Typology of Physical Distribution Systems in Multi‐national Corporations

An essential part of any manufacturing company's set of decisions is its distribution policy. This is very often referred to in the marketing literature as the “place” or “distribution mix” decision. This set of decisions might in turn, be divided into two subsets—channel decisions and physical distribution (logistics) decisions. Channel decisions deal with the choice of intermediaries between the producer of a good and the final user. Physical distribution decisions deal with the arrangements for “locating, stocking and shipping a company's goods to meet the service requirements of the marketplace”.