Logistics

We believe this to be the new breed of integrated logistics textbooks, that is, shorter and more concise. Neither professors nor students want to deal with a 700- to 800page book, especially in a dynamic field like logistics. They want textbooks that go right to the point but are readily supplemented with current events, new theory, and new practice. We believe that this textbook fills that niche. Logistics covers the basics in warehousing, transportation, inventory, packaging, and material handling, supply management, operations, information, and organization. The text also offers some new, yet extremely important, chapters on service response logistics, logistics accounting, and reverse logistics. Most integrated logistics textbooks cover this material, but not in this depth. Service has become the number one employment arena throughout the world. Some would believe that running a hospital, bank, or consulting firm has nothing to do with logistics or supply chain management. Yet how many nurses are needed at any one time? How much money should an ATM have in it on a Friday to satisfy the needs of its customers for the weekend? These are logistics questions that need to be addressed. Chapter 6, "Service Response Logistics," provides insights into these issues. Many have taken several accounting classes and learned the basics regarding general accounting principles. Yet, these principles do not necessarily work well in identifying and categorizing logistics cost components. We discuss activity-based accounting as an alternative method to better track logistics costs. What to do with damaged products, returnable bottles, and waste are major problems today. It takes time and money to solve customer service problems regarding returns. Protecting our environment requires a proactive position. What should be done with waste? Chapter 13, "Reverse Logistics," looks at this issue in depth. Logistics is designed to cover the basics as well as provide the essentials for those students who will take higher-level supply chain management/logistics courses. Upper-level students and industry practitioners can also use this book as a reference. It contains a wealth of definitions, graphs, tables, and figures to help understand what integrated logistics is all about. The end-of-chapter study questions and cases offer an additional learning experience. We would like to thank all of these individuals that have contributed in our efforts to write a logistics textbook that captures the essence of what we believe. Of course, thanks begin and end with our families and friends. They put up with the late night deadlines and the frustrations we felt. We also want to express our grateful thanks to all of the people that reviewed our manuscript and made constructive comments. More specifically, thanks to Scott Ames, University of North Texas; Ruth Krieger, Oklahoma State University; Louis P Bucklin, University of California-Berkeley; George Jackson, Wayne State University; Jane Feitler, Naval Postgraduate School; Henry Metzner, University of Missouri; James Daley, John Carroll University; John Gardner, State University of New York-Brockport; and Lisa Williams, University of Arkansas.Bloomberg, David J. is the author of 'Logistics', published 2001 under ISBN 9780130101945 and ISBN 013010194X.