There would seem to be little in common between the Russian army in 2022, the current famines in East Africa, Walkers Crisps and Walmart. Yet each is connected by a common thread: appalling logistics.
Given its superior numbers, Russia should have conquered Ukraine by the end of May 2022. Its inability to deliver its overwhelming strength to the right places at the right time will hopefully see Ukraine triumph eventually. The current famines – and every one since 1972 – are purely about distribution,as the world has enjoyed a food surplus for 50 years.
On a lighter note, Walkers Crisps owns the largest factory of its kind in the world (in Leicestershire). The parent company PepsiCo took out advertisements last year to apologise for its inability to deliver enough crisps and snacks nationwide owing to “computer upgrade problems”, for which read logistical incompetence. In August this year America’s biggest retailer, Walmart, said it had more than £1.5bn of “excess inventory”, meaning it had far too much stock it could not sell.
Logistics is a term describing a section of the supply chain, which in turn is responsible for the overall sourcing, processing and delivery of goods to the customer. Logistics specifically denotes moving and storing goods between different
