CHAPTER 8
FORECASTING SUPPLY CHAIN REQUIREMENTS

Planning and controlling logistics/supply chain activities requires accurate estimates of the product and service volumes to be handled by the supply chain. These estimated are typically in the form of forecast and prediction. However, it is not usually the responsibility of the logistician alone to produce the general forecast for the firm. More than likely this task will be assigned to marketing, economic planning, or specially designated group. Under certain circumstances, especially short-term planning such as inventory control, order sizing, or transport scheduling, the logistician often finds it necessary to take it upon him or her to produce this type of information. Therefore, this chapter is dedicated to an overview of those forecasting techniques most likely to be directly used for logistics planning and control.

The discussion is mainly at demand forecasting. The need for demand projections is general need throughout the planning and control process. However, certain types of planning problems such as inventory control,economical purchasing, cost control, forecasting lead times, and prices may be needed as well. The forecasting techniques discussed in this chapter are equally applicable to these.

When the uncertainty of the predictive variable is so high that standard forecasting techniques and their use in supply chain planning lead to unsatisfactory results, other planning approaches are needed. Collaborative forecasting is a contemporary approach to demand prediction. These alternatives to traditional forecasting are discussed as well.

CHAPTER 7

TRANSPORT DECISION

Transport is a key decision area within the logistics mix. Except for the cost of purchased goods, transportation absorbs, on the average, a higher percentage of logistics costs than any other logistics activity. 

Although transport decision express themselves in a 

variety of forms, 

 mode selection, 

carrier routing, 

vehicle scheduling 

and 

shipment consolidation. 

Methods for dealing with these important decisions     will be illustrated in this chapter.

CHAPTER 6

TRANSPORT FUNDAMENTAL

Transportation usually represents the most important single element in logistics costs for most firms. Freight movement has been observed to absorb between one-third and two-thirds of logistics costs. Thus, the logistician needs a good understanding of transportation matters. Although a complete discussion of transportation is not possible within the scope of this text, this chapter highlights what is essential to the logistician for his or her managerial purposes. The focus is on the facilities and services that make up the transportation system and on the costs and performance of the several transport services that a manager might select. Specifically, we wish to examine the characteristics of the transportation service alternatives that lead to optimal performance. It is performance that the user buys from the transportation system.

Chapter 5
Order Processing and Information System

Order processing:

Order Processing Example:

v  Industrial Order Processing

v  Retail Order Processing

v  Customer Order Processing

v  Web-Based Channel Order Processing

Other Factors Affecting Order-Processing Time

v  Processing Priorities

v  Parallel Versus Sequential Processing

v  Order-Filling Accuracy

v  Order Batching

v  Lot Sizing

v  Shipment Consolidation

The Logistics Information System:

OMS	WMS	TMS
Stock availability	Stock level management	Shipment consolidation
Crediting checking	Order picking	Vehicle routing
Invoicing	Picker routing	Mode selection
Product allocation customers	Picker assignment and work loading	Claims
Fulfillment location	Product availability estimated	Tracking
		Bill payment
		Freight bill auditing

Information System Examples:

v  A Retail System

v  Vendor-Managed Inventory

v  E-Commerce

v  A Decision Support System

Chapter 4 
Logistics/ Supply Chain Customer Service

Customer Service, a part of firms overall service offering, we will begin with service from the firms perspective and then distill out those elements that are specific to logistics.

Customer Service Element:

Pretansaction Elements	Transaction Elements	Post-transaction Elements
v  Written statement of policy v  Statement in hands of customers v  Organizational structure v  Technical services	v  Stock level v  Ability to back-order v  Elements of order cycle v  Time v  Transship v  System accuracy v  Order convenience v  Product substitution	v  Installation, warranty, alteration, repairs, parts v  Products tracking v  Customer claims complaints v  Product packaging v  Temporary replacement of product during repairs

Components of a Customer Order Cycle

Customer Service elements:

v  On-time delivery

v  Order fill rate

v  Product condition

v  Accurate documentation