Logistics and Supply Chain

Management

Andrzej Szymonik

1. The Concept of Logistics

1.1. Logistics origin, sources and periods of development

Logistics operations have always been accompanying life in human societies,

although the scope of the term "Logistics" as such would change overtime. It is most
probably of Greek origin, which is indicated by the meanings of words such as: logos
- 'counting' or 'reason', logistike - 'the art of calculation', logismos - 'calculation',
'calculus', 'reflection'. They are also the source of the concept of 'logistique', which is
the French meaning for transport, accommodation and supply of troops, as well as the
origin of the English word 'logistics' in its military sense.
Without a doubt, the pedigree of logistics is of military nature, as shown by all
theorists dealing with this area, although the literature also provides information about
the role of the concept in the civilian sphere.
In the 5th century BC, in ancient Greece, logistics was originally associated with
the civilian life. In the context of Greek administration, finances and the economy of
that time, one may come across different names of performed functions, such as:
logistae, logeutai, eklogeis, to which particular ranges of responsibilities and tasks
were assigned.
The logistae function was performed by a person elected by voting (pointed by the
hand) and, in the later period, bydrawing lots. Logistae were the highest authority
controlling affairs concerning finances and property.
Without the approval of the financial bills by this official, a person to whom they
belonged could not leave the country or take any position in the administration.
Moreover, such person was deprived of civil rights and immunities
1
.

1
http://www.logistyka.net.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6913&Itemid=4
0, 16.08.2010.
3

The principles of logistics may be found in the first known treatise, Art of War,
ascribed to the great chief of the Chinese, Sun Tzu (6th - 5th century BC). In his
reflections, he presented a balance of logistics needs in the time of war and the
capacity of his own country, and the newly gained territories, to meet this demand.
Sun Tzu advocated planning military operations in such a way that would not destroy
the domestic economic potential. He would also characterize some principles of
economic organizations in the military field, for example food supply standards, or
the norms of use of the local resources
2
.
Leon the Sixth, the Byzantine emperor at the beginning of the 10th century AD,
wrote a work in Greek, called The Sumaric Outline of Martial Arts, in which, along
with strategy and tactics, he also distinguished logistics. The latter was supposed to
deal primarily with the calculations of marching distances of troops, and with the
assessment of enemy terrain and forces
3
.
General A. H. Jomini (1779-1869)in his work: Summary of the Art of War,
published in 1837 in Paris, in the sixth chapter entitled: On Logistics or the Practical
Art of MovingArmies, he assigns such processes to Logistics as: location and
supplying of storages, planning and realization of marches, roads preparation,
organizing means of transport and supplying troops. He points out that Napoleon's
defeat in the Russian campaign had been directly related to the faulty supply system,
the underestimation of the role of transport and inadequate organization of the bases
and the sanitary service
4
. From the military point of view, under the term: ‘logistics’,
Jomini understood organizational and planning undertakings of the general
headquarters, aimed to lead and command the army. He defined Logistics as a
pragmatic art of movement and supply of troops, transport, roads construction and
military storages location and supply, which is depicted by Figure 1.1
2
Sun Tzu, Sztuka Wojny , Warsaw 1994, pp. 11-17.
3
See Gösta, B. Jhde, Transport, Verkehr Logistik, Verlag Franz Vahlen 1984, München pp.
23-25.
4
Grand Larousse Encyklopedia T. 6, Libraire Larusse, Paris 1962, pp. 816.

Figure 1.1:Logistics, by precursor views of A.H. de Jomini

Source: K. Ficoń, Procesy logistyczne w przedsiębiorstwie, Pulse Plus Consulting, Gdynia 2001, p. 12

Since that time, logistics in military terminology is understood as transport

processes management, deployment, accommodation and troops supply - the areas of
theory and practice of military activity. It became widespread during the Second
World War.
In the United States of America, admiral A. T. Mahan (1840-1914), the founder of the
maritime theory and Logistics of naval forces, pointed to the role of the economic
potential of a country in a contemporary war. He called attention to the enormous
importance of supply lines, fixed and floating bases and stocking fuel
5
.
A great merit to the development of Logistics thought was put by G. C. Thorpe
(1875-1936), who is contemporarily regarded as the precursor of American logistics.
In 1917 he published Pure Logistics: The Science of War Preparations, which
provided scientific grounds for the development of principles of practical functioning
of logistics. He postulated for logistics to be integrated with engineering,
administration and repair undertakings, as well as with troops training. Among other
things, Thorpe included in logistics the process of the country economic preparation

