Logistics & Supply Chain Management

Q 1. What is Logistics & Supply Chain Management?

Ans. Material: Material is an element to use to produce a product as a ready form. In production point of view it can be defined as primary and supplementary elements for a finished good. Which are used to a salable form or services?

Q 2. Define procurement. What is its aim?

Ans. Procurement: Procurement consists of such material activity or movement form its initial stage formation up to final end consumer. Purchasing of raw material forecasting reorder leveling stock maintenance for production and arrange to ready of material appliances are the parts of procurement.

Aim of procurement

1. To fulfillment of required materials for non-breaking operation.
2. Stock maintenance and forecasting of movable items.
3. Purchasing of such materials
4. Contract with vendors and vendor research.
5. Effective and cheaper and quality maintenance for the required materials
6. Arrangement of less price material availability



Q 3. What are primary and support supply chains?

Ans. Primary and support supply chain:

In various stages of material movement various types of activities are involved for a particular products primary supply chain is a product origin movement like from raw material purchasing, allied materials and other which the consumable items to produce the final product.

Supporting supply chain helps to movement from the production unit to warehousing and storage, transport arrangement as well as delivery arrangement up to customers.

Q 4. Why location is important in logistics?

Ans. Importance of location in logistics: For best and less cost logistics operation and speedy delivery. The location plays an important role to provide the effective delivery services as well as cost beneficiary. As per researcher I am important location can be provide the nearest and short-term time taking. In a logistics and supply chain service, the best location is where the relater or customer are at nearest place and demand of that particular product is high than it is important to set up the distribution centers and operation at the such types of location to reduce the logistics cost.



Q 5. Why depots are needed and what are its functions?

Ans. Needs of Depots: Depots are the mode of distribution and storage of the finished goods or ready material. Depot generally made for one type of items of similar items of family of such items. It is a storage area of any particular product and organization. Material storage in bulk in it. From production unit material move to depot for storage and then for distribution channels as warehouse for third party logistics services provided or distributors or relater.

Functions of Depot:

1. Storage: Storage of finished good is a major function of the depot
2. Receiving: Receiving the materials of directly send form the production unit.
3. Distribution: Distribution to the customer location
4. Transport: Arrangement of transport to move the material from the depot to dealer distributors or sales channels.
5. Less Cost: Depot stores the material in bulk so the transportation and storage cost automatically will reduce due to bulk movement of materials.



Q 6. Enumerate the pressures to improve Logistics?

Ans. Pressures to improve Logistics:

Some factors which are pressurize to improve the logistics:-

1. Better customer Services: To provide the best services to the end consumer. It is needed to improve the effective delivery system in the right time.
2. Quality: Logistics operation involves to movement of material as raw and finished goods. So it is important to carefully carriage can be done to maintain the quality of the material or product.
3. Reduce cost. With various stages a particular material moves and it includes various expenses at every stage. It is needed to reduce the channel of material movement for every type of activity.
4. Right time material availability: Logistics arranges the material as purchasing for production and production to warehousing and warehouse to distributions, so it has to reduce the time taking activities to reach the material at the right time at the right place it is required.
5. Transportation: Cheaper transportation can avoid increasing the handling cost pf material. It should be arranged to mover material from one location to another location at effective cost so that product cost can be reduced and customers can get it in effective price.



Q 7. What are the aims of a channel selection?

Ans. Aims of channel selection:

The major part of channel is storage or warehousing, distribution, sales promotion, marketing etc for any particular product. The basic aims of the various channel selection are as follows.

1. Improve operational activities: for design and smooth operation material which are incoming or outgoing and flows of material should be in proper way and in right manner.
2. Effective distribution: finished goods should be reach to the customer in the minimum utilization of transportation channel to efficient and improve the distribution efficiency so that time can be saved and utilized.
3. Cost reduction: Channel should be opting by any operation as short. Structured and less handling system so that cost of various handling can be reduced.
4. Accessibility: Each and every product and its accessibility should be easy and the customers should be satisfied to its delivery system through its home delivery channel system. Which are very effective and growing services in current market trends?
5. Information and Communication: Logistics operation and its distribution char met can be done thought its proper information and communication between the various channels.
6. Better customer Service: Customer needs the best quality in right time, right place and in effective competitive price. The supply chain involves in such types of activities to provide all these facilities to customers through its proper channels.



