Logistics is pure common sense, not rocket science. It has existed since the Adam and Eve era

Logistics and supply chain (LSC) were not invented or discovered in the USA or Europe. If we accept that homo sapiens originated on Planet Earth several million years ago, then the so-called LSC was practiced right from then and, of course, not known by that ‘jargon’

Logistics Monitor/By Ramesh Kumar

An Ahmedabad-based friend expressed discomfort that he is pretty new to the domain of logistics and supply chain (LSC) and his latest assignment demands he ghostwrites on behalf of his boss. “I am clueless. Help me how to gain knowledge and confidence [about logistics and supply chain],” was his cryptic SOS.

It is pure common sense. Logistics and supply chain were not invented or discovered in the USA or Europe. If we accept homo sapiens originated on Planet Earth several million years ago, the so-called LSC was practiced right from then and, of course, not known by that “jargon”.

As luck would have it, another professional in the same domain sought clarity on warehousing terminologies. So often, words create confusion. It is no secret that professionals generate “we only know” terminologies as a tribal custom. Clannish? Every profession or discipline has its syllabi! Nothing special about the LSC practitioner.

Around 2010, I had sought a meeting with Soman Nambiar, a doyen in the domain. He was in Bengaluru, and I was in Pune. “Oh, you are in PNQ!” he messaged. For a while, I did not understand what PNQ stood for. Then it hit me that Nambiar is a freight forwarding professional, and he is used to such short forms for locations.

Another time, a driver said he was sitting in the “conductor seat”. He meant that he was not driving but sitting in the passenger seat next to the driver. A non-truck driver will not understand. But then, I did not. Today, I do.

Jargons, jargons! “End-to-end solution”, a favorite phrase with the LSC tribe, is on the top of my hate list! What they mean is that they would “do everything from start to end.” Why can’t they say it in those simple words? Heard of “mission-critical”? It conveys that it is “imperative.”

I always marveled at my mother’s arrangement of the provision in the kitchen cupboard or shelf with no labels. Those items she needs more frequently are kept as close as possible to her. Those items not that often required are kept away. Salt, mustard, gingelly oil, etc., always occupy the nearest space to the stove. Tamarind, rice, wheat, rava, urad dal, etc., are not that near.

Open the fridge. The arrangement is more or less the same. Curd, milk, bread are there the moment you open them. Rest at the back of the fridge. But, again, convenience and usage pattern dictates positioning.

Warehouse professionals perform the same task and use Warehouse Management System (WMS), which helps them quickly retrieve ordered items from the shelves. Sure, volumes are enormous. Need better organisational capacity.

In the Payasam episode of Maniratnam-directed Navarasa on Netflix, the head cook’s orchestration of his department for the sumptuous wedding lunch excited me over his managerial caliber. Which university did he enroll in to study procurement and operation management? None! Pure experience. Common sense. It was again a lot to do with LSC.

When the then Railway Minister George Minister stood up in Parliament to present the rail budget in 1990 and the newsroom in one of the papers I was working in Mumbai, someone from the newsdesk asked: “What is rolling stock?” Honestly, there was dead silence, and no answer was available. Luckily, quickly the suburban ticket hike/non-hike solved the problem by shifting focus. Jargon stumped the journos!

Milk run was another shocker for me, at least, when I first stumbled upon this phrase. What has milk run got to do with inbound logistics? The mystery got resolved when a senior executive came to my rescue. He explained that milk run is “a simple exercise of collecting various components from different sellers operating in specified geography and bringing them to the factory.”

Since Adam and Eve, biblically referencing, or simple Charles Darwin’s aadhi manavadu (our ancestors, ages ago), logistics and supply chain were prevalent. Otherwise, they would not have survived. Like air, water, and sex, LSC was essential. Over millenniums, operational efficiency improved through observation and experimentation—the technological induction in LSC further improved process innovation.

3PLs seek business from potential clients promising operational efficiency. First, they study existing practices and then finetune the same. We are talking about process innovation, not product innovation.

Geo-fencing, supply chain visibility, and such terms are new, not their import and practice. They existed from Adam and Eve era. Simply put, LSC is pure common sense, not rocket science.

My Ahmedabad ghostwriter friend was unconvinced. “That’s fine, but how soon I will be able to use that jargon?” he asked. Ugh! Incorrigible!

• The main image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay has been used for illustrative purpose only
• Ramesh Kumar’s previous column, dated September 24, 2021, for The News Porter: Why celebrate drivers? Because, remove them from society and we may have to return to cave ages – THE NEWS PORTER

[The author is a business journalist specializing in logistics and supply chain. He has traveled 200,000 km on the Indian highways, met over 100,000 long-haul truck drivers across India since January 2010. He has authored three books: 10,000KM on Indian Highways, Naked Banana! and An Affair With Indian Highways. He is a Life Member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transportation (CILT-India Chapter). He can be reached at konsultramesh@gmail.com. In this column, ‘Logistics Monitor’, he presents a global perspective on logistics and supply chain. The views are the author’s own and The News Porter bears no responsibility for the same.]