new competencies and
innovations in logistics

Great emphasis is placed on job definitions and job descriptions in France in general. The field of logistics is a crucial one for these definitions, because of its recent emergence and the constant change it is undergoing.

Statistics on logistics jobs depend on the selection of jobs that has been made by statistics providers. Two main approaches can be identified, the demographic and the sectoral:

The official statistics on employment in France are produced by the Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (INSEE) [national institute for statistics], a branch of the Ministère de l'Économie, des Finances et de l'Industrie [department of the economy, finance and industry]. INSEE collects, produces and disseminates information on the economy and society of France so that all interested players (the Government, companies, researchers, the media, teachers and individuals) can use it to do studies, make forecasts and take decisions.

INSEE collects general employment data, mainly by means of the census of households and through corporate surveys.

• The census (the latest one was released in 1999) is the most significant source of statistics. In employment, it identifies employed persons and job seekers (distinction between employed and unemployed workers), salaried and unsalaried workers, their workplace and place of residence, the area of activity of the business they are in...
• Employment is also statistically estimated in the Enquête Structure des Emplois (ESE) [employment structure survey]. The ESE is annual but the results are published two years later than the survey itself, and it involves companies with 20 employees or more as well as people occupying a job. Unlike the census, its statistical form, which reflects social concerns, is filled out by companies, and excludes unemployed people for example. This statistical source was recently eliminated and replaced by another, based on tax obligations, called the Déclaration Annuelle des Données Sociales (DADS) [annual social data declaration]. The information previously provided by the annual survey of companies is henceforth extracted from these administrative forms (returned to URSSAF), which also deal with employment matters, but the quality of this information is not yet as good (satisfactory response rate about 70% in 2002).

Other administrative forms and periodic statistical surveys of the Ministère de l'Emploi, du Travail et de la Cohésion Sociale [department of employment, labour and social cohesion] give an overview of particular aspects of the labour market and its trends (employment of persons with disabilities, mobility...):

• déclaration obligatoire d'emploi des travailleurs handicapés [statutory declaration for disabled workers] (DOETH)
• déclaration mensuelle de mouvements de main-d'ouvre [monthly labour turnover statement] (DMMO)
• enquête sur les mouvements de main-d'ouvre [labour turnover survey](EMMO)

INSEE contributes to the publication of "sectoral statistical snapshots" which provide quantitative information by professional sector using data from public sources such as UNEDIC-which manages amounts paid as State allowances (unemployed workers, preretirement...), paid directly to UNEDIC by the government-, DARES-the Direction de l'Animation de la Recherche, des Études et des Statistiques [research, facilitation, studies and statistics branch] of the Ministère de l'Emploi, du Travail et de la Cohésion Sociale, and CEREQ-the Centre de Recherche et d'Études sur les Qualifications [research and qualifications study centre]. These snapshots cover 23 areas of activity and are broken down into 60 subsectors. They comprise information on companies (size, employment growth, geographic location, demography, economic growth.), on the labour force (sex, age, socio-professional category, qualifications, seniority, mobility, young people's access to the sectors.) and on human resources management practices (types of employment, training.). These snapshots are organised into historical series, most of which go back as far as 1994. However, logistics has not been identified as either a sector or a subsector.

In addition, sectoral and professional initiatives were undertaken to characterise and quantify logistics jobs, in particular by the industrial training organisation AFT-IFTIM (the Association pour la Formation dans les Transports - Institut de Formation aux Techniques d'Implantation et de Manutention) [transportation training association - implementation and handling techniques training institute] The mission of this group, which brings together 24,000 member companies and is mandated by 24 professional transport and logistics organisations, consists, in particular, in:

• Developing professional training in transport and logistics, and providing continuous training and development for salaried managers in business
• Helping to define and refine the diplomas of the Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale [department of national education] and certified qualifications for the transport and logistics sectors
• Providing technical and teaching support for public and private educational institutions

Moreover, the AFT-IFTIM Group conducts sectoral studies, forward-looking reviews, analyses, surveys and scorecards, in an attempt to anticipate transport and logistics needs. In particular, there is:

