Title: Logistics cost management: insights on tools and operations

Authors: Tálita Floriano Dos Santos; Anderson Tiago Peixoto Gonçalves; Maria Silene Alexandre Leite

Addresses: Campus Universitário Ministro Petrônio Portella, Federal University of Piaui, Teresina-PI, 64049-550, Brazil ' Unipê, João Pessoa University Center, BR 230 – Km 22, Água Fria, João Pessoa-PB, 58053-000, João Pessoa – PB, Brazil ' Federal University of Paraiba, Cidade Universitária, João Pessoa-PB, 58051-970, Brazil

Abstract: Logistics cost are very important in the composition of company management costs. However, visible unfitness is noticed in traditional costing methods to supply adequate data for right management, making people using specific management tools: total cost of ownership, customer profitability analysis, direct product profitability and activity-based costing. Besides, over the years it was presented an incomplete view about the composition of total logistics cost. So, this article's proposal is to introduce some classifications which enable listing each of the main elements that are part of logistics cost; to discuss the use of tools that can make management easier, identifying, measuring and evincing them, considering also the existing countertrading among elements in total logistics cost determination, called trade-offs. This study is theoretical/conceptual, basic, qualitative, descriptive and bibliographic, which aimed to analyse, in periodical articles collected in relevant fonts of research, necessary and important concepts for discussion about the central topic.

Keywords: logistics costs; logistics cost management; LCM; total logistics cost; trade-offs; management tools; total cost of ownership; TCO; customer profitability analysis; CPA; direct product profitability; DPP; activity-based costing; ABC; theoretical study.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2016.073967

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 2016 Vol.23 No.2, pp.171 - 188

Received: 01 Aug 2014
Accepted: 01 Oct 2014
Published online: 31 Dec 2015 *

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