Reflecting the enhance role of materials/logistics management in today's competitive business environment, this new edition provides a fundamental understanding of the subject and its fuction in all sectors of the economy. It examines the vital area of customer service and shows how to implement a world class, integrated materials/logistics system that control activities starting with the supplier, through the company operation, and concluding with the satisfied customer. Thoroughly revised and updated, the Second Edition features new chapters on Just-In-Time and automation. Additional discussions include achieving world class competitiveness, ISO 9000 and organizational trends. Theoretical and practical examples of materials/logistics management are integrated with numerous real-life examples. This Second Edition of Total Materials Management presents accessible approaches for enhancing materials management/logistics, enabling personnel in purchasing, warehousing, physical distribution, materials handling, inventory control and production control to capitalize on vast opportunities for savings. This book is also an important resource for students in courses on materials/logistics management.

Materials management has become an important activity in both manu facturing and service organizations. Rapid changes in the industrial envi ronment, such as the introduction of automation and Just-In-Time, and demands for increased productivity and quality have increased the need for alI personnel to be concerned with total control of materials. Clearly this trend will continue, and materials management wilI play an increasingly vital role in organizational success, especialIy for operations that are be coming automated. Materials management will be more critical in many service organizations where the materials group has received little attention in the past. This book covers the basic materials management function and provides valuable insights into various other major functions related to it. We believe that each of these-manufacturing, marketing, finance, quaIity assurance, and engineering-is vitalIy involved in materiaIs management, and any coverage of the subject that excludes these functions offers too narrow a perspective. With increasing demand for materials managers, human resource re quirements will be satisfied by individuals trained within the discipline and by personnel who have worked in other fields. The dimensions of materials management have grown so rapidly that many practicing managers are not aware that they are fulfilling material management functions. It is impor tant that alI individuals have the basic knowledge required to perforrn their roles in these organizations."