• The annual survey of employment and training needs in logistics
  Conducted annually since 1994 by the AFT-IFTIM Group's studies and research department, the logistics survey is concerned with logistical strategy and organisation, employment, recruitment and training. The January 2004 survey covers 603 establishments with salaried staff of 100 or more, involved in six areas of activity: the agri-food industry, the pharmaceutical and perfumery industry, the automobile industry, the chemical industry, trade and transport, and logistics service providers, which are selected on the basis of their logistics workforce weighting proportional to INSEE census figures.
• Specific regional studies
  Thus, the AFT-IFTIM Group's studies and research department conducted logistics employment and training studies in some ten regions. The purpose of these studies by region was to analyse the need for employment training and skills in logistics functions, and to identify the professional qualifications needed in specific areas of the logistics field through an analysis of the regional logistics players (producers, distributors, service providers) and of the main families of logistics professions (executives, technicians and administrators, operators). Specifically, their goals were:
  • To understand the "logistics environment" of the region and identify, in particular, the sectors where logistics-related trades were most represented
  • To identify / define the jobs and skills required by the region's companies
  • To understand / highlight the various human resources management patterns at work in companies
  • To assess logistics job trends
  • To analyse the vocational training system and supply for logistics-related jobs (Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale, apprenticeships, qualification contract, job seekers)
  • To show the role played by such actors as training organisations, temporary help agencies and the ANPE... in organising the labour market for logistics-related jobs
  • To make training proposals to achieve the best possible match between training supply and demand.

2.1 National classification system
The most detailed statistical data on employment are available in France through the Nomenclature des Professions et Catégories Socioprofessionnelles (PCS) [classification of occupations and socioprofessional categories], which was introduced in 1982 by INSEE, the French national statistical agency.

The PCS involves two types of organisation:

• by social category; six categories are identified, including workers, technicians and executives,
• by nature of activity; each PCS code refers to a more complete description of the job.

The choice of this classification is based on a set of studies conducted at INSEE on the concept of employment and qualification and how to measure the latter, but also on investigations done by other organisations:

• Thus, the Centre de Recherche et d'Études sur les Qualifications (CEREQ), in its Répertoire français des emplois [job directory for France] provided detailed analyses of job content and how it was changing. CEREQ is a government institution reporting to the Ministère de la Jeunesse, de l'Éducation Nationale et de la Recherche [department of youth, national education and research], the Ministère Délégué à l'Enseignement Scolaire [department in charge of academic teaching] and the Ministère des Affaires Sociales, du Travail et de la Solidarité [department of social affairs, labour and solidarity] CEREQ is the focus of government expertise for the use of training and employment stakeholders. It produces statistics, research and studies and provides support for initiatives. It gives advice and makes proposals in order to clarify training policy choices at the regional, national and international level.
• The Office National d'Information sur les Enseignements et les Professions (ONISEP) [national information bureau for teaching and trades], a government agency reporting to the Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale, de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche [department of national education, higher learning and research], whose mission is to provide free information to young people, their families and educational teams on studies and trades, has put together a considerable amount of information on trades and has produced a trades guide that has helped in developing the classification.
• Craft unions and trade unions were consulted regularly on the reform of the classification.

2.2 Logistics and transport jobs in the PCS classification
There are 457 existing PCS codes, some of which relate to logistics. Selection of logistics-related PCS codes is based on the existing definition and on the understanding of logistics itself by the organisation selecting the code.

In carrying out its sectoral studies, the AFT-IFTIM Group has pre-processed PCS codes to extract particular ones related to logistics by comparing them with companies' reality. A list of about 10 logistics PCS codes may be identified, excluding those clearly only related to transport, such as truck drivers or dispatchers, but including those related both to transport and logistics. Excluding delivery activities as well as the PCS code for Transport and Logistics Managers due to over-representation of transport managers, 56leads to a narrower list of PCS codes-9 instead of 10.

