Supply Chain and Logistics Books To Read in 2024
by Jaidyn Farar
These days, you can find valuable supply chain information just about anywhere online: social media, news sites, video platforms, and the list goes on. But for in-depth learning, nothing beats a good, old-fashioned book.
Of course, one of the hardest parts of reading can be deciding what to read. To save you from chaotic Googling, we’ve curated a list of some of the most popular books on supply chain and logistics. They’re divided into three categories:
- Best reads if you’re new to the industry
- Best in-depth logistics books
- Fun, fascinating, and inspirational books
So choose a book, get ahold of it in your favorite format—physical, digital, or audiobook—and settle in for a deep dive into the world of logistics.
Best reads if you’re new to the industry
Looking to build a solid understanding of logistics and supply chain fundamentals? These books are perfect for you.
Supply Chain Management For Dummies
Author: Daniel Stanton
From the synopsis: “Supply Chain Management For Dummies gives you the full rundown on what a supply chain is, how it works, how to optimize it, and the best education for a rewarding supply chain career. This new edition is fully updated for changes to the supply chain in a post-Covid world.”
Read if you’re interested in …
- Issues in supply chain management
- The latest supply chain technologies
- Analytics and data-based optimization
- Trends like reshoring and near-shoring
- Strategies for dealing with disruptions
Introduction to Materials Management
Authors: J. R. Tony Arnold, Stephen N. Chapman, Lloyd M. Clive
From the synopsis: “Clearly written and exceptionally user-friendly, its content, examples, questions, and problems lead students step-by-step to mastery. This edition’s extensive updates include: new techniques, technology, and case studies; reorganized and expanded coverage of lean production and JIT manufacturing; new information on sustainability and ‘green’ production; use of Incoterms for global supply chains; revised end-of-chapter problems, and more.”
Read if you’re interested in …
- Modern supply chain management
- Manufacturing planning and control systems
- Purchasing
- Physical distribution
Logistics and Supply Chain Management
Author: Martin Christopher
From the synopsis: “In today's volatile world, supply chains need to be more flexible and capable of adapting to change than ever. Logistics and Supply Chain Management provides the core tools, processes and initiatives needed to stay one step ahead.”
Read if you’re interested in …
- Networks of relationships
- Sustainability and product design
- The logistics of procurement, distribution, and fulfillment
Warehouse Management: A Complete Guide to Improving Efficiency and Minimizing Costs in the Modern Warehouse
Author: Gwynne Richards
From the synopsis: “Modern warehouses are capitalizing on cutting-edge technologies, new operating models and innovative practices to maximize their role in the wider supply chain. Understand how to successfully manage these warehouses with this bestselling guide.”
Read if you’re interested in …
- Latest technologies in warehousing, including robotics, cobots and AI
- Defining the modern warehouse
- Warehouse management processes
- Strategies and practices to tackle environmental challenges
- Improving operating costs and increasing efficiency
Best in-depth logistics books
These books are ideal for those who already have a basic understanding and are ready to delve deeper into complex theories, strategies, and case studies.
Supply Chain Management: A Logistics Perspective
Authors: C. John Langley, Robert A. Novack, Brian Gibson, John J. Coyle
From the synopsis: “Using a reader-friendly style and straightforward, interesting approach, Supply Chain Management: A Logistics Perspective blends logistics theory with practical applications. The latest content highlights emerging issues, technology developments, and global changes in the constantly evolving field of supply chain management today.”
Read if you’re interested in …
- How real companies respond to the continual pressure to modernize their supply chains
- How today's changes impact current and future supply chains
Designing and Managing the Supply Chain
Authors: David Simchi-Levi, Philip Kaminsky, Edith Simchi-Levi
From the synopsis: “Designing and Managing the Supply Chain is a supply chain management text that is not too technical, contains the breadth and depth that the topic deserves, and is appropriate for teaching supply chain management to business or engineering.”
Read if you’re interested in …
- Supply chain risk management
- Supply chain flexibility
- Sustainable supply chains
Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning, and Operation
Author: Sunil Chopra
From the synopsis: “Supply Chain Management introduces high-level strategy and concepts while giving students the practical tools necessary to solve supply chain problems. … The 7th Edition, Global Edition, weaves in compelling case study examples to illustrate how good supply chain management offers a competitive advantage and how poor supply chain management can damage an organization’s performance.”
