Who is a logistician and what does he do?

Logistics is a complex industry, and this complexity is reflected in the work life of a logistician. Who are logisticians? These specialists perform a variety of work to organize the movement of goods. Logisticians are on the staff of almost any company that brings products to the market. Errors logistician cause serious problems in the activities of the entire enterprise, so this job takes people responsible, obligatory, with an analytical mind and good organizational skills. Let’s tell you more about what logisticians do.

What does a logistician do?

First, let’s give a basic definition of logistics. Logistics is a line of activity aimed at planning, organizing and controlling the flow of goods. A specialist engaged in logistics, coordinates this flow, making sure that the necessary products are in the right place at the right time. 

The duties of a logistician at a particular enterprise can be labeled with a certain direction, for example,

• procurement logistics;
• production logistics
• distribution logistics;
• utilization logistics.

But often the functions of a logistician at an enterprise are broad enough to include each of these logistics activities. If you ask company executives: “What is the job of a logistician”, you can often hear that it is both a buyer, a distributor, and a specialist in relations with suppliers and customers.

The profession of “logistician” presupposes knowledge of transportation management. After all, the specialist will have to control the organization and movement of transport within the supply chain. A logistician selects carriers or transportation service providers, contracts and coordinates the movement of goods along optimized routes, maintains logistics documentation, and works closely with customs brokers and lawyers to ensure timely and cost-effective delivery. 

What a logistician does depends largely on the employing company’s area of expertise. For example, a logistics specialist may be responsible for ensuring the timely and safe delivery of goods from a company’s warehouse to a customer’s warehouse. Or the work of a logistician may include ensuring the delivery of raw materials for the smooth operation of production lines. In each case, the professional qualities of the logistician are crucial, as a mistake in logistics can lead to penalties or production downtime.

In simple words, if we talk about what is included in the duties of a logistician, it can be noted that the main task of this specialist is to ensure a smooth, safe and economically beneficial chain of movement of material values – raw materials, goods, spare parts, elements, fuel. At the same time, he manages the logistics of returns, takes away spoiled or low-quality products, and organizes the disposal of production residues.

How to become a logistician

When we figured out who is a logistician, let’s understand how to master this interesting profession. Do you want to become a logistician? First of all, you need to possess such character traits as entrepreneurship, assertiveness, energy, self-confidence, the ability to communicate with a variety of people. Logisticians have to be persuasive, be able to speak their mind and argue. Integrity and responsibility are important. You also need professional knowledge. Where do you study to be a logistician? In principle, specialized secondary education is enough, that is, you can get a logistician’s education in college. However, university diplomas are valued by employers much more highly. Most technical, transportation, agrarian, management universities of Ukraine prepare qualified logisticians.

On the websites of these institutions you can see more information about the profession and a brief description of the training program. It is welcomed that the graduate has additional education of a lawyer, economist, as well as knowledge of one of the popular foreign languages. Such a specialist can be absolutely calm for his employment and can claim a high salary.

Pros and cons of the profession of a logistician

If you list the pros and cons, then again it is worth referring to the specifics of the logistics profession. Given what the logistician does, he will have to solve several tasks at the same time:

• transportation;
• warehousing;
• organizational and managerial;
• communication;
• bureaucratic.

It is interesting, but not easy. You will have to switch from one activity to another, negotiate with several people, and use monitoring and accounting software. However, there are advantages to this – you will definitely not be bored, and the level of salary offered to logisticians by companies is quite high.