Critical Review of Global Logistics

Critical Review of
Global Logistics
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
(a). Identify the firm’s inbound and outbound logistics networks.........................................3
(b). (i) Analyse the impact of Coronavirus on firm’s global logistics operations..................4
(ii) Describe how firm managed the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic and made their
logistics network less vulnerable............................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
(a)Examine how the global manufacturer, along with their intermediaries, effectively co-
creates and adds value to their logistics operations and simultaneously optimises costs......5
(b) (i)Analyse how the firm’s marketing channel network can be improved through the use of
appropriate technologies for communicating and sharing information with the rest part of the
network...................................................................................................................................7
(ii)Considering the firm’s marketing channel network, explain the key lessons learnt as a
result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic..................................................................8
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
(a) Improving their supply chain dimensions in their inbound and outbound channels by
aligning the circular economy and Industry 4.0.....................................................................8
(b) A set of operational decision that is undertaken by the global manufacturer with the help
of innovation led approaches in their logistic operations.......................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES:...............................................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
Global logistics are concerned with the management of flow of goods from one place to
another place (Chhetri and et.al., 2018). Due to globalisation, it is found that trade in one
location to another location is increasing every day and that's why it is important for an
organisation that they should improve their logistics operations. This report aims to analyse the
global logistics in context of Unilever. Unilever is the UK based organisations that run their
business in overall market. They are providing goods and services in all over the world such as
India, United States, Germany, etc. The headquartered of Unilever is located in London, England
and it is founded in 1929. This report will be discussing inbound and outbound logistics
networks of an organisation and the impact of pandemic on logistics operation. It will also
discuss global manufactures and intermediaries which creates and add values in the
organisation's logistics operations. In addition to this, it will also discuss circular economy and
Industry 4.0 which should be align with the logistics.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
(a). Identify the firm’s inbound and outbound logistics networks
Logistics are playing an important role in the success and growth of an organisation.
Logistics are dealing with the coordination with the storage and movement of resources such as
inventory, goods and resources (Mallidis and et.al., 2018). When company is dealing in global
operations then it becomes more important to review their logistics. Their logistics need to be
effective in order to achieve the organisational goals and objectives. In the case of Unilever, it is
the multinational organisation that operates in many countries. This is the reason that they should
improve their logistics operations in order to ensure the smooth flow of goods. Logistics are
considered as two types which are discussed below:
 Inbound logistics: Inbound logistics are concerned with the movement of raw materials
from suppliers to manufacturing plan of an organisation. That means inbound logistics is
refers to flow of raw materials from suppliers to Unilever manufacturing plant. It is
necessary to be effective in order to maintain the stock (Guide to Inbound and Outbound
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Logistics: Processes, Differences and How to Optimize, 2020). Unilever has MatchPay
system which deals in process invoicing. MatchPay is found to be the process in which
Unilever is trying to match the invoice with the authoritative source records for the
purpose of verification.
 Outbound logistics: It is concerned with the outbound movement of final goods to the
end user. In the case of outbound logistics, cass receives and shipment records are daily
save on the regular basis through Unilever's SAP system. It is also found that Unilever is
providing a unique bill number to each shipment record. After that they generate a cass
rating and then Unilever make groups of accrual accounts. In the last, when invoice
arrives then it is verified by cass authorities and audits against that records. It is similar
applicable to inbound logistics.
(b). (i) Analyse the impact of Coronavirus on firm’s global logistics operations
It is very important to note that COVID-19 pandemic provided a great influence on
logistics operations of Unilever. Due to the lock down announcement, it is found that all services
of transportations were stopped and that's why the movement of flow of goods are also stopped.
This provided a negative impact on the logistics operations. It is identified that not only local
logistics operations but also global logistics operations are also found to be impacted due to
pandemic situation. Unilever is unable to do business due to pandemic effects. It stopped their
transportation and flow of goods of every locations. This was the difficult time period for
Unilever as they are unable to satisfy the needs and wants of customers. It is found that
government allowed only movement of basic necessities and essential goods.
(ii) Describe how firm managed the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic and made their logistics
network less vulnerable.
After the discussion of all challenges of logistics due to the pandemic situation, it is
analysed that Unilever took many steps so that they are able to achieve their old position in the
market. After pandemic, it becomes difficult to survive in new normals and that's why they took
some action in which some important are intentioned below:
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