CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of the Study

Production is the creation of goods and services, the goods and services can be produced in factories, industries firms or companies. Production is not complete until the products/services get to the consumer. This can be obtained through the distribution process and that complete the production cycle. The distribution activity is equally referred to as physical distribution management (PDM). Physical distribution system includes transportation, material, handling, order processing, and inventory control, warehousing and packaging into a complete distribution strategy.

Mccarthy, describes the place of component of marketing mix (distribution) as “the situation and use of marketing specialist middlemen, transportation and storage agencies to provide target customers within place and possession utilities. Distribution channel is regarded as a bridge that spans various gaps between producers and customers.

Kotler on his own stated that physical distribution is defined as the planning, implementing and controlling the physical flows of materials and final goods from one point of origin to point of use to meet customers’ needs at a profit. It is concerned with the efficient movement of raw materials from the suppliers to the factory site where they are processed into finished product and passed to the final consumer.

The procedure of getting  the right quantity of the right product of the right place at the right time and at the least cost is no simple job because companies like the brewery industry “ champion Breweries, Uyo” with their great diversity of customers spread over vast geographical areas must integrate the systems component to avoid dissonance (dissatisfaction). As stated earlier, there exit a gap in the firm of place and time between manufacturer and the ultimate  consumer for whom the manufacturer is producing, and this gap can only be bridged by the logical flow of producers which in turn brings about expansion of growth to the company.

In this study, the researcher shall consider the physical distribution management or perhaps the impact brought about by the logical distribution of champ[ion breed products which will cause an expansion or brings about growth to the company in the view of champion breweries, Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.

• Statement of the Problem

There is a common problem in the brewery industry (Champion Brewery) which hampers the effective movement of their products from point of the production to the final consumers as well as meeting its marketing goals and objectives which is essentially the growth of the company.

The problems to be addressed include;

1. Is the distribution system of the company effective?
2. Do they have sufficient number of functional vans or trucks?
3. Do champion breweries have dependable source of raw materials
   • Objectives of the Study

The objectives were;

1. to ascertain whether the company has sufficient number of functional vans to distribute goods
2. to determine if the company has dependable sources of raw material
3. to know if through nether means of distribution if it can bring an expansion to the company.
4. To prefer recommendation those are in line with the researcher’s information.
   • Research Questions

In order to achieve the objectives of this study the following questions were formulated:

1. does the company has sufficient number of functional vans to distribute goods?
2. Is the physical distribution of goods of the company effective?
3. Has the distributive system of the company brought an expansion to the company?
   • Research Hypothesis

The researcher postulates the following hypothesis:

1. Ho: the company do not have a sufficient number of distributive vans

Hi: The company do have a sufficient number of functional vans.

1. Ho: the physical distribution of the company is not effective

Hi: the physical distribution of the company is effective

1. Ho: the company’s distributive process has not brought about growth to the company.

Hi: the company’s distributive process has brought about the growth of the company.

• Significance of the study

The co-ordination of the activities of distributive are indispensable to any firm that is engaged in production distributive and services because distribution is a cost that must be managed effectively to control the efficiency of the system used. It is imperative to state that this study is primarily focuses on the Impact of logistics of distribution system on the growth of champion Breweries.

The company, through this research can attract more customers may reduce high interest rate and cost such as obsolescence, shrinkage, insurance, storage and taxes through improvement of distribution that will enable the customers to get the product at the right time, right place, right quantity, and at the right price thereby ensuring cust6omers satisfaction which will affect an expansion in the company’s profile.

• Scope of the Study

This study is going to cover the impact of distribution system in champion breweries. It tends to cover the effect of this distribution on the growth of the company.

The scope of this study covers the champion breweries and also examine whether the activities done in the distribution system has any effect towards the growth of the company.

• Limitation of the Study

1. Time constraint: the research requires vividly survey of the company. The point lies on the fact that the researcher was undertaking this study simultaneously with attending her regular class room lectures.
2. Financial constraint: due to limited funds, the frequency of visits to the company was reduced.
3. The problem of finding the relevant materials for this research was another limitation to this study such as journals, textbooks and relevant materials needed for this research were not enough.

• Definition of Terms

Physical distribution also called distribution system: Is the process of managing all activities required to strategically move raw materials between enterprise facilities and to customers

Logistics: it is the organization of the movement of goods and services to reach the final consumer.

System: this is the way by which champion breweries works in the company.