Analysis of supplier services to small and medium-sized manufacturers in the Northwest Province

Abstract

Business logistics is a concept which has shown considerable development in the post-World War II era. The concept of applying logistics as a business function initially emerged during the price wars era and evolved during the quest for quality era. Thereafter, business logistics had a promotion/marketing focus, which evolved to the point where it is now. Today, logistics can provide time and place utility, thus adding value to a business. The major focus in this respect is on increasing customer service. In this dissertation the concept of logistics is examined by means of both a literature and empirical study. This study focuses mainly on the development of logistics, inbound logistics and outbound logistics. The main focus of the different chapters is effective customer service. Customer service as such is discussed in detail in chapter 4. The main reason for this study was to determine whether suppliers comply with the proposed customer service standards. This was also investigated empirically, by determining the customer service factors importance as perceived from a manufacturer's point of view. From the many interesting findings of this study it was concluded that many suppliers did not comply with the proposed customer service standards. Future fields of study and recommendations are provided in an effort to contribute to the study field of logistics and its practitioners.