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18 Business View Australia - February 2015
sumption in order to meet customers’ requirements.
Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals,
2014
Under this definition there are clearly many more
tasks to logistics than the transport task. The Trans-
port, Postal and Warehousing industry definition
fails to capture these logistics activities except the
physical movement and storage of goods.
The logistics industry encompasses the transport
industry (including ancillary transport) to define and
quantify the Australian Logistics (Logistics) industry
and capture the economic activity undertaken by
firms across Australia in managing and operating
their supply chains. This definition represents the
costs of Logistics borne by Australian industries and
represents the overall significance of the true Logis-
tics industry.
The Logistics industry affects every industry. Austra-
lia is a large country and one which is geographically
isolated from many key international markets. The
efficient movement of goods and information along
the supply chains of Australian companies is central
to Australia’s ability to compete in international mar-
kets, and to compete with imports to the domestic
market. Efficient logistics allow suppliers to compete
across a larger distance, enabling greater competi-
tion within the country and resulting in benefits to
consumers.
‘Productivity’ is what goods and services an eco-
nomic actor (business, government, state, nation,
etc.)
receives for what it ‘puts in’, in terms of labour,
capital and other factors of production. Productiv-
ity growth is a critical element in delivering an en-
hanced standard of living, meeting environmental