National Logistics Systems

This volume reports on the results of logistics research initiated and coordinated by IIASA within the former New Logistics Technologies (NLT) Activity of the Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) Project. The focus of the research is on long-term changes in the logistics structures, performance, and strategies on the macro-economic level and their cross-country comparative assessment. The data for this book were collected from 1987-1989. The individual reports should not be considered to be exhaustive treatments. The reports from the Eastern countries reflect the situation at the eve of the dramatic changes in these countries which started in late 1989. Accordingly, some of the conclusions and recommendations in these reports may be biased. However, they contain unique data and analyses which together with the reports from the Western countries and the background material (case studies, statistical data, extended versions of the reports, etc.) serve as a good base for more in-depth studies. The book may serve a wide audience: international organizations, policy makers (ministers of transport, industry, trade, regional planners), business circles (multinational companies, joint venture companies, managers involved in or dependent on logistics), and the research community