Saturday 20 October 2012


Chapter 16: Logistics/Supply Chain Control

Type of Control System:
Open-Loop Systems
Closed-Loop Systems
Modified Control Systems
·         Common systems for controlling logistics activities
·         Important feature human invention between the action of comparing actual and desired performance and the action to reduce the process error.
·         Flexibility and low initial cost
·         Manager can prescribe the type of information needed for control, the error tolerance
·         Refers to servomechanisms, regulator and controller
·         The automatic control of inventories is the outstanding success to date
·         Manager are reluctant to transfer extensive control of an activity
·         Manager may even have a degree of distrust for computers and mathematical models.
·         Manager may at times substitute for the decision rules
·         Combination from open-loop and closed –loop.

Audit; logistics audit is a periodic examination of the status of logistics activities

Total Function Audit:

o   Demand
o   Customer service
o   Product characteristics
o   Logistics costs

Pricing policy; transfer the responsibility and cost of transportation to the buyers, thus taking decisions on important logistics costs element out of their own hands.
Freight Bill Audits: Controls of transportation costs, many firms have found it worthwhile to audit their freight bills.

Corrective Actions
Minor Adjustment
Major Replanning
Contingency Plans
o   Performance from desired performance will occur and can be anticipated
o   E.g. the transportation activity of service selection, routing, and scheduling will vary over time items of its costs.
o   Sweeping reevaluation of the logistics system.
o   Major changes in logistics environment
o   Involves a recycling through the management planning process
o   Possibilities of dramatic changes in the activity performance level