Before looking into this logistics case study it is important to know what is meant by the term Logistics. Logistics can be defined as:

"The tasks involved in planning, implementing and controlling the physical flow of materials and final goods from points of origin to points of use to meat the needs of customers at a profit"

In effect this means getting the correct product to the customer in the right place at the right time. When talking about the customer it is important to distinguish between the customer in the street i.e. general public, and the customer, the trader, who is buying the goods to sell on at any level. The term logistics applies to all customers but we are applying the term to the trader for the benefit of this study.

In recent years, focus upon logistics has become of paramount importance at all levels of trade and has become a major emphasis in large-scale retail, especially those with a high and fast turnover i.e. supermarkets.

This is reflected in recent reports:

"A prime objective of any business should be constantly to seek ways of reducing the total costs of ownership while lowering their own costsK"

Cost of ownership is the costs above

The grocery department had three main problem areas.

Presentation of fresh meat looked excellent. The quality of the meat was good, with code-life products able to last through the weekend. This too is very encouraging. The Meat counter follows the SMIII culture well. This is good as it helps to maximize the efficiency of the system for the inventory and forecasting. Helping to minimize disruption throughout the weekend. The staff should be praised for this.

There were a number of problems with the produce department.

Some common words found in the essay are:
III SMIII, Logistics Logistics, Iceland Safeway, Management System, space allocation, shelf space, inventory management, customer satisfaction, management systems, inventory management systems, sales maximized, night team, customer retention, affect forecasting, stock levels, Stock Management, space allocated product, sales maximized space, bad organization stock, maximized space allocation,
Approximate Word count = 3369
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page double spaced)