Business organisations these days find themselves stuck in a constant cycle of pushing continuously to improve their business. The main reason behind this move is always needing to gain a competitive advantage over other businesses.

1. The Concept of Lean Logistics
Business organisations these days find themselves stuck in a constant cycle of pushing continuously to
improve their business. The main reason behind this move is always needing to gain a competitive
advantage over other businesses. The main source of stress in this situation is due to the need for
reducing time, costs and inventory. One of the important ways that helps a business organisation
considerably improve its business is a supply chain process. This supply chain process is known in the
world as lean logistics.
Lean logistics is the process that is greatly conducive in increasing product flow and its speed by first
recognising and then eliminating any wasteful activities that are hampering the supply chain. Leaner
thinking is a concept that is introduced by businesses into their organisation with the purpose of
achieving leaner logistics. Many advantages can be gained by business organisations through the
implementation of lean thinking into their supply chain. These include a reduction in adverse
environmental impact through a reduction in waste, improvement in customer service and overall
corporate citizenship.
The concept of lean thinking was discovered through manufacturing methods employed by automotive
manufacturers of Japan. As they were faced with minimum resources and shortages, they were forced
to make use of methods which would allow for a production process which worked with minimum
waste. This thinking, after being employed successfully, was later employed in all of the manufacturing
sectors, supply chain management and new product development.
The main idea behind lean logistics and lean thinking is adopting lean principles in manufacturing or
process areas. Most of these organisations have felt constricted because they are lacking lean material
supply processes. This is where lean logistics come in handy as it is all about the tools and principles of
lean that are employed and applied to material supply processes. Starting right from inbound
transportation to warehousing and factory logistics to finished goods, lean helps your business take the
lead over other businesses through competitive advantage.
Lean logistics provide a number of benefits with which a business can expand effectively. First of all, it
provides accurate visibility of inventory in the supply chain. Secondly, through a reduction in inventory,
costs are reduced while premium freight, rework, lead times and line stoppage also witness a significant
decline. Thirdly, there is an improvement in the time taken for delivery and schedule adherence. This
means that the goods will be finished earlier than they previously were. By helping save time, an
additional benefit of saving costs is obtained. Goods are finished on time and much sooner than before.
Another advantage is that it results in customer satisfaction. This would then ensure that the business
can grow easily as without satisfied customers, no business can ever be successful.
It is easy to understand why lean logistics has several advantages that can be utilised for expanding
businesses. It has now become a vital part of all businesses.