Logistics in the Corporate Environment Logistics Provides

¶ … Logistics in the Corporate Environment Logistics provides for a company a flow of goods and services from its beginning point to the point the consumer obtains the product. Without the use of logistics, a company may not be able to identify how their product moves, where their product is in their supply chain, or be able to measure the success of their logistic effectiveness (Princeton.edu, 2011). The way in which a product is moved throughout the company should reflect the corporate strategy.

For instance, Wal-Mart is focused on cost reduction, and therefore their products must move in a way that is consistent with an emphasis on the company's goal to lower costs. To ensure that Wal-Mart has cost reduction, it is also beneficial for them to have proper flow of the movement of the product. If the product does not move with a proper flow, then they will have an imbalance of their inventories. The delay in product delivery is not efficient for the goal of cost reduction (Craig, 2011).

Internally, the movement of the product includes all members of the team, including the team in charge of inventory orders, shippers, warehouse staff, stocking team, and the cashiers. Externally, it is important for the vendor to provide Wal-Mart with its product and for the customer to obtain the product (Nagurney, 2006). It is not uncommon for Wal-Mart to run out of certain items and be without them for several shipment cycles.

In order to be able to complete the supply chain and provide products to the consumers on a regular basis, Wal-Mart will need to improve their product movement system. Lack of improvement will create costs in inventories and create losses of sales with consumers. Just as important as it is for a company to move their products, it is important for them to know where there products are. If a product is lost in at a warehouse, it may be traced back to its location with the use of information.

In the event that a company has sold out of a product, it is important for the information to reach the management team in charge of ordering more inventories for a store. The movement of information must prove significant at all levels of an organization in order for the company to function properly without a hold up or confusion between departments or locations (Craig, 2011). It is important for all internal employees to take advantage of the information technology that they are provided with, including email, fax, software, and telephone capabilities.

Relaying information to customers or vendors allows the company the capabilities to continue the flow of the supply chain. Wal-Mart is known for having an elaborate information technology system for their inventories; however, they are still often out of supplies for long periods of time. To take advantage of their high technology, Wal-Mart must learn to communicate as a team and push information through the supply chain. Cost is used as the key measure in order to determine the success of logistic effectiveness.

Costs are important to the company and to the customer. For the company, minimizing costs is beneficial; however, the company must be weary of cutting too many costs. Cost is directly related to service, so it is important for a company not to value its service too little in exchange for low costs (Craig, 2011). Wal-Mart takes pride in its low cost products, but has spent too much focus on this and not enough focus on service.

Customers searching for high quality products or decent customer service are not able to be provided with.