these counterparts should discuss business aspects of a project, other functions, such as R D, logistics, back office, production, legal, and regulatory, are encouraged to have direct contacts regarding specific issues of their particular competence. 

Insect infestation of grains results in an annual loss of 500 million dollars. Present methods of chemical control are relatively unsatisfactory. There can be no doubt but that radiation could do a more satisfactory job than the chemicals, since it can treat infestation both inside and outside the kernels. A complete economic and logistic evaluation of the problem has been formulated by Chamberlain (Cl). The original cost estimate was low by a factor of 1.78. This mistake was corrected in a later version of the paper. He shows that isotope radiation can compete with conventional treatment methods if the irradiator can be located in the terminal warehouse and a charge of 1 cent/bu. can be assessed for the deinfestation. 

Fig. 6.4 A four-parameter logistic standard curve depicting a competitive assay. In this format the antibody (Ab) is present in a limited amount. The known amount of labeled drug competes with the drug analyte in the sample for the limited sites of the Ab. The response factor produced by the label antigen-antibody complex (Ag-Ab) is inversely proportional to the concentration of the drug analyte in the sample. In this example the % B/B0 (% label bound at concentration X divided by...

According to Royal Decree 561/93 (article 41), on the minimum requirements for the accreditation of an ethics commitee of clinical research, it is stated that at least one hospital pharmacist must belong necessarily to the commitee. In this way, clinical pharmacists are capable of evaluating methodological and logistical aspects of each protocol and are competent to consider the ethical issues of clinical trials. 

Figure 1.6 indicates where a lubricant base oil plant fits into the process flow scheme of a typical refinery - if ever there is such a thing. Although the scheme is simplified, the inter-relationship between the base oil plant and other process units and product streams is evident. In a sense, the base oil plant and the fuel-upgrading plant, such as the catalytic cracker, compete for feedstock from vacuum distillation. These interactions are very important to the logistics and production economics of producing base oils. 

Two case studies are presented below to illustrate the impact of process intensification. They show how distributed production of hydrogen-age fuels can compete with a larger scale centralized production followed by transportation, provided one can invoke logistical circumstances as well as very intense capital utilization. 

The trend for companies to focus on core competencies has forced enterprises to collaborate closely with their suppliers as well as with their customers to improve business performance (Lutz et al. 1999). The next step in the supply chain concept is the production or supply networks (Figure 15), which are characterized by intensive communication between the partners. TTie aim of the system is to allocate among the collaborating partners the excess in production demand that could not be faced by one of them alone. This capability provides the entire network with the necessary flexibility to respond quickly to peaks in demand for the products. A tool developed at the Institute of Production Systems at Hanover University, the FAS/net, employs basic methods of production logistics to provide procedures for the efficient use of capacity redundancies in a production network. The tool satisfies the following requirements derived from the capacity subcontracting process ... 

Third party/outsourcing More intelligent use of third-party logistics (3 PL) is the norm so that organizations can focus on core competencies. 

Logistics is a cross-cutting, multi-disciplinary function covering, according to the AFNOR reference model, no less than 25 trades and 600 activities spread along the value chain. It plays a primary role from day-to-day business to major corporate projects. Its field of operation has widened, its missions have diversified - becoming more complex than before - and its competencies have developed, just as the range of its methods has become more elaborate. This transformation has occurred over the last 15 years and has not yet ended. 

The reuse of products in secondary markets also entails some challenges for manufactorers, retailers, and even researchers. The availability of used products with lower prices in the market that compete directly with new products, the pricing of those new products, and frequency to upgrade ver-simis of a product are some of the topics that are the subject of concern for manufacturers. When e-commerce is the only source of contact with the customers, the customer service is totally dependent on the supply chain logistics. Thus, the continued process improvement, development of innovative software applications, and cost reductions become critical to compete in the current aggressive internet markets. Issues such as the impact of secondary markets in the supply chain, the impact on the strategy of original manufacturers, and retailers are topics of research interest. 

The planning of renewable raw material logistic chains demands for a consideration of competing utilization pathways for the renewable raw materials. This competition is manifold, as competition concerning resources, technologies, and products has to be accounted for. 

External Attributes Human Competencies Tools Spares Environment Detectability Logistics Auto diagnostic... 

Some view supply chain design as integral to their strategies for competing. For them, competing successfully centers not only on products, but also on the operations that make up the extended product as described in Chapter 1. These operations deliver the physical and extended products to customers hands. With this viewpoint, supplier relations, logistics, and information systems support customer satisfaction and fall within the definition of SCM. This, in turn, leads to increased market share and profit. Costs, while important, are secondary with this viewpoint. Efforts to reduce cost must also support strategy. 

Third-party logistics providers. Using logistics specialists to fulfill basic supply chain functions will enable companies to focus on core competencies. 

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