Table 1. Transport and logistics jobs in the PCS classification
Code PCS	Job title
2232	chief operating officers in the logistics or transport industry with from 10 to 49 salaried employees
3842	industrial purchasing and procurement engineers and executives
3843	planning, scheduling engineers and executives
3861	transport and logistics executives
4641	administrative or commercial managers in transport and tourism (non-executives)
4642	operations managers in transport (non-executives)
4782	planning, scheduling, launch technicians
4891	warehouse, storage overseers
4892	handling managers
5443	goods transport administrative officers
6411	local and highway drivers (salaried)
6412	public transportation vehicle operators (salaried)
6413	taxi drivers (salaried)
6414	private vehicle drivers (salaried)
6415	delivery drivers, couriers (salaried)
6511	heavy lifting machinery operators
6512	heavy transport machinery operators
6513	stevedores
6514	forklift drivers
6515	warehouse operators
6521	transport operations labourers (non-operating staff)
6522	skilled guided transport system operators
6531	merchant marine sailors
6532	river navigation captains and helmsmen (salaried)
6792	stock handlers, transport operations labourers
6793	sorters, packagers, shippers
Legend: shaded jobs are in the transport field

This classification changed in 2003 to reflect improved knowledge of logistics jobs, but we don't yet have the data to make use of it.

Table 2. Comparison of logistics jobs titles between the last two PCS classifications
1993		2003
codes	job titles	codes	job titles
3842	Industrial purchasing and procurement engineers and executives	387a	Industrial purchasing and procurement engineers and executives
3843	Planning, scheduling engineers and executives	387b	Logistics, planning and scheduling engineers and executives
3861	Transport and logistics executives	389a   387b	Engineers and technical executives, transport operations Logistics, planning and scheduling engineers and executives
4782	Planning and scheduling technicians	477a	Logistics, planning and scheduling technicians
4891	Warehouse, storage overseers	487a	Warehouse, storage overseers
4892	Handling managers	487b	Operations manager picking and packing, shipping and other warehouse
6514	Forklift and other elevator machines drivers	652a	Skilled handling workers, forklift and other elevator machines drivers
6515	Storage operators	653a	Skilled storage operators
6792	Stock handlers, transport operations labourers	676a 676b   676d	Unskilled handlers Movers (except driver-movers), unskilled Transport operations labourers
6793	Sorters, packagers, shippers	676c	Sorters, wrappers, shippers-unskilled

First, the changes made to the PCS by the French statistics office reflect the new importance of the level of qualification. So with warehousing jobs, the specification of the specialisation of the operators, according to the nature of the material they use for example, does now matter less than the capacity to identify if the workers are qualified or not. The evolution in the characterisation of the operators jobs is mainly the specification of the presence (or not) of a qualification.

Besides, the new PCS classification distinguishes logistics jobs and transport jobs that were sometimes in the same category in the previous classification (see PCS 6792 and 3861). INSEE has sought to introduce a more precise distinction between transport activities and logistics by going over all responses from companies filling out their yearly statistical forms, including those for PCS.

2.3 Transport and logistics job statistics The following French census data represent persons holding a job in logistics, but not those people looking for one, i.e. those who have the required qualifications or experience related to the job, although that information is also available.

