What is Logistics? Why is it important?

Logistics is a process to carry out the transportation and storage of goods, or even raw materials, from the place of origin to the final point of consumption, aiming to fulfill all customer specifications in an economic and organized manner.

It is common for logistics companies to have specialized services for retail, wholesale or industrial manufacturers that have a large amount of items to be transported. Thus, they can have specific infrastructure depending on the sector, such as trucks, planes, warehouses and software.

Therefore, many manufacturers and retailers hire third-party carriers to carry out all the transportation and logistics, making the process more agile and efficient.

Why is logistics important?

With the use of the internet and smartphones as a tool for online shopping growing rapidly, logistics carriers have increased a lot, being increasingly requested, as they are essential to make deliveries to consumers.

Therefore, manufacturers, suppliers, retailers and distributors needed to improve their logistical processes, in order to meet the demand for faster deliveries and a greater variety of products. In addition to adapting to systems and processes to improve the supply network.

How does logistics work?

Storage

Warehouse management works like inventory management and order fulfillment, infrastructure management and warehouse processes. The software most used by companies to manage the flow and storage of goods and tracking of inventories is the WMS (Warehouse Management System) and ERP software providers generally offer TMS and WMS modules, also offering even more specialized components for the inventory management and other demands related to logistics.

Transportation

Transportation management is an important factor in logistics, as it is responsible for much of the optimization, planning and execution of the use of means of transportation to move goods to warehouses, retail locations and to customers. It may include cargo travel by road, air, rail or even across the oceans.

Therefore, the management process is complex, involves a lot of planning and good optimization of routes and loads, payment and freight auditing and management of yards and orders that will be necessary for each case. There is also carrier management, which is a key factor in business logistics as availability, carrier capacity and value can fluctuate considerably.

Internal logistics

Internal logistics works as management of activities related to storage, receipt, stock control and shipping within the customer.

Thus, it is possible to create customized and integrated services for each client, such as material flow management and factory information, product movement and inventory management, outsourcing of labor in specific operations, such as preparation for loading, assembly and disassembly of packaging and supply of production lines, in addition to reverse logistics, product repackaging and support logistics with machines and specialized labor.