Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies Option

Industry Snapshot...

• U.S. logistics industry size: $900 billion - almost double the size of the high-tech industry, or more than 10 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (Source: U.S. Department of Commerce). Global logistics size: $3.43 trillion (Michigan State University - Drs. Donald Bowersox and Calantone).
• U.S. contract logistics industry size: $46 billion, with an average annual growth rate of between 10-15 percent each year. (Armstrong and Associates).
• Inventory is expensive: U.S. companies spend $4 billion a year on inventory interest, $8 billion on taxes, obsolescence, depreciation and insurance, and $2 billion on warehousing (Cass Information Systems).
• Total logistics activities make up 15-20 percent of finished product costs. (International Warehouse Logistics Association).
• Nearly 75 percent of U.S. manufacturers and suppliers are either using or considering a contract logistics service, and that figure will go higher (survey by Ernst & Young LLP).
• About 60 percent of 123 companies surveyed using a third-party logistics firm said logistics was a core competency, and almost 80 percent thought that logistics represented a key competitive advantage (Ernst & Young LLP).
• Satisfaction levels remain high: 86 percent of survey respondents who had outsourced some part of their logistics operations said the experience proved to be successful (Ernst & Young LLP).

Source:
http://www.menloworldwide.com/mww/en/aboutus/logistics_industry.shtml

Where the Jobs Are...

Logistics management offers everything that you want in a career—job openings at all levels, excellent salaries, upward mobility, exciting responsibilities and worldwide opportunities within the function, and throughout the company. Logistics involves so many critical business activities that nearly every Fortune 500 and Global 500 company can be considered a potential employer for logistics managers. The same can be said for smaller public and private companies around the world. From the largest automobile manufacturers to the smallest zipper producers, any company that purchases and/or sells products has a need for logistics professionals to manage the flow of product and information locally, nationally, and internationally. Service firms like hospitals and restaurant chains such as McDonald’s must also manage logistics activities. The following represents a sample of the types of businesses and organizations that students upon graduation could work for as a logistics manager:

Source: Brian Gibson, Marcia Gibson, and Steve Rutner, "Careers in Logistics", Council of

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