By Larry DeVries, CPL, (Reprint: SOLEtter, September 1982)
In any technical society there is a mix of interested and background members related to the society. Some members are interested in the theoretical and conceptual basis for a particular discipline. Others are interested in applying a concept to a particular real world problem. Any technical society needs and wants both kinds of members.
Within SOLE we have a solid conceptual basis for the subject matter. Any list of logistics reference material that has been published covers the wide range of logistics concepts. Those individuals and members that have laid out the concepts for logistics have written well on the subject.
Conceptualizing, while very important and necessary, results in only that many time. If those among us who call ourselves practitioners do not act and apply the concepts, the concepts themselves are an academic exercise.
One of the major reason practitioner members belong to a technical society is to learn from successful application of concepts to real world problems. Or, in other words, to avoid “reinventing of the wheel: I’m sure we can agree that the value of SOLE to a practitioner is that the knowledge to be gained can somehow be used directly on the job.
Practitioners need to see positive effects of the application of principles and concepts. The successful application in one area of industry is the wheel that doesn’t need to be reinvented in another area. This transfer of knowledge can occur if practitioners are observant enough and willing enough to document how this success occurred: the background, under what operating circumstances, the concept applied, the results and the lessons learned.
Productivity can only be improved if practitioners apply the concepts of logistics to real problems. The successful application of logistics concepts by practitioner members is intended to be documented via SOLE literature (Symposium proceedings, Logistics Spectrum, and the SOLEtter), currently there appears to be a larger percentage of articles and papers devoted to the principles and concepts of logistics compared to the successful application of those concepts and principles.
In some cases, individual practitioners are reluctant to write and communicate the successful applications within logistics. Some appear to be reluctant to write for fear of critique or comparison to the theoretical papers and articles they see. This perception may be felt by the member. But the facts do not support this conclusion. SOLE needs both kinds of members to achieve its goals – the conceptualizer and the practitioner. Successful applications of logistics concepts are subjects for publication by SOLE if the practitioners involved take time to contribute.
The success of SOLE depends to a large part on the writings of practitioners. If you consider yourself a practitioner of logistics, then your thoughts toward development of a paper in the specialty are strongly encouraged. In this manner the successful SOLE member can both expect to contribute to the SOLE discipline as well as receive information from other practitioners. The result is progressive movement in productivity through the application of principles of logistics.