Plastics industry shows faster order turnaround. (Industry Overview)

Order cycle time in the U.S. chemicals and plastics industry improved by 31% between 1985 and 1990, according to a study completed earlier this year by A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm, for the Council of Logistics Management. The study's aim was to find out how well American companies are carrying out the logistics process--defined as the management of the flow of materials from the original raw material to the ultimate consumer. Among 450 U.S. suppliers and their customers in eleven industries--ranging from auto supply manufacturing to computer hardware--the only