INTRODUCTION.

Logistics is the management of the flow of goods and services between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet the requirements of customers. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and often security. Logistics is a channel of the supply chain which adds the value of time and place utility. Today the complexity of production logistics can be modeled, analyzed, visualized and optimized by plant simulation software. There are various categories of logistics which may include; a. Business logistics b. Production logistics c. Management logistics Business logistics. Business logistics can be defined as "having the right item in the right quantity at the right time at the right place for the right price in the right condition to the right customer", and is the science of process and incorporates all industry sectors. The goal of logistics work is to manage the fruition of project life cycles, supply chains and resultant efficiencies. In business, logistics may have either internal focus (inbound logistics), or external focus (outbound logistics) covering the flow and storage of materials from point of origin to point of consumption .The main functions of a qualified logistician include inventory management, purchasing, transportation, warehousing, consultation and the organizing and planning of these activities. Logisticians combine a professional knowledge of each of these functions to coordinate resources in an organization. There are two fundamentally different forms of logistics: one optimizes a steady flow of material through a network of transport links and storage nodes; the other coordinates a sequence of resources to carry out some project.
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Production logistics The term production logistics is used to describe logistic processes within an industry. The purpose of production logistics is to ensure that each machine and workstation is being fed with the right product in the right quantity and quality at the right time. The concern is not the transportation itself, but to streamline and control the flow through value-adding processes and eliminate nonvalue-adding ones. Production logistics can be applied to existing as well as new plants. Manufacturing in an existing plant is a constantly changing process. Machines are exchanged and new ones added, which gives the opportunity to improve the production logistics system accordingly. Production logistics provides the means to achieve customer response and capital efficiency. Production logistics is becoming more important with decreasing batch sizes. In many industries (e.g. mobile phones), a batch size of one is the short-term aim, allowing even a single customer's demand to be fulfilled efficiently. Track and tracing, which is an essential part of production logisticsdue to product safety and product reliability issuesis also gaining importance, especially in the automotive and medical industries.

Management logistics Logistics is that part of the supply chain which plans, implements and controls the efficient, effective forward and reverse flow and storage of goods, services and related information between the point of origin and the point of consumption in order to meet customer and legal requirements. A professional working in the field of logistics management is called a logistician. Logistics management is known by many names, the most common are as follows:

Materials Management Channel Management Distribution (or Physical Distribution) Business or Logistics Management or
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Supply Chain Management

In Kenya there are various activities that enable our economy to grow. In this term paper I am going to cover some of this activities and how logistics can help improve them. There are various activities associated with logistics they include; Customer service; This involves providing of goods and services to the customers taking into consideration that they should be of high quality, delivered at the most convenient place with the right quantity. This is ensuring that the customers needs are met effectively to keep them satisfied with the service provided. Transportation These activities involves the following mode and transport service selection, freight consolidation, carrier routing,

Vehicle scheduling, Equipment selection

Inventory management- it involves the following activities. Raw material and finished goods Stocking policies, Short-term sales forecasting, Product mix at stocking points, Number, size and location of stocking Points,
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Just in time, push and pull strategies

Warehousing Space determination, Stock layout and dock design, Warehouse configuration Stock placement

Material handling Equipment selection, Equipment replacement policies, Order picking policies, Stock storage and retrieval, Effects of logistics can easily be felt in the various economic sectors of our organizations in Kenya. Various economic activities involve logistics being practiced in great numbers. In many developed countries there is adequate allocation of resources due to logistics being practiced. Incase of any disaster they are able to address the situation effectively and as fast as possible because they have planned their activities logistically.

Transportation industry;
In Kenya there are various means of transportation, they include roads, air, rail, water. These activities have to be carried out logistically to ensure that the activities run smoothly and as expected.

