This third edition includes updates in manufacturing logistics, integrated logistics, process design and home delivery, and brand new sections on warehouse receipt and dispatch.

Designed for students, young managers and seasoned practitioners alike, this handbook explains the nuts and bolts of the modern logistics and distribution world in plain language. Illustrated throughout, this second edition includes new chapters on areas previously not covered, such as: intermodal transport; benchmarking; environmental matters; and vehicle and depot security.

When work began on the first volume ofthis text in 1992, the science of dis tribution management was still very much a backwater of general manage ment and academic thought. While most of the body of knowledge associated with calculating EOQs, fair-shares inventory deployment, productivity curves, and other operations management techniques had long been solidly established, new thinking about distribution management had taken a definite back-seat to the then dominant interest in Lean thinking, quality management, and business process reengineering and their impact on manufacturing and service organizations. For the most part, discussion relating to the distri bution function centered on a fairly recent concept called Logistics Manage ment. But, despite talk of how logistics could be used to integrate internal and external business functions and even be considered a source of com petitive advantage on its own, most of the focus remained on how companies could utilize operations management techniques to optimize the traditional day-to-day shipping and receiving functions in order to achieve cost contain ment and customer fulfillment objectives. In the end, distribution manage ment was, for the most part, still considered a dreary science, concerned with oftransportation rates and cost trade-offs. expediting and the tedious calculus Today, the science of distribution has become perhaps one of the most im portant and exciting disciplines in the management of business.

Physical Distribution is a distinct but integral part of business logistics, involving all those activities relating to the physical movement of goods from the factory to the consumer. Recently, the concept has been expanded to supply chain management which enables better customer relationship with smooth supply of goods. This introductory text is focused on the essential concepts, tools and strategies that comprise Distribution Management. It emphasizes the idea that distribution management is an effective marketing strategy and a potent competitive tool. Defining the concept of physical distribution in the initial chapter, the book then describes in detail the objectives, functions and components of all the activity centres of physical distribution in the Indian context, from a systems approach. An exclusive chapter is devoted to transportation functions, highlighting the features of interstate movement of goods and the legal procedures related to them. Sufficient coverage is also given to related topics such as distribution control, performance evaluation and organization of physical distribution, besides the 'trade-off' concept. The book, with its wide coverage of topics, should prove to be of immense value to undergraduate students in Business Administration and Business Management.

Supplying a product to the most customers possible in an effective and cost-efficient way is the primary goal of the sales and distribution sector of a business, since the profits from sales are responsible for the majority of an organization’s revenue. However, with countless brands vying for the customers’ attention, the ability to create a demand for a product and subsequently supply that demand is often the key to a business’s success. There is a need for studies that seek to understand the complementary roles of an organization’s sales force and distribution team to ensure relevancy in today’s globalized world. Sales and Distribution Management for Organizational Growth is a pivotal reference source that provides vital research on the organization of sales and the sales force, their geographic deployment, and distribution and channel management including how to develop customer-oriented distribution systems. While highlighting topics including expense control, personnel training, and channel design, this book is ideally designed for business students, marketing professionals, executive members, finance analysts, operations employees, academicians, industry professionals, researchers, and students seeking current research on implementing sales strategy and distribution systems to maximize profits and remain a marketplace competitor.

More and more managers of successful companies realize the value of their distribution systems for both reducing costs and enhancing customer service. This guide covers the entire spectrum of today's key distribution issues, from marketing to order fulfillment.