Recent Trends in Logistics Management: Past, Present, and Future

Introduction

Nearly 25 years ago, consumer satisfaction with customer service was the focus of business research. Business consultants, companies, and operational management have worked together to identify the characteristics of companies that consistently delight their customers, develop techniques for measuring customer satisfaction, and implement continuous quality improvement mechanisms that respond to customer feedback. Customer service and satisfaction are essential for every firm looking to evaluate its performance and guarantee its survival, regardless of whether the study was performed by and for the business sector. Product prices gradually increased throughout the 1950s and 1960s, resulting in many crises and restricted buying power. Business consultants were looking for a solution that balanced customer happiness, cost, and quality. Furthermore, the fierce competition at the period pushed businesses to seek a competitive edge. According to the study, logistics management may help a company achieve customer satisfaction, cost, and value advantage.

Transportation fleet management, order fulfilment, logistics design, inventory, supply, and third-party logistics service provider administration are all examples of logistics management. Customer service, sourcing, procurement, production planning, scheduling, packing, and assembly are all examples of logistics management. Logistics management is an important part of strategic, operational, tactical, and operational planning and execution at all levels (Achumba.,et.al,2013). In today's competitive market, businesses must run at peak efficiency and provide great service to be profitable. In the fast moving consumer products sector, three variables have been discovered to influence warehouse efficiency and effectiveness: warehouse management system simplicity/complexity, product slotting methods, and warehouse layout design. The capacity of the company to efficiently manage the warehouse, minimise costs, and fulfil orders is crucial to its success. It is important to note that warehouse management presents significant difficulties for businesses. Because of changes in the way raw materials, intermediate commodities, and final products are handled, the function and significance of warehouses in the American economy has shifted significantly(Albernaz.,et.al, 2014). Warehouse management is becoming more generally recognized as a necessity in today's market, where customer satisfaction and service have become a crucial element in a company's capacity to stand out from the competitors. To ensure optimal performance throughout the business, the warehouse operating system must be built for receiving inventory, fast order fulfilment, automated validation of warehouse operations, and accurate inventory management.

The success of physical product distribution relies heavily on the warehousing network. Leading companies are seen to use and execute various warehousing techniques, including as capacity switching, hub networking, cobbling, and outsourcing. For enhancing warehouse design techniques, both analytic and simulation models are suggested. Analytic models are often design-oriented, which means they look at a lot of different options rapidly to find a solution. Simulation models, on the other hand, are often analysis-oriented. They can offer an opinion on a design, but they are generally restricted in their capacity to explore the design area. To gain more flexibility in evaluating warehouse issues, both methods must be integrated. Aside from new supply chain trends, technological advancements have a significant effect on storage. Many formerly manual activities have now been mechanised or even automated. Robots may be employed to arrange arriving goods on pallets in an automated warehouse (Dobler Burt.,et.al,2006). Each pallet's contents are transmitted to a central computer, which allocates the pallet to a vacant storage space. Incoming pallets are transported to the storage buffer by conveyors or guided vehicles, and pallets are stored in the correct location in the storage area by automated Storage/Retrieval equipment.