Logistics and Supply Chain Management

by Martin Christopher

Effective development and management of your supply chain network will cut your costs and enhance your customer value. This is a sustainable source of advantage in today’s turbulent global marketplace, where demand is difficult to predict and supply chains need to be more flexible as a result.

In fact, the real competition today is not between companies, but between supply chains. The winning approach to supply chains is an integrated perspective that takes account of networks of relationships, sustainability and product design, as well as the logistics of procurement, distribution, and fulfilment.

Logistics and Supply Chain Management examines the tools, core processes and initiatives that ensure businesses gain and maintain their competitive advantage. The fourth edition has been completely updated and now contains four new chapters covering:

· managing supply chain relationships

· product design in the supply chain

· matching supply and demand

· creating a sustainable supply chain

Front Flap

The updated 4th edition of the bestselling Logistics and Supply Chain Management is the practical guide to all the key topics in an integrated approach to supply chains, including:

The link between logistics and customer value Logistics and the bottom line – measuring costs and performance Creating a responsive supply chain Managing the global pipeline Managing supply chain relationships Managing risk in the supply chain Matching supply and demand Creating a sustainable supply chain Product design in the supply chain

Back Flap

About the author

Martin Christopher is Chairman of the Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management. He has written numerous books and articles and is on the editorial advisory board of a several professional journals. Until recently he was co-editor of The International Journal of Logistics Management and his latest books have focused upon relationship marketing, logistics and supply chain management.

He has held appointments as Visiting Professor at the Universities of British Columbia, Canada, New South Wales, Australia and South Florida, USA. Professor Christopher is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. In 1987 he was awarded the Sir Robert Lawrence medal of the Institute of Logistics and Transport for his contribution to the development of logistics education in Britain. In 2005 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award of the USA Council for Supply Chain Management Professionals. In 2007 he was designated as Foundation Professor by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. Martin has also worked as a consultant for major international companies in North America, Europe, the Far East and Australasia.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Management, Economics, Textbooks, Technology, School

276 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Marcus Solberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book about logistics and supply chain management, and about how many business processes in use today are in need of change as the business environment is changing ever more rapidly. However, the book quite soon became a tad repetitive; The author introduced a lot of interesting concepts, but the book could have been half as many pages if he would have refrained from repeating the same few underlying principles again and again and again.

Recommended read for anyone interested in logistics/supply chain management, which is basically about how to operate a business in a responsive and cost effective way.

[Ray Dan Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This very readable book is remarkable in its focus on the customer service aspects of trade and logistics as much as the cost control side. It's a must-read for anyone interested in this topic. The one downside is that the illustrations and graphs, though insightful and well-constructed, are a bit too small, in many cases, to read on a Kindle. I'd recommend the hardback, which should also prove more accessible for later reference.

[Dmitry · Rating 1 out of 5]

(The English review is placed beneath the Russian one)

О чём только автор не пишет, но только не о логистике. Лишь приближаясь к концу книги, я наконец-то встретил главу непосредственно связанной с темой логистики, а точнее о системе «точно вовремя». До этого автор пишет скорее о бизнесе в целом, т.е. о потребителях, о глобализации, о маркетинге и о многом о чём ещё, но только не о логистике. Такое ощущение, что автору просто нечего сказать читателям на данную тему, вот он и пишет о бизнесе в целом. Разумеется, что-то о логистике всё же есть в начале и середине книги, но это «что-то» можно встретить чуть ли не в любой книге по бизнесу не связанной с логистической тематикой. Более того, практически всю информацию из книги я встречал в других книгах, которые были никак не связаны с логистикой и цепочками поставок. Исходя из этого, можно предположить насколько «глубоко» автор рассматривает данную тему. Другими словами, книга очень поверхностна. Но и это не является главной проблемой этой книги. Главной проблемой является очень мутно написанный текст. Он мало того что по-академически сух и скучен, так ещё автор пишет так, что очень трудно понять, что же он хочет сказать. В итоге, когда автор пишет о японской системе «точно вовремя», этот вопрос никак не проясняется.

В своё время я прочёл замечательную книгу Toyota Production System: Beyond large-scale production, в которой автор великолепно рассказывает о системе канбан и системе «точно вовремя». Так вот, если бы я в своё время не прочитал в этой (Toyota Production System: Beyond large-scale production), а также в других книгах о системе «точно во время», то сегодня я бы просто ничего не понял из того, что пишет Мартин Кристофер. В итоге получается, что автор не просто потратил большую часть книги на описание работы бизнеса в целом, с небольшим фокусом на логистику, но и объяснить простыми словами у автора тоже не получилось. В итоге я очень пожалел, что сразу не бросил читать эту книгу, понадеявшись, что в какой-то момент автор всё же перейдёт к рассматриваемому вопросу. Перешёл, да, но лучше бы он этого не делал, лучше бы и дальше писал о бизнесе в целом.

The author writes about everything but logistics. It was only nearing the end of the book that I finally came across a chapter directly related to the topic of logistics, more specifically, about the just-in-time system. Before that, the author writes more about business in general, i.e., consumers, globalization, marketing, and many other things, but not logistics. It seems that the author has nothing to say to his readers on this topic, so he writes about business in general. Of course, there is something about logistics in the beginning and middle of the book, but this "something" can be found in almost any business book (not related to logistics). Moreover, almost all the information from the book I have met in other books, which were in no way related to logistics and supply chains. Based on this, we can assume how "deeply" the author considers this topic. In other words, the book is very superficial. But this is not the main problem with this book either. The main problem is the very muddily written text. Not only is it academically dry and boring, but the author writes in such a way that it is very difficult to understand what he wants to say. Even at the end of the book, when the author writes about the Japanese "just-in-time" system, the issue is not made clear.

At one time, I read a great book "Toyota Production System: Beyond large-scale production," in which the author gives an excellent account of the kanban and just-in-time systems. If I hadn't read this book ("Toyota Production System: Beyond large-scale production") and other books about the just-in-time system, I wouldn't understand anything Martin Christopher writes here. As a result, it turns out that the author not only spent most of the book describing the workings of the business as a whole, with little focus on logistics but also failed to explain it in simple words. As a result, I really regretted not quitting reading this book right away, hoping that at some point, the author would get to the subject at hand. He did, yes, but it would have been better if he had not done that; he would have been better off continuing to write about business in general.

[Marcos Moret]

I did learn a few things from reading this, but overall it came across as a collection of recycled theories and models, a large portion of it feels dated, and overall it reminded me of one of those soulless text books from my university days!

[Fengyang Song · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some very good points made in the book. However, many points are repetitive. This makes the book much longer than it should, unnecessarily.

If only the chapters were more condensed, and more efficiently organized.

[Jitendra Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice but I think its too generic and basically provides only ideas,some practical examples could make it better.

[Jackson Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to share with you my experience of ordering logistics and how it helped optimize the logistics of my business. crossdock facilityWe entered into an agreement that included all the terms of cooperation, terms of service and cost. After implementation, I noticed a significant improvement in the efficiency and efficiency of logistics processes. Reduced warehousing time, optimized routes and improved coordination of deliveries have had a positive impact on the overall functioning of the business. Ordering the Crossdock was a key step in optimizing the logistics of my business.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read a book related to my work in the logistics and the invoiced domain to learn more about the sector. I was not surprised that this book was full of informations, and educative. But I was so not impressed by the fact that it's explain everything in part he doesn't enter in the details of everything, it's was like reading a dictionary about the subject. That why I give this book only 3 stars, even if I recommended it to everyone that work in this field; because it's always good to know some definition about what you work in.

[Christine]

best