6.6 Marketing Logistics and Supply Channel Management

	Marketing management encompasses delivering right product to the right customer at the right time.
	Some products are produced in bulk that requires storage before the final delivery to the customers.
	Marketing Logistics: Nature and Importance.

		In the contemporary competitive business environment companies find it difficult to maintain their competitive advantage based on the product, price, place or promotion.
		This makes companies to focus more on logistics to maintain and regain their advantages over other companies.
		Marketing logistics involves planning, implementing and controlling the physical flow of goods and services and related information from points of origins to points of consumption to meet customer requirements at a profit (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004).
		Marketing logistics therefore reduce cost for the company. It also gives competitive advantage of the firm over other competitors.

Goals of the Logistics system.

		Companies must be clear about the objectives they want to attain.
		Some companies want to maximise sales and others want to maximise profits.
		Still others want to deliver satisfactory service to their clients at least cost.

6.6 Marketing Logistics and Supply Channel Management

		It should be clear that it is not easy to combine increase in customer satisfaction with decrease in cost.
		Increase in satisfaction means closeness to the market, immediate delivery to the customer and flexibilities among others.
		All these add costs to the company but increase satisfaction to the customers.
		So the company has to make cost and benefit analysis for any logistics decisions.

Functions of Logistics

		Logistics is complex but important aspect of modern marketing.
		It performs several functions such as procurement, warehousing, inward transportation and inventory management.

Warehousing

		It becomes necessary for an established company to possess warehouse where it can keep its own products before sales.
		This is because the production cycle and consumption cycle are rarely matched.
		In order to avoid waste of some products that are non-durable and could easily be spoiled warehousing is needed.

6.6 Marketing Logistics and Supply Channel Management

		Warehouse is the practice of storing, holding and handling goods in a warehouse.
		Warehouse serve as a receiving as well distribution centre without which a lot of inconveniences would be faced by all parties in the business of buying and selling a product of a company.

Inventory Management

		Inventory management is the active control program that allows the managements of sales, purchase and payments.
		It affects customer satisfaction. In this regard there is need to determine the quantity of inventory needs to be supplied to avoid taking too little or too much stocks.
		In either case, it involves dissatisfactions from customers and management.
		For instance, when there is no stock and the customer needs the product, he will feel dissatisfied or he will go and purchase from competitors.
		Thus the company may risk losing customer.
		For this purpose there is need for accurate forecasting about the need of customers.
		Handling inventories need efficiencies

6.6 Marketing Logistics and Supply Channel Management

Transportation

		Transportation choice of a company depends on many factors.
		Some of these are cost, choice of the customer, safety, nature of the products and duration among others.
		The choice also affects the pricing of the products, delivery performance and above all satisfaction of the customer (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004).
		The options of transportation could be through trucks, rail, sea, air and pipeline.