5
W. Stankiewicz, Nowe trendy we współczesnej logistyce zachodniej [, AON, Warsaw 1995,
p. 8.
Great tactics
Small tactics
Strategy
Logistics by A.H. de JOMINI
Military
movements
planning
Storage
points
location
Allocation
of transport
Millitary
supply
Road
building
5

to war, the mobilization of economy and the functioning of the defense industry. This
way, Logistics trespassed on the areas of activity connected with civilian life, biding
the front and the backup into one
6
.
A major contribution to the logistics was made by a British citizen, G. C. Shaw,
who in 1938 published a monograph: Supply in Modern War. In this work, he
concentrated on establishing principles of supply, transportation, and exploitation of
arms in the field. A revolutionary transformation in the technical advancement of the
Armed Forces equipment, which took place in the interwar period with its beginnings
during World War I, caused changes in military tactics. Shaw noticed a contradiction
between the logistics need of troops caused by the ‘technicalization’ of the army, and
the limited efficiency of the still-existent ‘old’ system of logistics support. The
technological improvement of the army imposed new requirements on the logistics
system, giving it new possibilities at the same time.
Shaw formulated four principles of Armed Forces supplies: self-sufficiency,
limited self-sufficiency, the supplementation from the backup and local
supplementation. Many of Shaw's suggestions found their practical application in
logistics functioning in World War II. His analysis of the role of spare parts and repair
techniques for combat organization, along with the concepts of material and
procedural standardization, are, also today, an example of good logistics thinking
7
.
During the Second World War, the USA Department of Defense established
interdisciplinary teams, the task of which was to develop mathematical planning
models and apply them to solve the logistics problems of the American army
interested in supply of materials for military activity support, efficiently coordinated
in space and time. The issues needing resolution were the location and supply of
storage points and transportation problems. This is how these project teams created a
foundation for the development of a new discipline - logistics
8
.
The USA troops landing in Europe, popularized the concept of Logistics, however
not without certain resistance from the allies. Only after the creation of NATO with

6
W. Stankiewicz, Logistyka. Z zagadnień gospodarki wojskowej państw NATO, Warsaw
1968, pp. 44-49.
7
W. Stankiewicz, Nowe trendy…, op. cit., pp. 15-18.
8
F.J. Beier, K. Rutkowski, Logistyka, SGH Warsaw 1995, p. 15
6

the United States and its leading role there, not only did they popularize the notion of
logistics in the terminology of the allies, but also fostered the adaptation of
organizational structures, principles and procedures into the national systems of those
countries. In British publications from the period 1940 - 1950, the concept of
"logistics" is yet rare to be found and similarly to the French, it is defined as
"administration", understood as a synonym for logistics
9
. By military administration,
the Europeans understood supplies, transport and hospitalization.
For the dissemination of the very concept and scope of logistics, it was of huge
importance that the term "logistics" was included into the British Encyclopedia, with
its definition formulated by an American, R. M. Leightone. According to him,
logistics"in American administration, a term widely used to describe a wide range of
non-combat actions, especially connected with supplies, transport, civil engineering
and care and evacuation of the sick and wounded”
10
.
The logistics models and forms of system analysis have been effectively used by
the armed forces interested in logistics support for military operations, coordinated in
space and time. However, in the post-war economic practice, they were ignored or
forgotten, as once again, there were no conditions favorable for their use. The
increasing post-war need for goods made the managers focus on meeting the demand.
In literature, one may also find the opinion that the merging of military logistics
experience into the civilian sphere directly after World War II, was impossible due to
the lack of equipment (such ase.g. computers today) and its high cost and effort of
hand calculations, resulting from this shortage of means
11
.
The military concept of "logistics", along with a significant part of the scope of
activities connected with this term, have been transferred into the civilian economy by
American managers only as late as in mid 50s. In the beginning, instead of "Logistics"
the term used was Physical Distribution Management
12
.
A clear breakthrough came with the use of computers and quantitive methods in
distribution, when the recession would force reduction and tighter control of the costs.

9
W. Stankiewicz, Nowe trendy…, op. cit., p. 19.
10
R.M. Leighton, Encyclopedia Britannica, T. 14, 1964, p. 325.
11
M. Brzeziński, Systemy w logistyce WAT, Warsaw 2007, p. 29.
12
Cf. www.znko.org/buda/logistycznaobslugaprzedsiebiorstw, 16.08.2010.
7

Then, a developed market economy imposed the use of military Logistics in civilian
activity, as evidenced by terminology specified in Figure 1.2.

Fig. 1.2.: Military terminology in civilian economy.

Source: K. Ficoń: Procesy logistyczne w przedsiębiorstwie, Impuls Plus Consulting, Gdynia 2001, p. 17.

Logistics would develop gradually. In professional literature, we may find several

approaches to the problem. And so, E. Gołembska provides one of the possible
classifications of logistics stages of development
13
.

1. Before 1950 – ‘silent' years

2. 1950 to 1970 - time of development
3. 1971 until today.
Currently, I think, we may distinguish four stages:
1. Stage one applies to the period of the 1950s and earlier. It is the period when the
producer's market is dominant. Logistics operations are fragmentary,
logisticssections are not integrated, neither are they based on a single concept.
Here, we are to deal with the following spheres:
 purchase and supply, connected with actions such as: forecasting the demand,