Table 3. Employment by transport and logistics job
Code	Job titles	1999	1990
2232	business executives in the logistics or transport industry	14,570	51,848
3842	industrial purchasing and procurement engineers and executives	11,292	6,380
3843	planning, scheduling engineers and executives	1,996	1,256
3861	transport and logistics executives	40,067	21,681
4641	administrative or commercial transport managers	45,560	44,545
4642	operations managers in transport (non-executives)	39,356	27,704
4782	planning, scheduling, launch technicians	7,592	6,384
4891	warehouse, storage overseers	35,991	41,904
4892	handling managers	38,065	25,540
5443	goods transport administrative officers	35,817	44,545
6411	local and highway drivers (salaried)	294,088	318,598
6412	public transportation vehicle operators	81,849	69,048
6413	taxi drivers (salaried)	7,493	7,496
6414	private vehicle drivers (salaried)	12,969	18,069
6415	delivery drivers, couriers (salaried)	164,016	141,041
6511	heavy lifting machinery operators	15,555	19,602
6512	heavy transport machinery operators	8,261	7,741
6513	stevedores	4,490	9,132
6514	forklift drivers	92,101	68,257
6515	warehouse operators	167,471	191,492
6521	transport operations labourers	20,298	30,788
6522	skilled guided transport system operators	19,549	18,956
6531	merchant marine sailors	4,102	4,776
6532	river navigation captains and helmsmen (salaried)	1,422	2,287
6792	stock handlers	216,203	241,978
6793	sorters, packagers, shippers	168,044	162,081
Total logistics jobs (apart from 3861*)		738,755	745,272
Total transport and logistics jobs		1,548,217	1,583,129
Total employment in France		22,800,731	22,070,330
Share of logistics jobs in total employment		3.24%	3.38%
Share of logistics jobs in transport and logistics employment		48.17%	48.48%
Legend: transport jobs are shaded Source: Census, INSEE * because of overrepresentation of transport jobs in 3861

It may be noted, in particular, that stock handler jobs have fallen off whereas forklift driver jobs are up; this reflects the improved qualifications of logistics workers. In addition, the number of engineer and logistics executive jobs has shot up.

2.4 Job offer statistics
A series of logistics jobs has been identified by the Agence Nationale pour l'Emploi (ANPE) [national employment agency] in an operational directory of trades and jobs called ROME (Répertoire Opérationnel des Métiers et des Emplois) [operational trades and jobs directory], whose purpose is to identify each job offer and application in order to match the two. A little over 10,000 trade and job titles appear in 466 employment/trades index cards; the 5-figure Rome code corresponds to one of these jobs/trades.

Since the first publication of the ROME in 1993, three categories of logistics-related jobs have disappeared: two warehouse workers and one "white collar" worker:

• Goods storage and distribution operators
• Goods loading and unloading operators
• Logistics managers

Table 4. Logistics jobs offers and applications
Codes & Titles	Registered Job Offers	Registered Job Applications
43.311: Storage and goods allocation operators	65,258	129,775
43.312: Goods loading and unloading operators	55,428	116,994
61.311: Logistics managers	2,903	9,500
Source: ANPE, 2003

Job seekers are well known by the different employment agencies and their applications could be broken down by several parameters (age, qualification, length of break in employment.). Several parameters are also known for the offers (company size, contract length.). Nevertheless, the ANPE statistics do not take the whole labour market into account, but consider only offers and applications the Agency has received.

The Nomenclature d'Activités Française 1993 (NAF, 1993) [French workforce classification] is the national statistical classification. NAF 1993 embodies all levels of NACE, revision 1 (the General Industrial Classification of Economic Activities within the European Communities) but adds to it a national level that separates out (or not) the NACE classes (last level) to take into account national characteristics and customs. At its finest level of detail, it distinguishes between 696 classes of economic activity.

Table 5. Economic activity codes used by Novalog
D	manufacturing industry
DG	chemical industry
DH	rubber and plastics industry
DL	manufacture of technological and electronic equipment
DM	manufacture of transport equipment
GG	automobile and household appliance sales and repair
II	transport and communications

The 1993 NAF classification was replaced as of 1 January 2003 by NAF rev. 1.
On the basis of the census taken by INSEE, it is possible to cross-reference jobs data based on the PCS with the areas of activity in the 1993 NAF classification.

