The author gives an interpretation of the concept of logistics in the documents of national logistics companies.

Thus, in the latest edition of the American Encyclopedia, logistics is defined as “the management of movement and logistics of the armed forces. Along with tactics, strategy and intelligence, logistics is one of the four most important elements of military science … The term “logistics” can also refer to supply activities of civil enterprises “.

As conditional synonyms for the term “logistics” in different periods, such terms as “materials management”, “total distribution”, “rohrematika”, “physical distribution” were used. Since the early 90’s, the term “logistics” has been used not only in the literature, but also in the media to describe a new direction in science – the theory and practice of managing material and relevant information flow, ie in the whole range of issues related to the processes of circulation of raw materials, finished products, their delivery from the supplier to the manufacturer and from the manufacturer to the final consumer in accordance with the requirements and interests of the latter.

According to many experts, the intensification of competition in world markets dictates the need to introduce logistics in the practice of enterprises as one of the most important factors in the competitiveness of companies.

The main factor in the recent past, the scale of production is exhausting, and this shows the Japanese experience, when small-scale production can also be quite efficient. The time has come when the development strategy of many leading firms is based not on high but on “moderate” economic growth rates, as it has become clear that suboptimal costs cannot be offset by growth rates.

The relevance of the implementation of logistics is confirmed by the following data: costs in the field of MTZ are 20-30% of the gross domestic product of developed countries; 95-98% of the time spent on materials at the enterprise is accounted for by cargo and transport and warehousing, and one percent reduction in the cost of logistics functions is equivalent to 10% increase in sales; logistics costs in the United States in 1989 reached 11.1% of the value of gross national product.

The above argues the urgent need to develop the theory and practice of logistics.

History of the general formation of the concept of “logistics”

Logistics as a new, separate and comprehensive theory of business has been used in enterprises since the early 80’s. In fact, the deepening of specialization has formed a system of increased requirements of enterprises to their production partners. And this is reflected in the most generalized, comprehensive concept of “logistics” created in order to identify and solve problems that arise or may arise in the future in production or business.

The formation of a general definition (definition) of the concept of “logistics” occurred (quite naturally) in conjunction with the theoretical problems that arose, eventually integrating into the system-covering mechanism. Historically, logistics was for the first time widely used in the military field in order to comprehensively provide the warring parties, guarantees their struggle and readiness for action. Until these problems are jointly implemented and are only representative, the tasks of procurement and provision are quite problematic.

But in the case of their integration, the same tasks are solved more strictly geographically, in time, in number and range. Therefore, this general approach has in the right place, at the right time the right material of the right quality and range, and this may correspond to the minimum costs in the procurement, production and distribution areas, and is the basis for defining the term “logistics”.

Modern definitions of logistics

Given that the purpose of logistics is to get the right goods or services in the right place, at the right time, under basic conditions and the company receives the most income, logistics can be interpreted as a mechanism for compromise (agreement) between obligations and costs. , ie the consumer is satisfied with the level of fulfillment of his orders, and the costs of the manufacturer (service provider) are desirable for him. It should be borne in mind that, as in supply or marketing, the scope of logistics research includes dispositional, trade, transport processes, warehousing and packaging processes, production planning and management, and so on.

Here are some definitions of well-known theorists in logistics. One of them: the mission of logistics can be defined as the development of the logistics system, which leads to the lowest possible costs at the logistics facility. Other: logistics is the process of planning, controlling and managing the formation of material flow, its storage and integrated information from the place of manufacture to the place of consumption in order to adapt to the needs of the consumer. The author himself proposes the following definition: logistics comprehensively covers the planning and management of the flow of materials, components and products and the necessary information flow, including to accelerate the overall flow and minimize total costs for the supply, production and marketing.

It is also emphasized that logistics should be considered as an integrated function of material flow management, as well as an interdisciplinary science. The author gives an interpretation of the concept of logistics in the documents of national logistics companies. Thus, the chairman of the board of the German Federal Logistics Association believes that this is the main function of management and control of material flows both inside the company and outside it.

The English National Distribution Management Board interprets logistics as the combination of two or more activities for the purpose of planning, implementing and monitoring the level of raw material flows, inventories of work in progress and final products on the way from its production to consumption.

The American Board of Logistics Management believes that logistics is the process of planning, implementing and managing efficient economic movement and storage of raw materials, work in progress, finished products and related information from the point of receipt to the point of consumption to ensure compliance with consumer requirements. …

The terminological interpretation of logistics is also taken as a basis, namely: “Logistics – the science of planning, control and management of transportation, warehousing, etc. tangible and intangible operations performed in the process of bringing raw materials to the production plant, in -plant processing of raw materials and materials, bringing the finished product to the consumer in accordance with the interests and requirements of the latter, as well as the transfer, storage, processing of relevant information. “

Given the achievements of recent years in the European industry to implement qualitatively new business philosophies and concepts, mostly of Japanese origin, given the results of research presented by the author, we see that the diversity of definitions of logistics is explained by form (richness of national languages) rather than content.

At the same time, the definition of logistics naturally requires enriching the definition of logistics, as this concept integrates more and more new areas and functional industries (technological preparation of production, waste treatment and disposal, product development, research and development, etc.) … Not the last proof of this can be considered the creation of appropriate logistics centers.

Given the above, we propose the following general definition:

Logistics is the science of optimal management of material, information and financial flows in economic adaptive systems with synergistic connections.

This definition takes into account the following essential elements:

first, the terminological interpretation is “grounded” to a certain system, respectively limited, albeit open, but able to adapt to disturbances in the external environment; secondly, on the basis of the theory of logistics or without it functionally it is always management in its functions of planning, management, control, etc.; third, it is based on the synergistic effect. Its essence is that a system with synergistic connections (and in economics it is created artificially) provides an increase in the overall effect of cooperative actions of the system elements to a value greater than the sum of the effects of the same elements acting independently.

Conclusions. The relatively https://123helpme.me/write-my-lab-report/ new term “logistics” for the economy has a long history. In the general sense, the economic system is a complex dynamic system that partially or completely covers the processes of production, exchange, distribution, consumption of material goods. The entrance to it is the material flows of natural, production and labor resources, the exit – material flows of consumer goods, investment goods, defense and export products, services rendered.

The specific features of economic systems allow us to consider them as a complex information system, and as a cybernetic system, ie a system with management, and as an adaptive system – the latter is very important in terms of logistics systems. The ability of the system to adapt can be expressed in the ability to self-organize. Some of them change the way the system works in accordance with changes in the external environment, others change the structure, organization, management system, boundaries, and so on.

The spread of logistics as a theoretical concept and a practical guiding tool has happened very quickly. And this requires a study of the state of logistics in scientific interpretation, general understanding and practical application. At the same time, there is no doubt that logistics is economic thinking, a guiding concept, which is characterized by the consideration of the overall business assessment and in a consistent organizational movement – the competence of all related movements of goods.

The main task of logistics is for the company to achieve the greatest profit. Unfortunately, logistics is viewed through the prism of the company’s achievement of strategic goals and optimization of its main operational processes (eg, transportation and storage of goods).