Read if you’re interested in …
- Facilities
- Inventory
- Transportation
- Information
- Sourcing
- Pricing
A Practical Guide to Logistics: An Introduction to Transport, Warehousing and Distribution
Author: Jerry Rudd
From the synopsis: “A Practical Guide to Logistics is a straightforward guide taking readers through all aspects of the industry. … It equips readers with the necessary knowledge to progress in their careers and provides balanced advice on how to choose the right option for their business.”
Read if you’re interested in …
- Packaging
- Transportation
- Warehousing
- Exporting and importing goods
- Health and safety in the field
- Recent developments, including automation and electric vehicles
Fun, fascinating, and inspirational supply chain books
Let’s be honest—the books in the two previous sections aren’t exactly light reading. If you’re in the mood for something with a little more storytelling, humor, history, or drama, try one of the following books. (Don’t worry; you’ll still get a full dose of supply chain insight.)
The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger
Author: Marc Levinson
From the synopsis: “In April 1956, a refitted oil tanker carried fifty-eight shipping containers from Newark to Houston. From that modest beginning, container shipping developed into a huge industry that made the boom in global trade possible. The Box tells the dramatic story of the container's creation, the decade of struggle before it was widely adopted, and the sweeping economic consequences of the sharp fall in transportation costs that containerization brought about.”
Read if you’re interested in …
- The development and evolution of container shipping as a major industry
- How the shipping container transformed economic geography
The Supply Chain Revolution: Innovative Sourcing and Logistics for a Fiercely Competitive World
Author: Suman Sarkar
From the synopsis: “Across a range of industries, once-leading companies are in trouble: Walmart, IBM, Pfizer, HP, and The Gap to name a few, while others are thriving. The difference is how the company’s leaders view their supply chain: Is it just about cutting costs or do they see its hidden tools for outperforming the competition?”
Read if you’re interested in …
- Making business alliances more successful
- How to simplify and debottleneck the supply chain
- Boosting retail success by managing store investment
- Improving customer satisfaction and increasing revenue
Arriving Today: From Factory to Front Door—Why Everything Has Changed About How and What We Buy
Author: Christopher Mims
From the synopsis: “We are at a tipping point in retail history. While consumers are profiting from the convenience of instant gratification, rapidly advancing technologies are transforming the way goods are transported and displacing workers in ways never before seen. In Arriving Today, Christopher Mims goes deep, far, and wide to uncover how a single product, from creation to delivery, weaves its way from a factory on the other side of the world to our doorstep.”
Read if you’re interested in …
- Evolving technologies and management strategies that help fulfill consumers’ demand
- How humans and machines work together to keep the promise of “arriving today”
- The supply chain’s vulnerability and resilience
Ninety Percent of Everything: Inside Shipping, the Invisible Industry That Puts Clothes on Your Back, Gas in Your Car, and Food on Your Plate
Author: Rose George
From the synopsis: “In postindustrial economies, we no longer produce but buy, and so we must ship. Without shipping there would be no clothes, food, paper, or fuel. Without all those dots, the world would not work. Yet freight shipping is all but invisible. … Sharply informative and entertaining, Ninety Percent of Everything reveals the workings and perils of an unseen world that holds the key to our economy, our environment, and our very civilization.”
Read if you’re interested in …
- The importance of freight shipping to the global economy
- What freight shipping is like from the crew’s perspective
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
Authors: Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox
From the synopsis: “Alex Rogo is a harried plant manager working ever more desperately to try and improve performance. His factory is rapidly heading for disaster. So is his marriage. He has ninety days to save his plant—or it will be closed by corporate HQ, with hundreds of job losses. … The story of Alex's fight to save his plant is more than compulsive reading. It contains a serious message for all managers in industry and explains the ideas which underline the Theory of Constraints (TOC) developed by Eli Goldratt.”
Read if you’re interested in …
- Learning through a narrative-driven format that combines storytelling with business concepts
- Principles of operations management and process improvement
- The Theory of Constraints and its application in manufacturing
- The importance of continuous improvement and adaptation in business settings
Happy reading!
Well, there you have it—a few books that belong on every supply chain professional’s bookshelf. Now all that’s left is to head over to your local library (or break out your ebook app) and enjoy learning more about the world of logistics.