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Logistics Clusters

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Logistics Clusters

Delivering Value and Driving Growth

MIT Press,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Logistics clusters are vital, job-creating links in globalized trade.

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Modern logistics have become a high-tech, sophisticated business sector, showcasing state-of-the-art warehouse robots, advanced conveyor systems, astute inventory management, real-time tracking programs, complex scheduling software and other technological developments. Yossi Sheffi – director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics – examines these vital links in the modern global supply chain, and parses their history, usage and likely future with elegance and understanding. getAbstract recommends Sheffi’s conversational, scholarly overview of modern logistics to executives, students of business, anyone doing business internationally and anyone seeking to get involved in the rapidly growing field of logistics.

Summary

Clustering

Throughout history, certain geographic locales or regions have served as magnets for specific industries: For example, Switzerland for watches, Paris for fashion, New York for finance, Detroit for automobiles, Hollywood for films, Las Vegas for gambling and Silicon Valley for technology. These clusters, also known as “growth poles,” attract funding, intellectual capital, workers and entrepreneurial activity, as well as political focus and support. Moreover, clusters promote educational development, worker training and specialized research.

Cluster Benefits

Clusters provide numerous benefits for the firms that they attract:

  • “Trust” – Due to their proximity, clustered companies share common experiences and environments.
  • “Tacit knowledge exchange” – Businesses and employees share various kinds of information through casual day-to-day meetings and conversation. This leads to the benefit of “knowledge spillover.”
  • “Collaboration” – Firms in the same industry located in the same locale often engage in joint activities.
  • “Supply base” development – Vendors...

About the Author

Yossi Sheffi is the Elisha Gray II professor of Engineering Systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He directs the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics.

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