An organization focuses on many aspects and strategies that address customers’ needs and wants. The organization develops a product that includes many steps such as, product life cycle, type of brand, packaging and labeling, but the final step is how to have their product accessible to the consumer, which is distribution. A distribution channel is the path where products, including their ownership, flow from producer to consumer. There are many paths an organization can choose to send their product. Physical distribution is the actual movement of products from a producer to consumers.
When an organization decides on what distribution channel to use, it creates the final link in the supply chain. A supply chain is the complete order of suppliers that contribute to creating the product or service and distributing it to business users and consumers. This process of organizing the flow of goods, services, and information among members of the supply chain is called logistics. Physical distribution is a major focus in logistics management.
Physical distribution has many elements that help link buyers and sellers. These elements include the following: customer service, transportation, warehousing, materials handling, inventory control, and order processing. Many companies require a new technology called radio-frequency identification (RFID). RFID is a computer chip on the product or packaging that emits a low-frequency radio signal that identifies the item and where it is along is distribution channel. Vendor-management inventory is when the producer and retailer agree that the producer will determine how much of a product the buyer needs and automatically ships new supplies when they are needed. The reason for vendor-management inventory was the constant pressure on su ...