Inbound Logistics

What exactly is “Inbound Logistics”?

Inbound logistics is defined as the act of transporting goods to a company and storing them.

The obtainment of raw materials, machine tools and components, office supplies, etc generally fall under inbound logistics.

Now, how does this work? It’s easy.

Using a vehicle company as an example. First, the procurement department will issue a Request For Quotation, based on that vendors will prepare and then share quotations. After going through all of the quotations, the procurement team will pick the best suited quotation and share the purchase order with the vendor.

Next, the vendor will share the the date on which the supplier needs to keep the shipment ready and need to move the shipment out from the factory and hand it over to the shipment forwarder. 

Finally, once the cargo arrives, the warehouse team will arrange to store the cargo and inform concerned parties. The goods will be allotted to numerous departments as per the requirement.

If you want to state this in a formal way, you can describe Inbound Logistics as “The transportation, storage & delivery of goods from outside (vendors/suppliers) to a business”

Factors that demand attention in inbound logistics:

1) A proper relationship with vendors

2) Maintaining proper quality of the material within the budget

3) Ordering raw materials when required in order to minimize storage costs

4) Transportation management

5) Secure storage that helps to maintain quality