Integrated logistics in an enterprise

Integration is a process of mutual adaptation, expansion of industrial, economic cooperation, the form of business life internationalization, combining economies of several entities. One of the main logistics functions, namely, the reduction of combined costs is solved in the process of integration. This paper considers some features of integrated logistics, which are present when solving problems in business entities. The integration of management of individual operations and functions, not combined in a single process, is typical for the operational level of integration. Each of the structural units has local targets and indicators of performance evaluation, isolated from the assessment of their impact on the conditions and performance results of other units or services of the enterprise. The basis for work arrangement at the operational level is a step-by-step process map or the description of business processes, as well as Gant charts. The combination of operations and functions, according to the authors, leads to a limited extent integrated functional areas, such as inventory management, procurement management, storekeeping and materials handling, manufacturing, sales management, distribution management. This partial integration leads to the formation of the list of basic functions, such as procurement, manufacturing, provision of services, and distribution.