A leader of Logistics and Supply chain management: Ronald H. Ballou
Chen Wang
University of Windsor

ELIP 3 Section 7
Instructor: Mary Wheeler
Introduction:
Background information
Logistics and supply chain management, as a vital business activity, to some extent, has became a new core of business management today, compared with traditional fields such as finance, marketing, and production. Being a theoretical expert and practical leader in the field, Ronald H. Ballou, who is the professor of Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, has been standing at the top level in modern logistics’ research and application. In academic research, he published more than 50 articles in professional logistics journals and teaching materials he wrote has been using in relative teaching fields. In application area, he is a welcomed consultant to many companies on logistics issues. He is the model of theory- practice bond in the fields.
Issue identification
It is obvious that there are various components of a typical logistics system, such as inventory control, material handling, plant and warehouse site selection, packaging, traffic and transportation, etc.. Song (2007, p. 11) states that whether these procedures can be reasonably and exactly designed is the key to companies cutting down their costs and creating more value. In simpler words, it refers to reducing redundant spaces and wasteful time. Upon this, Ronald H. Ballou developed the computer software ‘NETWORK’ for locating warehouses and other facilities in logistics and supply chain networks. It benefited many companies all over the world.
Literature Review:
Ballou (1993) points out that the geographical facility location identifies a brief thinking of the logistics strategy. The route of transporting products to the marketplace is determined by the facility’s number, position, scale,