Moving towards an improved distribution pattern

It is no news that the movement and storage of goods forms a disproportionately large part of the amount the housewife pays for the product. In addition, most organisations of any size are now familiar with the techniques that can be used to improve logistics and the physical distribution function. John Williams' message, in an important paper which he recently gave at the senior management conference of the Institute of Work Study Practitioners, is that the improvement of techniques is no longer top priority. He sees a new era evolving — one that should be marked by institutional rather than technological change. What we should now be doing is looking at the restraints imposed by the industrial and organisational structure of manufacturing and distribution, and seeing how these can be removed. This is the first part of his paper — Part 2 will follow in the next issue.