Q . 8 Explain the problems with fragmented supply chains and the benefits of integration?

Ans. Problems with fragmented supply chains: Fragmented supply chain be explained as the breaking supply chain activities involved in the same operation at various level of stages. Some problems are raised from fragmented supply chain.

1. Due to the different types of channels any operations have to follow ups for particular materials with every stages of channels
2. Various types of channels which are not associated with each other can not put the effective output to produce better services.
3. Communication between different channels breaks due to the non-integrating activities and breaking links.
4. Cost of each and effective rates of different channels is arrived and no any correlation would be done between them so cost will be heavy at every channel.
5. Lack of proper co-ordination the effective movement of materials will effect the whole operation as well as expend the proper delivery system.



Benefits of Integration:

1. An integration supply chain helps to provide right time delivery system to the operation to avoid the production loss and better customer services.
2. Integration can reduce the total cost of production to provide lesser cost of handling and service which are affected directly to produce the particular products.
3. Interlinked between the all the channels provide special class of services and maintain the material handling with its proper communication and co-ordination with them.
4. For speedy operational activities a proper channel of supply gives the growing technical handling facilities to smooth the handling procedure and carefree handling
5. Per unit production cost always effected by including its handling, distribution and transportation and storage cost. An integrated supply chain reduces all such type of increasing expenses and provides cheaper material movement.



Q 9. Explain Customer Services Vs Cost?

Ans. Customer Service Vs Cost: The main three factors important to improve customer services and effective cost.

1. Stock availability
2. Costing Analysis
3. Delivery System



Stock availability: Product or material from operation or to operation is typically based on the sufficient stock availability at every time. The maintenance of stock and its forecast it the major responsibility of the logistics operation. After finalization of a particular product it move to the consumption stages like warehousing or storage and distribution and finally up to the end consumer. As per the market research it is finding that every time, if demand increases with its consumption the stock out situation take place at every stage. To fulfillment of demand it is important to maintain and forecast the market demands before the production of any particular product.

Costing Analysis: Costing for each product or service should be evaluated prerequisites and pre-defined methods increasing price for every activities will increase cost per unit and finally after including various overheads and expenses like handling cost, warehousing, transportation and distribution, all these will be the part of that final product and will be added in it. Thus the customers can not be comfortably efforts such products in increasing marketing competition.

Delivery System: In this system main their parts / stages are involved to effects the delivery system to the end consumers – first one is delivery at the directly to the customers by which the product can be directly delivered to the customer with out adding or charging any charges. Mostly this system is provided by the organization directly or they pay to third party supply chain provider by paying him to deliver charge less delivery. Second is direct approach to the nearest distribution centers through providing the costumers location’s nearest distribution facility. Third one is the quality maintenance which is maintained at the some cost and better quality by providing at nearest centers.

Q 10. Explain the strategic management of purchasing and supply?

Ans. Strategic management of purchasing and supply:

In case of purchasing strategic management take care of all required material incoming system or inbound system to improve the material through purchase strategic managers plans for the production and its required materials to produce achieve the pre determined objectives or goals.

For any particular production operation strategic manager plans for the input material requirement according to the expected output and arrange to purchase it. In such types of activities various processing is to be done like vendors research contracts between vendors and procurement department a supply arrangement and costing analysis with product quality. All these types of activates is involved to plan for a management in purchasing systems.

In case of supply strategic management involve in planning for material inflow and outflow operation and its arrangement and finalization. It research the market strategy to know the current trend and ratios and facilities to compare with the collection data from different type of services and quality strategic managers opt for cheaper operation and better quality maintenance with compatible cost. They plans for different channels of supply to make effective smooth operation strategy management managers all level of activities of the supply or handling it correlates with the inbound and out bound activities to effective operational activities various level of

Channel of supply and its effect arrangement planning is a major work for the strategy manager. Material received from vendor and movement for production / operation after finalization of goods and its supply to the end consumers all these types of activities planning is done by the strategic management.