5 Burning Issues 1.Shortage of trucks 2. …

Reading 1

Work in pairs. Think about the logistics goals for optimizing a steady flow system. Complete the diagram.

minimize/reduce/cut…???

increase… ??? optimize…???

maintain… ???

Steady Flow System

R
Logistics flow

Supply chain management is about suppliers, manufacturers, third party Logistics providers, wholesalers and retailers sharing information so that goods move faster and steadily through the system. However, what is usually lacking is an overall global or regional strategic plan that integrates the activities of the many players, a strategic plan that ensures that the overall cost of delivering goods to customers is the lowest possible while maintaining the desired service level.

Different techniques such as optimization technologies can be used for issues like:
- the appropriate product specialization and production capacity of the plants;
- location and size of distribution centers;
- mode of transportation for every link in the supply chain;
- optimal inventory level to meet the desired service level.
The end result is globally optimized supply chains that perform robustly under foreseeable future scenarios, thus avoiding costly changes.

Steady-state flow systems are usually optimized for one of several goals: avoid shortages of the object, reduce transportation cost, minimize time to obtain an object, or time and amount of total storage of objects, exclude interest losses, maintain profit margins. Logistics flow is particularly important in just-in-time manufacturing in which great emphasis is placed on inventory.

(edited from http://wordiq.com)

ead the text and see if you can find more goals to add into the diagram.

3. a) In the text, highlight these words and phrases. Work out their meanings from their context – don’t use a dictionary.

lacking
1. insufficient; b) available; c) necessary; d) absent
overall
1. holistic; b) accurate; c) flexible; d) whole
integrate

a) combine b) change c) connect d) form

ensure
1. systemize; b) organize; c) provide; d) create
maintain
1. increase; b) optimize; c) support; d) keep

6. desired

average; b) wanted; c) low; d) advanced

7. appropriate

necessary b) suitable c) dynamic d) up-to-date

robustly
foreseeable
costly

Now use a dictionary to look up the words you couldn’t guess from the context.

4. In the text, find the underlined words. Match them with their meaning.

a) the difference between how much money you get when you sell sth and how much it costs you to buy or make it;

b) a person or company that sells goods directly to the public for their own use;
c) the rate at which goods are produced, especially in relation to the time, money and workers needed to produce them;
d) a company, organization or country that sells a product or service;
e) someone whose job is to sell large quantities of goods to shops or small businesses;
f) a list giving details of all the things in a place (goods in a shop);
g) a particular way of moving things from one place to another;
h) lack of sth you need or want;
i) having less income than expected;
j) a place from where goods are spread to shops.

a) Work in pairs. In the text, you can find two terms ‘just-in-time manufacturing’ and ‘third party logistics’. Write your definitions of these phrases as you understand them. Share your ideas with other pairs.

b) Now compare your answers with the definitions given below.

Just-in-time manufacturing is a theory of manufacturing whereby both incoming and outgoing inventories are kept to an absolute minimum. Instead of having a large warehouse of parts on hand, parts arrive on the day they are to be used for assembly, and product is shipped immediately after assembly.

(taken from http://wikipedia.org)

Third Party Logistics (3PL) is organization of business when the owner of goods doesn’t have logistics resources, such as warehouses or vehicles, and uses the logistics services of another company (Third party logistics company). This process is called outsourcing.

(taken from http://wikipedia.org)