Talk:Logistics

Business Logistics

While business logistics did start in the 1950s in the post WWII era, quite a bit has happened since that time. I intend to add information about changes in Business Logistics, and what caused them, including: Empowered consumers, Power shift away from manufacturers, Deregulation, Globalization, & Technology

This should be an interesting project ... Andrew John MacDonald 06:35, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Can you explain the difference between supply chain management and logistics management?

Supply chain management is usually restricted to the management of the raw materials and supplies that a firm needs (ie.: inputs). Logistics looks at the whole physical distribution system, both supplies (inputs) and product distribution (ie.: outputs). It gets confusing because some software manufacturers/marketers do not follow this textbook definition very closely in their documentation and advertising. mydogategodshat 08:42, 17 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Actually the definition has changed in the past 10 years. Supply chain management now refers to the wider picture, specifically managing and balancing sourcing and distribution at a high level. Logistics management falls under supply chain management and only refers to the moving and storage of goods and their information. For in-depth definitions you can refer to the Council for supply chain management professionals (CSCMP) definitions page: http://cscmp.org/aboutcscmp/definitions/definitions.asp, most text books also use this definition or something similar. --Hendrikdr (talk) 10:29, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Military Logistics has some info about the origin of the word 'logistics' which should probably be incorporated here: The word "logistics" is derived from the Greek adjective logistikos meaning "skilled in calculating." The first administrative use of the word was in Roman and Byzantine times when there was a military administrative official with the title Logista. At that time. the word apparently implied a skill in the science of mathematical computations. Eleusis 20:21, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

Addition of external links

The "External links" section of this article is not a place to list of companies which provided logistics-related services. See # 7 in the list of what Wikipedia is not — in particular, it is NOT a "guide r resource for conducting business ... Wikipedia is not the yellow pages." Also see Wikipedia:External links for guidelines. —ERcheck (talk) @ 18:37, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Drum and Bass Band

Isn't there a DnB artist or band named Logistics? I don't know enough about them to write an article, but if someone would, that'd be cool. See [1]. MisterPhyrePhox 20:06, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Affirmative; under the label of Hospital Record at [2] or [3].

I would like to write the article for this, but being new to wikipedia editing I'm not sure what to do. If anyone can give some help on my user page, it would be much appreciated. :) Sicanjal 09:29, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

External links

The external links section is a bit out of control. I've cleaned up a few times but was wholesale reverted by an IP today, so thought I should open a conversation here to find out what people think of these links. Several of them (the blog/networking/forum sites and advertising ones) fail our guidelines straight of the bat, making them highly unlikely to be good encyclopedic links. I'd also like to get rid of the trade rags as they rarely have much depth, if people think they really add something, could we at least just choose the best one so the links aren't so cluttered actually providing readers with some focus?

I'd trimmed down before to two links because it seemed there was a lot of duplication and low quality stuff. Here's a blow by blow:

• The Logistics Institute Keep - professional institutions are generally good starting places for people with more than a casual interest.
• LQ Magazine (Logistics Quaterly) Industry and Academic Editorial Content Delete - This is the magazine for the institute above. It's linked from that website, and it's mainly a subscription magazine (though there are a few shot articles available on the site. I don't think it adds much over having just the link to the institute.
• Inbound Logistics Magazine - web, digital, print educational magazine and web site Delete - not the most encyclopedic content. really a trade rag, which can be good, but this one isn't particularly inspiring.
• Supply Chain Digest - on-line magazine and web site delete - as above.
• Logistics, Supply Chain and operations management alerts, best practice library and glossary Delete - not even a trade rag. This site is more of a forum site.
• Logistics and Logistics News Delete - it's just a news aggregator.
• University of Nevada Center for Logistics Management Keep - good encyclopedic info. could go with the
• SupplyChainer: News, articles and trends in the area of supply chain management Delete - yet another online rag.
• Logistics and freight exchange forum Delete - a forum
• eLogistics TrendwatcH: a free Internet Weblog Service which leads you to interesting news in Logistics and Supply Chain Management Delete - it's a blog. And a dull one at that
• Logistics, transport in Europe Delete - advertising.