Table 6. Breakdown of transport and logistics jobs by area of activity
PCS Code	Areas of activity
	1990							1991
	D	DG	DH	DL	DM	GG	II	D	DG	DH	DL	DM	GG	II
2232	32928	960	1432	2640	884	6116	6100	179	16	0	4	36	14230	8
3842	5144	520	180	1212	536	104	144	9240	949	362	2378	1242	223	637
3843	1080	80	64	168	136	12	32	1382	172	77	356	121	20	143
3861	2268	360	68	324	208	1480	16361	6435	859	403	1134	681	4033	24132
4641	380	40	8	52	52	424	42221	385	21	4	50	52	469	42103
4642	2112	180	116	132	160	952	23332	4806	602	373	656	1099	2209	29048
4782	5344	312	432	756	1160	204	152	6168	294	376	583	1165	199	320
4891	9112	788	436	1044	712	25168	1876	8147	910	476	840	852	18807	3132
4892	8560	1048	516	720	1244	4768	9012	10283	1337	601	1241	711	6361	14717
5443	1036	60	36	140	96	396	41161	922	87	51	117	97	901	31937
6411	37404	1680	904	676	1496	42164	154574	24278	1035	586	314	794	27048	178351
6412	304	16	12	60	84	328	60232	501	28	21	46	101	530	72800
6413	80	4	0	8	8	248	6036	78	4	1	4	0	333	6275
6414	2188	184	64	248	568	1112	2193	795	70	24	61	221	472	1635
6415	29512	840	588	1300	520	59692	25821	24760	566	504	1010	276	59176	47333
6511	6488	108	68	152	448	1044	2282	4576	83	50	81	362	879	2051
6512	1020	100	60	0	44	92	5689	962	49	94	8	74	209	5540
6513	164	4	4	0	100	104	6336	81	4	8	8	24	75	3573
6514	40544	3284	2256	1668	6404	12292	5625	44750	3575	3403	2058	6054	15932	11584
6515	60456	4952	2896	7484	8956	84008	12508	42567	3376	2549	5588	5796	82627	11257
6521	92	4	0	4	28	32	28964	158	4	12	9	25	216	18111
6522	104	0	0	0	12	40	18572	122	4	4	12	20	64	18277
6531	100	20	0	12	48	28	4280	40	0	0	4	23	78	3444
6532	48	8	0	0	20	28	1811	26	0	1	1	14	35	988
6792	90150	5380	5680	4000	4540	48948	47620	60081	3396	3948	2482	2817	35865	42942
6793	65741	10728	4140	4040	2928	64800	6328	43788	3434	3233	3655	2415	63685	14972
Source: census 1990 and 1999, INSEE

While logistics activities extend over a number of sectors of the French economy, it is obvious that the most significant differentiation is the one between companies in industrial sectors (automobile industry, chemical products) and the "pure" logistics providers. The retail, transport and services sectors have the largest number of persons employed in logistics jobs.

Table 7. Logistics jobs in the transport and trade sectors in France
		Transport and communications	Trade
as a % of total logistics jobs	1999	13.50%	30.28%
	1990	11.18%	32.24%
in absolute value	1999	99,704	223,719
	1990	83,297	240,304
1990 to 1999 growth rate		+ 19.7%	- 6.9%
Source: Census, INSEE

Between censuses, the Enquête Structure des Emplois (ESE), a structural employment survey of establishments with more than 20 wage earners carried out annually by INSEE, shows the change in jobs listed in the PCS classification according to a number of criteria, in particular the area of activity where the job is done.

Of course, results in terms of employment from the census or the ESE vary due to sample differences.

Table 8. Evolution of the jobs related to logistics
Sectors	1994	1995	1996	1997
Trade	244 819	246 621	264 131	273 119
Transport	62 758	62 758	76 097	80 662
Total logistics jobs	593,120	575,497	622,976	636,363
Source: ESE, INSEE

Much valuable use was made of the census and ESE data produced by INSEE in AFT-IFTIM's studies to quantify logistics jobs and how they are changing, in particular by cross-referencing level of responsibility (executives, technicians/first-line supervisors, operators), nature of area of activity and geographic location of the jobs.

France has a large amount of information on logistics jobs, which is regularly quantified by means of censuses and surveys of households and companies alike, carried out by INSEE, employment agencies for job seekers, but also by various institutions reporting to government departments.

