LOGISTICS EFFICIENCY

Are Organization's Facilities Designed for Logistics Efficiency?

Organizations design their facilities for logistics efficiency for the purposes of ensuring quality of service when obtaining and moving supplies and equipment to the areas where they are required, and minimizing cost as much as possible (Stock & Lambert, 2001). Organizations adopt logistic systems to alleviate problems that might arise during movement, given that supplies and equipment cannot reach the customers directly. Logistics helps organizations in their efforts to have the right product, in the right amount, and at the right place and time, as well as at the right cost (Stock & Lambert, 2001). Inventories are held at different points along the way to promote transportation efficiency, safety stocks in case of breakdowns and road washouts, storage capacity and anticipation of demand. However, the system is made as simple as possible to minimize paperwork.

The concept of logistics is continuously changing due to the changes in markets, competition, supply and technological advancement. Therefore, organizations must develop and focus their strategies to match the constantly changing environment through systematic planning and design methodology. Organizations must always answer questions regarding the number of distribution warehouses and where they should be located, the inventory and service trade-offs for every warehouse, the types of transport equipment that will be used and how the vehicles will be routed, as well as the justification for the investments made in the new materials and technology. All the answers should aim at achieving the maximum customer service level, ensuring high product quality, achieving the minimum possible cost and providing flexibility in the constantly changing markets (Rondeau, Brown & Lapides, 2012). Organizations applying logistics are also unanimously continuing with marketing, as this concept plays a critical role in customer satisfaction, integrated effort, systems approach and organization’s profitability.

There is a very close relationship between facility design and effective logistics management. Facility layout and design are also very essential to the organization’s overall operations as these significantly contribute towards the maximization of the efficiency of the production process and satisfying the employee needs. The purpose of the layout is to promote a smooth workflow, movement of materials and information exchange in the organization (Rondeau, Brown & Lapides, 2012). In the effort to adopt a good facility layout, organizations have to integrate the needs of the people, who are the employees and the clients, materials, which may be unprocessed, finished, or in process, and technology in the best way possible such that they fashion a singular, well-functioning unit (Stock & Lambert, 2001).

The management of organizations ought to consider several operational factors when they want to assemble or renovate a facility in order to ensure maximum layout efficiency. Some of these factors include ease of prospective expansion, which requires that the facilities be designed to be flexible so that they are easily expanded or adjusted so as to meet the altering production needs (Rondeau, Brown & Lapides, 2012). Just like in the case of logistics, facility design ought to reflect the essential component of a smooth process flow. The facility should also designed to promote correspondence and support amongst the management, employees and the end users, like ensuring that support areas are stationed in places that aid them in serving the operating areas.

Facility layout needs careful consideration because there is no need for constant redesigning of the facility. Organizations need to minimize material handling and machine interference, and also ensure the highest possible employee morale and safety as well as flexibility. All these results are in line with the expected outcomes of logistics effectiveness of ensuring high quality of service and minimizing costs.

References

Rondeau, E. P., Brown, R. K., & Lapides, P. D. (2012). Facility management. N.Y: John Wiley & Sons.

Stock, J. R., & Lambert, D. M. (2001). Strategic logistics management. N.Y: McGraw Hill/Irwin.