The theme of the Atlanta INFORMS conference is International Business Logistics. Logistics refers to the movement, storage, and control of goods from the acquisition of raw materials to the delivery of finished products to consumers. This includes the movement of intermediate products within the manufacturing plant and storage facilities, and the return of all recyclable materials and containers at every stage.
Business Logistics is becoming increasingly more important. Annual logistics costs in the U.S. alone will exceed $600 billion this year (over 11% of GNP). This trend is likely to continue as firms become more globalized. Shorter product life cycles, greater emphasis on quicker customer response time, and environmental concerns will also contribute to the growing importance of logistics.
The intent of this fall's conference is to foster discussion at both the practical and theoretical level of logistics on an international scale. This topic covers a vast array of issues including supply chain management, total product visibility, intermodal transportation and global facilities location. Demand for solutions to international business logistics problems is skyrocketing and offers many opportunities for the field of Operations Research and the Management Sciences.
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