But what is “Logistics” ?

Logistics focuses on the entire order fulfillment process, it refers to the receipt, production and distribution of goods and materials in the quantities requested by the customer to their final destination. It is also the strategy that determines how your business stores products in its warehouse, tracks orders, and delivers products to its customers.

In fact, logistics should be viewed as an overall business unit that oversees and coordinates the entire customer order fulfillment process.

Video credit © by Pexels, Air transport.

And Transportation ?

Transportation focuses on managing physical delivery. It is considered a logistics sub-unit. He is the key to all the operations of the flow of goods ensuring the movement of products from the places of orders to the storage areas and takes care of the deliveries to the address of the customers. Products are delivered by land, air or sea. Sometimes referred to as transportation logistics, this function is divided into three important areas that a business must engage in:

• Operations management

• Organization of vehicles and fleet

• Infrastructure administration

Video credit © by Pexels, Railway transport.

Transport, Logistics how does it combine ?

Transportation is part of the process. Logistics further provides for inventory planning, storage of goods and demand forecasting in addition to delivery. Optimizing your supply chain performance means meeting your customers' needs at the lowest possible cost. A transport network that meets the needs of your business while remaining economical and absolutely necessary. This allows you to resolve unforeseen issues and improve customer service without any downtime or disruption to your service process. These two elements combined will make it possible to practice logistics management, effectively and efficiently.

Video credit © by Pexels, Maritime transport.

Harmonize Transport and Logistics activities

It is seen that transportation and logistics must work in tandem to fulfill customer orders as planned at the lowest possible price. This is one of the reasons automation technologies is on the rise among companies that provide transportation and logistics services. Thanks to new information technologies, managers can systematize predictable and redundant tasks across the entire supply chain network without any errors and at a fraction of the cost. In addition to automation, data logging is also on the rise. Logistics and transportation can participate in data collection and analysis separately and together. In the long term, it allows companies to access valuable information about their supply chain with circumstance monitoring information.

It is therefore crucial to actively and efficiently manage your transportation and logistics business units allowing your entire supply chain to operate seamlessly and ensure:

1. Execution of orders on time and at the best cost.

2. The optimization of inventory flows allowing a reduction of inventories by using efficient transport techniques. Plus, you can improve your warehouse's operational efficiency, reduce lead times, and save on storage expenses.

3. Reducing the “Carbon” footprint. As you streamline your logistics approach, you will automatically reduce your CO2 emissions due to the optimization of your transport process itself.

Video credit © by Pexels, Road transport.

In conclusion

The impacts of the 2020 health crisis and the shock waves that followed have drastically impacted all commercial activities on a global scale. The logistics and transport sector has been hit the hardest. Companies working in this sector must recover quickly and offer their clients solutions that take into account the reality of the current international market. It is important to keep the right balance between the activities related to transport and those related to logistics. It is vital for the company to have the right information at the right time in order to be able to make the right strategic decisions, taking into account that transport and logistics activities represent a huge percentage of the costs associated with the products. If you would like more information on the subject, do not hesitate to contact us at Leclercconsultinggroup@gmail.com.