The logistics dictionary

The meaning of Logistics

In large companies, it constitutes the business function that provides for the procurement and physical distribution of materials, inventories, and finished products.

This is the definition of logistics that is provided by the Treccani encyclopedia.

Logistics includes all those steps that serve to manage and organize the sending of packages, so that they can be transported and delivered directly to the customer’s home or at a point of proximity.

In particular, logistics can be divided into:

• Inbound logistics, which deals with the management of goods entering the warehouse
• Internal Logistics, which includes the storage and organization of goods
• Distribution logistics, monitoring the distribution network of packages
• Return logistics, or reverse logistics, which deals with the management of returns.

Pick&Pack

The second term we want to propose is pick & pack. This word is composed of two words: picking and packing.

In logistics, the term picking refers to the operation of physical withdrawal of the product, which can be the extraction of an item from the shelves by means of the work of a picking operator or, as happens in robotized warehouses, by means of automated systems.

This procedure involves:

• Picking planning and picking list
• Picking of goods
• Control and preparation of orders for shipment

The term packing, on the other hand, means packaging, literally packing using packaging. Once the items have been picked up through the picking operations, the products are first catalogued, organised, and if necessary sorted to the work stations where the warehouse staff will carry out the final packing, adding invoice and delivery note.

This phase includes:

• Choice of package packaging
• Control of the model, quantity, weight and volume of the package to be sent
• Print label for shipment
• Pallet assembly