The production of statistics at global and sectoral levels reveals that organisations are well aware of the political and social stakes linked to the knowledge of the number of logistics workers and of the possibility of having a view of the breakdown of this population by sector and territory. Strong sectoral initiatives have provided sectoral training organisations with regular information on employment and qualifications, to achieve a better match between companies' needs and skills in the workforce.

There is a profusion of French sources that describe logistics jobs. In particular, classified by purpose:

statistical
The Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (INSEE), which publishes the Nomenclature des Professions et Catégories Socioprofessionnelles (PCS) used for coding the census and INSEE household surveys (www.INSEE.fr)

career counselling related
ONISEP (the Office National d'Information sur les Enseignements et les Professions) [French information bureau for teaching and occupations], a public institution reporting to the Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale, de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche, which publishes:

• An information and orientation CD-Rom called Planète Métier-Voyage au Cour des Métiers du Transport et de la Logistique [trades planet-a trip to the heart of transport and logistics trades], developed in partnership with the AFT-IFTIM Group
• Fact sheets on trades and training (www.onisep.fr/national/fiches_metiers)

The AFT-IFTIM Group (Association pour le Développement de la Formation professionnelles dans les Transports - Institut de Formation aux Techniques d'Implantation et de Manutention) which presents on its website all transport and logistics sector channels and training programmes (www.aft-iftim.com).

employment or placement related
The Agence Nationale pour l'Emploi (ANPE), which puts together the Répertoire Opérationnel des Métiers et des Emplois (ROME) (http://rome.anpe.net/employer/)
The Agence pour l'Emploi des Cadres (APEC) [executive employment agency] (http://www.apec.fr/)

standardisation process related
The Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR) [French standardization association]: a state-approved but private, not-for-profit organisation under the supervision of the industry ministry, with the profils professionnels [career profiles] - GT 3 (http://www.afnor.fr/)

sectoral policy related
Union des Industries Chimiques [union of chemical industries] (http://www.uic.fr/)
Collective agreement "Industries chimiques" [chemical industries] - Brochure JO 3108
Collective agreement "Industries métallurgiques"[metallurgical industries] - Brochure JO 3109
Collective agreement "Commerce à prédominance alimentaire" [trade involving chiefly food] - Brochure JO 3021
Collective agreement "Transports routiers et activités auxiliaires du transport" [highway transport and auxiliary transport activities] - Brochure JO 3085 AGEFAFORIA, the OPCA of the agri-food sector (www.agefaforia.com)
Contrats d'études prospectives [forward-looking study contracts] and sectoral monitoring agencies compared by the Centre de Recherches et d'Études sur les Qualifications (CEREQ) (http://www.cereq.fr/index.htm)

training related
Diplomas of the Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale (http://www.education.gouv.fr/index.php)
Types of training driven by sectoral policies:

• Job qualification certificates (JQCs)
• Professional designations (TPs)

enterprise baseline based
Logistics job descriptions in France are strongly linked to sectoral approaches that influence job descriptions and the way the classification changes.

INSEE uses a classification of occupations and socioprofessional categories that contains 10 logistics jobs:

• Stock handlers, transport operations labourers
• Sorters, packagers, shippers
• Forklift drivers
• Warehouse operators
• Handling managers
• Warehouse, storage overseers
• Transport and logistics executives
• Industrial purchasing and procurement engineers and executives
• Planning, scheduling engineers and executives
• Planning, scheduling, launch technicians

For each of these jobs, INSEE presents the core, analogous cases, borderline cases ruled in and those ruled out, and defines their main duties.

Stock handlers, transport operations labourers
Workers who do handling, loading and unloading work. While performing these tasks they may help guide vehicles and provide labourers with such manual assistance as is required.
N.B.: This part does not apply only to persons working in the transport sector.

Sorters, packagers, shippers
Workers who package, sort and ship goods, making up packages.

Warehouse operators
Wage earners at the skilled worker level who help with receiving, shelving and chargeout of products stored in a warehouse and keep an inventory up to date.

Handling managers
Wage earners assigned to organise handling or packaging operations. Often, they perform these tasks themselves.

