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Why Logistics Systems Depend on Human Experience and Common Sense
by: George Whitecraft
Imagine that the view you have is of the earth's surface, like a Google satellite
map, and with a single click you can zoom in to any portion of the world
where you have logistics or resupply responsibilities. A single click and
you can instantly obtain an accurate logistics situational assessment of
a broad, wide-ranging area.
Click again and your view and focus narrows even more. At this new level,
you get a more detailed, local assessment of the logistic situation, say
of a particular country. Click once more and you're presented with a picture
of the logistical situation of a particular city or perhaps a company within
that municipality.
Sound like the far off future? Not at all.
The hardware and software to accomplish the "futuristic" scenario just described
has been developed and is available for use practically worldwide. And the
implications are phenomenal in terms of the production, moving and storing
whatever types of materials a given company might require. But there's a
big problem looming for those who might mistake these modern tools for cure-all
logistic wonders.
Granted, much of the hardware and software capabilities available in today's
marketplace comes to industry from military applications where the concepts
were battle-tested and proven effective in all types of terrain and environments.
And the software and hardware has been refined to the point that now most
of these "futuristic" applications can be run on a simple hand held device
like a Palm pilot.
These applications literally allow the operator to "see" the logistic situation
of the entity that is being examined and to quickly assess and make reliable
logistic estimates based upon the scenario presented. But, guess what. The
system isn't perfect.
In fact, the system is far from perfect because it's reliability hinges on
something that often times proves quite unreliable – the human being.
Any logistic system such as the one envisioned above requires three distinct
and separate components to provide useful logistic data to the end user.
First, the person designing the system has to have a thorough understanding
of the organizational needs of the company or entity that will utilize the
system. A miscalculation in this vital area can have devastating effects
on the system's overall reliability and usefulness.
But let's say the planners get it right and the logistician now holds the
"perfect" hardware and software combination required to produce an accurate
logistics assessment for his particular needs. That leads us to our secondary
concern – the person inputting the logistics data at the organizational
level where the goods are required. If that data is faulty, then the information
others in the supply chain rely on is equally suspect and prone to inaccuracies.
But let's say we've got the perfect system, and our logistic operator at
the organization level inputs accurate data. That still leaves one final
area of concern - the recipient of the logistic estimate.
In other words, the logistician on the receiving end of this equation must
make reasonable judgments when interpreting the data the system provides.
That's the reason it's called a logistics "estimate." And if he doesn't interpret
the data he receives correctly and develop a reasonable resupply strategy
based upon it and his logistical experience – no amount of "futuristic"
software or hardware will help.
A prudent logistician will realize that software and hardware tools are just
that. Tools to help him make better supply decisions. No tool yet has been
developed that can replicate human experience and common sense. Perhaps that's
a good thing.
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