Current Trends in Logistics
Improving communications
• Electronic data interchange (EDI)
• Electronic point-of-sales data (EPOS)
• e-purchasing or e-procurement
• Item coding e.g. bar code or radio-frequency identification RFID e.g. details
• Electronic fund transfer (EFT)
Current Trends in Logistics
Improving customer service
• A key factor is the lead time. Lead time is the total time between ordering materials and having them delivered and available for use.
• One approach to this uses synchronised material movement. This makes information available to all parts of the supply chain at the same time, so that organisations can coordinate material movements, rather than wait for messages to move up and down the chain.