Warehouse, storage overseers
Wage earners assigned to organise receipt and distribution of products (often they help perform these tasks themselves) and keep an inventory up to date.

Transport and logistics executives
Executives, of a transport business or other type of business, taking part in the organisation of the movement of products, merchandise or travellers: transport, shipment, handling, inventory or warehouse management.

Industrial purchasing and procurement engineers and executives
engineers specialising in the purchase of raw and semi-processed materials. They call upon suppliers and subcontractors according to the technical characteristics and the cost of the products offered by each, to ensure optimum profitability.

Planning, scheduling engineers and executives
Executives whose responsibility it is to determine and schedule a factory's production plan having regard to labour and equipment availability in each workshop. They analyse orders, determine the necessary inputs, distribute work among units, propose, if need be, that part of it be subcontracted, and monitor its progress.

Planning, scheduling, launch technicians
Salaried specialists, not classified as executives, who help to set and schedule a factory's production plan. They analyse orders, determine the necessary inputs, manage stocks, monitor production, or distribute work among units.

3.1 Collective agreements
A very significant view of logistics jobs comes from sectors that have developed collective agreements with the social partners, but have no specific statistics production activity.

3.1.1 - Highway transport and auxiliary transport activities
Regarding logistics job descriptions, the transport sector social partners have recently decided to integrate logistics jobs into the sectoral collective agreement. Gathered in a working group composed of ad hoc experts, they have focused on the jobs performed in unrefrigerated storage activity.

The Convention nationale collective relative aux Transports routiers et activités auxiliaires du transport [national collective agreement on highway transport and auxiliary transport activities] lists 21 logistics jobs in the appendix to its June 30, 2004 amendment on the specific employment conditions applicable to staff performing logistics activities:

• Operator-packer
• Order picker
• Controller-flasher
• Warehouse maintenance operator
• Logistics forklift driver
• Warehouse operator
• Inventory assistant
• Planner
• Warehouse maintenance technician
• Logistics team leader
• Stock/ inventory controller
• Warehouse supervisor
• Logistics quay team leader
• Logistics operational supervisor
• Warehouse maintenance supervisor
• Project leader
• Logistics operational manager
• Customising manager
• Logistics site manager
• Quality control manager
• Quality control manager assistant

These jobs belong to one of the following four categories:

• Workers
• Employees
• Technicians and first-line supervisors
• Engineers and executives

These job titles and complete descriptions were produced through a combined approach (theoretical and empirical) by a group of social partners, professional organisations, training organisations and transport sector experts.

The second step was to define the jobs identified in logistics-specific functions in unrefrigerated storage. For each job, after a global definition of the job contents, five different headings were designed to give a global view of the tasks, activities, competencies and qualifications required to fit the job:

• Competencies
• Knowledge
• Compulsory initial training
• Qualifying training

The third step consisted in generating a match between the descriptions and the training. They provide some key information on the type of skills required by the jobholder as well as possible training programmes to be followed to acquire the appropriate knowledge, competencies and/or skills. They also propose a cross-referencing of diplomas, qualifying training and specific jobs. The fourth step consisted in the definition of the key job families, at a consolidated level. Key job families are defined as follows:

• Implementation and piloting
• Warehouse production
• Warehouse management
• Post-production (co-manufacturing)
• Maintenance
• Quality control/Service quality

3.1.2 - Chemical Industry
The Convention collective nationale des industries chimiques et connexes [national collective agreement for chemical and allied industries] (Journal Officiel, 3108, December 30, 1952) categorises jobs by means of coefficients defined by specific amendments: "workers and collaborators", "first-line supervisors and some technicians", "engineers and executives"; on the basis of the job they do in one of the eight professional streams, among which logistics does not appear as such. The appendices to the agreement do mention a certain number of logistics jobs.

