The North American Free Trade Agreement: Strategic Implications for Logistics Management

The passage of NAFTA created both opportunities and challenges for logistics managers. NAFTA not only created a trading block with over 350 million potential consumers, it also allowed, for the first time, fully integrated and rationalized logistics management throughout North America. In recognition of the significant logistics impact of NAFTA, the Council of Logistics Management sponsored a study performed by Andersen Consulting and the University of North Florida. Based upon that study, this article provides a framework for reevaluating and changing logistics strategies in order to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by NAFTA. The complete study will be available from the Council of Logistics Management in Fall 1995.