1. Chapter 3 The logistics product
1.Nature of the logistics product
2.The curve
3.Product characteristics
4.Product packaging
5.Product pricing
6.Incentive pricing arrangement
The Logistics Product

2. Nature of the logistics product
Classifying products:
1.customer products.
a. convenience products.
b. shopping product.
c. specialty products.
2.industrial products.
Ex: raw materials, component
parts, used in the
manufacturing process.
The Logistics Product

3. Customer products b. shopping product a.convenience products
there products require wide distribution
ex: Pepsi-cola and coca-cola
telephone companies
banking services.
b. shopping product
customers are willing to seek and compare
The Logistics Product

4. Customer products
distribution costs for such suppliers are somewhat lower than for convenience products, and product distribution need not be as widespread.
Ex: fashion clothes, automobiles, home furnishings and medical care.
c.specialty products
Buyers are willing to expend a substantial effort and often to wait a significant amount of time in order to acquire them.
Ex. Custom-made automobiles, professional musicians.
The Logistics Product

5. The product life cycle Introduction : new product.
Growth : increase rapidly.
Maturity : growth is slow or stabilized at a peak.
Decline : the sales volume declines.
The Logistics Product

6. The 80-20 curve Pareto’s law
80% of a firm’s sales are generated by 20% of product line items.
Useful in distribution planning when the products are grouped or classified by their sales activity.
The top 20% might be called A items, the next 30% B items, and the remainder C items
ITEMS(%) SALES(%) A B C
The Logistics Product

7. Step 1 : Ranked according to sales volume.
Step 2 : Calculated cumulative percent of total sales.
Step 3 : Calculated cumulative percent of total items.
The Logistics Product

8. Advanced decisions
Determine the relationship between various percentages of items and sales.
where Y = cumulative fraction of sales
X = cumulative fraction of items
A = a constant to be determined.
Ex: If 25 percent of the items (X) represent 70 percent of the sales (Y), then
The Logistics Product

9. Box 3.8 EXAMPLES
Suppose that a certain warehouse is to store 11 of the 14 items (shown in Table 3-10, except for items 4,9, and 10)
X=0.21, Y=0.68 (21% of the items result in 68% of the sales), then A=0.143.
Turnover ratio
(annual sales / average inventory)
A items is 7/1.
B items is 5/1.
C items is 3/1.
If the annual sales through the warehouse are forecast to be $25,000, how much inventory investment in the warehouse can be expected?
The Logistics Product

10. (-)
11107/7=1586.4
4889/ 7=
2284.8
The Logistics Product

11. Product characteristics
Influence logistic strategy
Weight
Volume
Value
Perishability
Flammability
Substitutability
The Logistics Product

12. Weight-Bulk ratio High weight-bulk ratio
rolled steel, printed materials, canned foods.
good utilization of transportation equipment and storage facilities.
See figure 3-3, the product density increases, both storage and transportation costs decline.
Box 3.9
JCPenney ships catalog furniture items in a knocked-down condition.
The Logistics Product

13. Value-weight ratio See figure 3-4
electronic equipment, jewelry, musical instruments
higher storage costs
lower transportation costs
U-shaped total logistics cost curve (trade-off)
The Logistics Product

14. Substitutability Little or no difference between a firm’s product
Many food and drug products have a highly substitutable
Substitutability can be viewed in terms of lost sales to the suppliers
The Logistics Product

15. Figure 3-5 (b) increase inventory level to reduce the lost sales.
Figure 3-5(a) show that improved transportation can be used to reduce lost sales (more readily available to the customer).
Figure 3-5 (b) increase inventory level to reduce the lost sales.
The Logistics Product

16. Risk characteristics Perishability (fresh fruits and whole blood)
Flammability tendency to explore (gas, oil)
Value, ease be stolen (pens. watches. cigarettes)
Special treatment, whether transportation, storage or packaging, adds to the cost of distribution.
See figure 3-6.
The Logistics Product

17. Product packaging To facilitate storage and handling.
To promote better utilization of transport equipment.
To provide product protection.
To promote the sale of the product.
To change the product density.
To facilitate the use of the product.
To provide reuse value for the customer.
The Logistics Product

18. Box 3.10 Johnson & Johnson Diapers Be packaged 12 or 24 to the box.
Change the product density.
Not only did this satisfy marketing, but it would save on storage, transportation and packaging costs as well.
The Logistics Product

19. Product pricing Geographic pricing methods
F.o.b pricing (free on board) ,see figure 3-7.
Zone pricing, see figure 3-8.
Single, or uniform pricing.
Freight equalization pricing.
Basing point pricing.
The Logistics Product

20. Incentive pricing arrangement
Quantity discounts.
See figure 3-9.
A B C
Transportation cost / case
Manufacturing and sales costs
The Logistics Product