I also deleted a couple of foreign language sites - since they're not at all appropriate, and we can't even discuss them properly if we can't tell what the content is. thanks. -- Siobhan Hansa 22:42, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

Any comments on this? If no one objects I'll go ahead with the changes outlined above tomorrow. -- Siobhan Hansa 12:21, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Looks good. Try to get an European info source there as well, maybe some university logistics course material site if available --sigs

I removed a couple more that had been added since, leaving one new one and the original two from above. In general, I think this article could do without an External links section. The problem with the current links is that we're allowing every logistics-related institute and educational program to be listed, which violates WP:NOT. The ones listed aren't even top-ranked ones, from what I've researched. --Ronz 18:07, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

Joint Logistics Analysis Tool is deadlink - it should be removed.

^ John T. Phelan, Jr. P.E. "Guest Column: Knowing When a WMS or WCS Is Right for Your Company". Supply & Demand Chain Executive. Enom, Inc. Retrieved 15 September 2009. - this is off topic. It should be in "warehouse management system). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Boonanan (talk • contribs) 14:40, 9 January 2011 (UTC)

measures of efficient logistics

how should logistics be measured etc. Textbook source references, please

here's one: Donald Waters: Logistics: Introduction to Supply Chain Management —Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.167.7.226 (talk) 13:36, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

WTF

"Logistics is a necessary evil"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Krazykenny (talk • contribs) 02:53, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Oxford Dictionary definition

Where was this definition taken from? The Oxford dictionary has a somewhat different definition in its second edition: "The organization of supplies, stores, quarters, etc., necessary for the support of troop movements, expeditions, etc." I don't want to remove the former definition until it's safe to do so. --Bookinvestor (talk) 13:55, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

What a mess!

There really is no need for separate pages on;

• Freight forwarder
  
• International Freight Forwarder
  
• Logistics
  
• Third-party logistics
  
• Non-vessel operating common carrier
  

These are all the same thing, just different 'buzz words' like the ridiculous '4PL' and even now more ridiculous '5PL'. Freight forwarders have re branded as Logistics providers and now re branding as 3PL. I know of haulage companies calling themselves logistics companies these days! These pages all need to combined, with a section in each explaining the difference, (if there really is much, as it depends on the company rather than the label). The pages and any other names can therefore be redirected to a main article. Any objections, and if so, please, please explain. --Pnb73 (talk) 20:24, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

Poor definition

The introductory text gives an OED definition of logistics that implies it is a military discipline, but then this article goes on to distinguish military logistics and business logistics, among other things. I think we need a definition of logistics that is capable of covering both, and allows us to distinguish military and business logistics, which seems like a dubious distinction to begin with. 70.251.147.224 (talk) 22:27, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

Many logistics and supply chain institute have changed the definition of logistics a bit. New definition should be updated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Yayaying (talk • contribs) 05:46, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

Multimodal Logistics Hub

A hub or a cetral location having more than one mode of transportation (road, rail, sea, air, etc.) handling flow of goods and other resources, including energy and people, between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet the requirements of consumers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Prashantsowmitry (talk • contribs) 12:53, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Definition problems again

In the section titled Orgins and Definition, the first paragraph states that the word Logistics stems from a French word, the second paragraph indicates a Greek, Roman and Byzantine military officer title that was related to the word Logistics. Which orgin is correct or is the French word decended from the Roman title? Doesn't seem very clear to me. I think that the orgin needs some clarification.--TGC55 (talk) 16:01, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

A definition without a subject...

Under "Business logistics" the definition 'having the right item in the right quantity at the right time at the right place for the right price in the right condition to the right customer' is given for the indefinite pronoun 'This', which has no obvious referent. From the content it would appear to be the set of 'pass-fail' type measurable *objectives* (in business-speak, the 'metrics') for each action in the process of logistic support. This gerundive 'definition' certainly does not apply to any of the nouns in the paragraph which precede the pronoun.

Tadchem (talk) 14:54, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

Buzzword?

Well, this article doesn't cite anything, now does it? It looks like logistics is shaping up to be buzzword with no agreed upon meaning, covering things which already have definitions ( like "management", ever hear of that?), and is mostly used by business or military people attempting to sound intelligent ( along with "proactive" and the truely dreadful "mindscape"). 67.190.86.13 (talk)