THE COST AUDIT: A tool for distribution management

The NMHC has developed costing techniques for distribution in the food and grocery trade which provide a pattern for any company to conduct a thorough cost audit in order to make an appraisal of its distribution performance in warehousing and transport. Robert Williams delivered an extended version of the following survey to a recent conference of the Institute of Practitioners in Work Study, Organisation and Methods, giving an outline of the Centre's approach to costing, the order of costs and typical performance levels which they found. A second part, to be published in the May/June issue of RDM, will identify the main factors affecting cost, and make some practical suggestions for their reduction.