Interesting Facts about Logistics

You’re probably aware that, in the simplest terms, logistics refers to the organised management of goods being transported from one place to another. But do you know where logistics comes from? Who’s considered the greatest logistics genius of all time? What about the amount of demand logistics can actually face in this world? Read on to find out.

Origin

The origin of logistics began in Greece with the word “logos”. “Logos” basically meant reason/ratio. From there, the Greeks evolved the word into “logistiki”, which essentially translated to financial organisation.

As Western language emerged and early French took hold, the word was revised to “loger” – lodge. As language further evolved and took shape, it arrived at “logistics” which described the management of the flow of goods and resources from an organisation.

Military logistics

It’s believed that logistics came into existence primarily because of ancient militaristic operations. Military logistics focused on the process of managing the transport of ammunition/weaponry and provisions to troops.

It was the military logistics of Alexander the Great that has earned him the title of potentially being the greatest logistics genius of all time. This was due to the way in which he utilised his knowledge of the terrain, location of enemies, and the approach he took in regards to moving provisions. 

This near-flawless logistical planning attributed to his empire’s successful expansion to the lands of Eastern Asia.

Logistics demand

Flash forward to present day and logistics is a massive asset to the world at large in both the militaristic and commercial sense. Without logistics products would not get anywhere. In fact, one shining example of the demands that logistics companies face is that of Black Friday in the US.

Every year, the day after Thanksgiving becomes a frenzied world of consumer insanity and shops even opening their doors at midnight to account for how many shoppers will pass through – it’s essentially our Boxing Day, only more extreme.

Take these statistics from Black Friday, 2010:

• $10.69 billion was spent on Black Friday
• The average consumer spent $365.34 on the day
• 212 million shoppers shopped online and in actual stores

But it’s not just Black Friday that brings a clear demand for products to reach stores. Over the entirety of the 2010 holiday season in the US, UPS delivery trucks collectively covered 500,000,000 miles of travel – that’s 804,672,000km. If travelling into space from earth, that distance would get someone almost halfway to Saturn. You would easily reach the moon, Mars or Jupiter.

So there are some interesting facts about our fascinating, yet, we feel, underappreciated industry. If there are any other facts about logistics that you think deserve mentioning, share them with us in the comments below.

* Image source: Michiel2005