Quo vadis, logistica?
This abstract answers the following questions: "Is it necessary to do things differentia telly?", "Do new strategies express new technologies as well?", Are the cost savings still important?, "Which effects can be achieved by logistic solutions?", Things are necessary to where they can be done better?", "Which are limits of that?", "How does the development effects the logistic market?", "Could firms choose the right logistic partners?".
Innovation in Logistics: The Impact on Transport and the Environment
Publisher Summary This chapter examines the innovations in logistics and their impact on transport and the environment. It emphasizes on three important innovations: (1) centralization of inventory, (2) 24-hour lorry operations, and (3) just-in time delivery. It also describes companies' motivations in relation to logistics and the consequences for transport. It also explores the policy initiatives that might succeed in reducing the environmental impact of road-freight transport. One of the classic relationships in logistics is the tradeoff between warehousing-arid transports. As the number of warehouses increases, the cost of operating them also increases, but transport operating cost falls, for a constant throughput of goods through the warehouse. Companies carrying high-value inventory, have been keen to convert to a system of distribution based on a central warehouse, rather than maintaining a network of, say, 10 regional warehouses. The consequences for transport of centralizing inventory have been calculated using P–E International's TRANSPLAN distribution software package.
Data Driven Policy: The Case for Certification Research
This article describes the program of research being implemented to investigate the outcomes of certification in the U.S. and Canadian workforce and its relevance to the goal of providing policy makers with pragmatic, action-oriented recommendations. Such recommendations encompass policy issues of workforce production, regulation, distribution, financing, and oversight of credentialing organizations. Few studies exist to substantiate the association between certification credentialing and practice outcomes, thereby leaving policy makers, consumers, and nurses in a vacuum when pushed to protect the public through the credentialing vehicles. The Nursing Credentialing Research Coalition (NCRC) has embarked on a research program that will reveal the relationship between certification and its influence on a nurse’s personal, professional, and practice characteristics as well as those judged by consumers and employers. Selected findings and implications for policy are described. Certified nurses’ reports of early interventions for complications are important quality measures for policy.