Solutions Manual: Ch05-Logistics-s
Review Questions
5.1 What is business logistics?
Answer: As defined in the text, business logistics is concerned
... [Show More] with the acquisition,
movement, storage, and distribution of materials and products, as well as the planning and
control of these operations in order to satisfy customer demand.
5.2 What is the difference between external logistics and internal logistics?
Answer: External logistics is concerned with transportation and related activities that
occur outside of a facility, generally involving movement of materials between different
geographical locations. Internal logistics involves the handling of materials inside a given
facility, commonly known as material handling, which is concerned with the movement
and storage of materials during manufacturing and distribution.
5.3 What are the basic objectives in business logistics?
Answer: The basic objectives in business logistics are (1) to provide a specified level of
customer service and (2) to deliver that level of service at the lowest possible cost.
5.4 Identify the five components of the logistics system.
Answer: According to the text, the five basic components of the logistics system are (1)
facilities, (2) inventory, (3) transportation and material handling, (4) information system,
and (5) logistics workers.
5.5 With what is the procurement function in logistics concerned?
Answer: The procurement function in logistics is concerned with the acquisition and
movement of materials from suppliers to manufacturing plants that produce parts or
assemble products. Procurement may include the temporary storage of materials to
conform to production schedules or to take advantage of quantity discounts from suppliers.
Procurement also includes acquiring and transporting materials or products to retail or
wholesale establishments.
5.6 What are the four warehousing functions?
Answer: The four warehousing functions are (1) receiving, which consists of the activities
associated with handling and controlling incoming materials to the facility; (2) storing,
which involves putting the received materials into storage and recording their respective
locations; (3) order picking, which refers to the retrieval of materials from their storage
locations in response to customer orders, and (4) shipping, which includes packaging the
materials for shipment to the customer, preparing the required documentation, and loading
the materials into the carrier.
5.7 What is cross-docking?
Answer: Cross-docking is a warehousing operation in which shipments are received from
suppliers, and the items are sorted and shipped to their respective destinations without
being placed into storage. The advantage of cross-docking is that it eliminates the storing
1
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Solutions Manual: Ch05-Logistics-s
and order picking functions in warehousing, thus saving the costs associated with those
steps.
5.8 Name the five basic transportation modes.
Answer: The five basic transportation modes are (1) rail, (2) truck, (3) air, (4) waterway,
and (5) pipeline.
5.9 What are the general characteristics of freight that is suited to rail transport? Give
examples of this freight.
Answer: The general characteristics of freight that is suited to rail transport are movement
of large tonnage over long land distances. Prime examples of rail freight are commodities
such as raw materials located away from waterways (e.g., coal, ore, lumber), agricultural
products, and low-value manufactured goods (e.g., paper, wood products). Railway freight
also includes intermodal operations.
5.10 What are the general characteristics of freight that is suited to truck transport? Give
examples of this freight.
Answer: The general characteristics of freight that is suited to truck transport are
movement of high-value products and semi-finished items over short and medium
distances. Important examples are the movement of merchandise between distribution
centers and retail stores, and the delivery of components and subassemblies to final
assembly plants in the automotive industry.
5.11 What are the advantages of truck transport over rail transport when the applications are
appropriate for trucking?
Answer: Truck transportation has the following advantages over railroads in the
appropriate applications: (1) door-to-door delivery, (2) service availability and frequency,
and (3) sp [Show Less]