Air; There are various airlines in the country for example Kenya airways, British airways, flying emirates. These airlines have got planes that land in the airport in this case the Jomo Kenyatta international airport. The planes have to be scheduled effectively to ensure that there is no congestion in the air. These companies apply logistics in various ways for example they identify the locations they will be flying to, they come up with departure and arrival time taking into consideration the check out time. Most of the airlines come up with affordable rates to ensure customers are able to achieve them easily. Under customer service, many companies apply total quality management; this is to ensure that the services that they offer to their customers are of high quality. Treatment of the customers once they have boarded they plane and once they alight should be good. There is a lot of competition in terms of the rates being charged and the number of destinations they fly to. Rail; This mode of transport is not much popular in Kenya. Its mainly used in the transportation of bulky goods from Kenya to other neighboring countries. Application of logistics in rail transportation involves determination of the routes to offer transport to, the rate to be charged and the number of trips to make. Trains need to be planned effectively to avoid congestion on the rails and also confusion on the rails.

Road; This is the most popular mode of transport. It is widely used by the majority of people. Logistics applies to the number of cars on the road; it ensures that people are able to save much fuel lost while in traffic. All these modes help the Kenyan economy to develop in various ways. The transportation of goods from the warehouse to the firm requires time to be taken into consideration. Various organizations even the government is able to apply logistics in transportation to ensure economic growth.

Service industry;
This is firms that provide services to Kenyans. Their aim to ensure that the services provided are of high quality and affordable to customers. Telecommunication service. There are various telecommunication service providers; they are safaricom, airtel, yu and orange. Each of these companies carries out logistics of the number of subscribers, the rate to be charged and the areas there network covers. These companies are very successful in that they are able to ensure their network clarity. This is because logistic helps them to know which areas their network is not covered appropriately. It helps them to know the number of subscribers providing services that services to them because they can manage them easily. Banking industries. In Kenya there are various banks that have been put up. Some of them are international while others are local banks.

They ensure economic growth by providing funds to the Kenyan citizen giving them opportunity to invest in the economy. They apply logistics in determining the interest rates to be charged in loans, mortgages, coming up with the total figure for all the customers. Banks have the role of ensuring that customers money is kept well and made available when needed. They have got various branches to ensure ease accessibility by customers. They have to carry out logistics to determine the number of branches to open. Logistics also help them to allocate their ATMS in areas accessible by the customers. Also helps to determine the period the loan is to cover thus the banks are able to know when the loan falls due. Hotel industries Kenya is one of the countries where tourism contributes greatly to the economy. Logistic has a great impact in the hotel industries. For instance they have to carry out logistics on the number of customers they will be receiving in a certain period, the rates to charge and their locations. Many hotels in Kenya are situated in areas with attraction sites, they are able to ensure that their hotels are easily accessible. They ensure that security is tight in those areas to attract more tourists.

Government.
This is the body that serves Kenya as a whole. They are charged with the responsibility of ensures public goods and services are available, accessible and affordable to all people. They use tax as the main source of income. Logistics is essential in that; It is able to provide statistics on the countrys population.
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Come up with the budget of the needs of Kenyans Location of various offices charged with provision of such essential services. Rate of tax to be charged on various commodities. The amount of funds to raise through bonds or debentures. The number of tenders to offer to the public to help in service provided. Logistics is crucial to any government of any particular country. This is because the resources have to be provided equally to all Kenyans or its citizen. In case of an emergency, disaster or a calamity, the government is able to rescues its citizens without any difficulties. The government applies logistics in identifying the number if public service officers to ensure proper payments are made to such individuals. For example in the education sector, they are able to come up with number of schools to put up in various parts of the country due to logistics; they are able to identify the amounts to be disbursed.

Conclusion.
The Kenyan economy is currently facing the problem of inflation. This is because of high prices of normal commodity like fuel, food prices. There is high cost of living in the country. Application of logistics in such problems will help a lot. For example incase of fuel, the prices are high because the fuel available is very little. The suppliers of these commodities were not aware of the situation that there would be fuel shortage.

In such situation, they should come up with statistics of the amount of fuel being utilized now, and the amount being demanded then they use the pipeline to transport the fuel because its the most secured mode of transportation off the commodity. Fuel is the backbone of the economy because it will lead to increase in price of the rest of the commodity. Thus logistics can help in dealing with the current fuel crisis. The association of manufacturers should come up with pricing models of their commodities that are friendly to the consumers. Use of logistics will help allocate prices effectively taking into account citizens level of income.

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