Expert: Peter A. Crosby - 8/29/2000

Question
what is the role of industrial engineer in logistics?in what way can he contribute since i am an industrial engineer working in two wheeler manufacturing company mainly focussing on microlevel ie cell reengineering and productivity improvements. i want to switch over to logistics.


kindly give some clue

Answer
Dear Ganesh:  Good question, and I may be qualified to answer, since I migrated from engineering to manufacturing to logistics and I love the supply chain!

I'll answer with listing the areas of logistics versus manufacturing.  As you know logistics+manufacturing+purchasing=supply chain on a physical flow basis.  Add information and funds flows, and you have the complete supply chain.

Logistics functions:

Inbound freight from suppliers
RM and FG inventory management (WIP is a mfg function)
warehousing, handling, storage in all areas
outbound freight to other facilities and to customers
customer service
forecasting and production planning (production scheduling is a manufacturing function)
plant and warehouse location

The Logistics IE is responsible for warehouse labor productivity, warehouse management systems, transportation routing optimization, facilities location and layout optimization.

Slight changes are to be expected by industry, channel of distribution (mfg, wholesaler, retailer) and product focus.

Sincerely,

Pete Crosby, BS, MS, Engr. Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Certified Management Consultant (CMC)