Challenges of Global Logistics

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Global Logistics: The Benefits and Challenges Centralizing global production to a limited number of plants can lower per-unit cost of goods and simultaneously reduce a company’s asset base by having fewer plants. Here is a look at how to make this strategy pay off and avoid the pitfalls many have faced in the process. | | | By David J. Closs While many U.S. and Canadian firms have demonstrated their ability to operate international logistics pipe- lines for decades, particularly across our common border, extending such sourcing and delivery pipelines across oceans substantially increases both the opportunities and challenges. There are many firms that are taking up these challenges as they recognize the benefits of lower cost sourcing or increased market size. While the benefits are obvious to comprehend, the issues and challenges are not as well defined. This article reviews some of the opportunities and discusses some of the related logistics challenges. Benefits Achievable Through Global Logistics Effective operationalization of global logistics opens up many opportunities to North American firms including low cost sourcing, increased markets, and increased economies of scale. Firms having effective global logistics operations can take advantage of low cost sourcing for components, labor, or expertise. While low cost sourcing is an objective of many firms, they want to go global to increase revenue opportunities. Since the growth rates for many products have slowed in North American markets, the only means to achieve organic growth is to extend to other markets. Effective selling in international markets requires either the creation of an international sales organization or extended relationships with international supply chain partners. In the first case, the firm experiences substantial risk while in the second, there is a loss of control. The final
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