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The need for solid logistics management is crucial in the manufacturing of any product. Whether it’s something small like a bag or marbles or more complex like a new model of SUV there is much that has to be planned out. Everything from the smallest design detail to the specific combination of raw materials needs have some form of logistics management applied to the successful creation of that product. Even pulling together all the various teams involved in this development and creation will mean adherence to logistic management plans. Without that, you’d basically have people sitting around wondering what to do next.
When it comes the logistics management of manufacturing is typically will fall to a production supervisor to coordinate all the necessary elements. Before they come on board a project, there has already been a team of designers who have worked out all aspects of what it will take to build an individual product. Logistics management dictates that once those designs are completed and approved, the production supervisor will step in and provide the leadership needed to move that product through the factory line.
The first step in this process is determining the raw materials necessary for the creation of the product. This could mean anywhere from a dozen to literally thousands of individual parts that go into the making of a product. The logistics manager has to find the most cost effective means of pulling all of those elements together into the manufacturing facility. Often this could mean various components are assembled at different plants to be brought together for unification. Logistics management will help develop the plan to coordinate all that various elements so that the pieces of the puzzle fit together at the right time. It’s all about keeping the flow of the factory moving.
Along the assembly line, there are many factors that need to taken into consideration with logistic management principles. What are the specific types of machines needed? Will new machines and molds need to be created? Then there is the issue of staffing. Logistics management will dictate the staffing needs. You might only need three workers to put together that bag of marbles but you’ll need a hundred to put together an SUV. All of the elements of recruitment, hiring, training, safety and employee evaluation have to be coordinated through the use of logistics management. In its most basic terms, logistics management and fulfillment are how things get done.