• Procurement clerk
• Qualified employee of a sales, technical or operating unit
• Order picker/packer
• Receiving clerk
• Order checker
• Shipper
• Warehouse operator 1st grade
• Warehouse operator 2nd grade
• Scheduling or production officer

It will be noticed that in the classification "first-line supervisors and some technicians" and "engineers and executives", no job is explicitly logistics-related.

Procurement clerk
Keeps inventory control records, reports resupply orders he or she deems necessary, and takes the initiative of making any delivery claims within the time allotted.

Qualified employee of a sales, technical or operating unit
The employee's work involves a certain degree of initiative and responsibility; the employee must, under the direction of a unit or office manager, carry out either transactions pertaining to one or more products, purchase or sale vis-à-vis agents, clients, factory suppliers, or transactions pertaining to Customs, shipping, etc., draft correspondence or have it drafted, as the case may be.

Order picker/packer
An employee whose job it is to prepare orders, which involves a practical knowledge of the warehouse's products or articles. Ensures orders are packed and loaded in keeping with clear guidelines.

Receiving clerk
An employee whose job it is to receive merchandise, check quantities, and ensure everything is in accordance with the packing slips or purchase orders; signs for goods received.

Order checker
An employee whose job it is to check the order picking as defined in the "Order picker" job description and who is responsible for the orders' being correctly processed.

Shipper
An employee with good practical experience of the merchandise on hand, able to determine the most appropriate shipping methods from the nature of the merchandise and the destination; in particular, ensures that merchandise is properly packaged and crated.

Warehouse operator
An employee whose job it is, under the direction of the foreman or warehouse supervisor, to receive, store and deliver merchandise; and to look after general storekeeping, including books or records.

Scheduling or production officer
An officer sufficiently familiar with the workshops' operations and their production capacity, who must turn orders received into a performance schedule, monitor the progress of the various production stages and ensure that deadlines are met.

Moreover, the website of the Union des Industries Chimiques gives a list of trades in the chemical industry, including logistics jobs (http://www.uic.fr/fr/form03-c-transport.htm). The Union des Industries Chimiques (UIC) is the professional organisation that brings together all chemical companies and provides them with exchange and meeting facilities. It helps them develop. It represents and defends them in the various spheres where it fulfils its missions: the social, economic, technical, fiscal and legal spheres. The professional organisation serves its member companies. It informs and advises them and provides them with the tools they need to properly manage their human resources and comply with the economic and technical regulations they are subject to.

• Warehouse operator
• Warehouse supervisor
• Scheduling officer
• Planning manager
• Logistics manager
• Buyer
• Purchasing manager

These jobs are defined as follows:

• Activities
• Competencies
• Training (diplomas specified)

3.1.3 - Trade
The Convention collective relative au Commerce à prédominance alimentaire [collective agreement for trade involving chiefly food] (Brochure JO 3021, May 29,1969) gives a classification of functions in the appendix to its amendment No. 70 of May 30, 1997. In particular, it contains the following trades, which are described from the point of view of the activities involved:

• Regional warehouse director
• Buyer
• Logistics sector manager
• Purchasing clerk
• Controller
• Receiving clerk
• Logistics operations officer
• Warehouse forklift driver
• Picker / packer

Regional warehouse director
Under the company's logistics policy, has responsibility for operating the warehouse so as to optimise results and service quality relative to operating costs. Is responsible for social dialogue and management quality.
Level VII duties include participation in setting and attainment of objectives in his or her unit (establishment, service).

Buyer
Helps develop purchasing policy and choose suppliers. Negotiates a supply contract, for all purchasing conditions.

Logistics sector manager
Within his or her responsibility sector (receiving, order picking area, shipping), sees to proper day-to-day operations, organises and monitors staff's work and ensures the technical and administrative quality of the services provided by the sector.

Purchasing clerk
On the basis of standing directives and rules on making up and tracking orders, ensures the proper quantities, deadlines and costs in supplying a group of establishments with the items for which he or she is responsible.

Controller
Checks that palettes or rolls are loaded in accordance with the delivery order.
Affixes a verification tag as well as the consignee's address. Takes means to ensure the integrity of the shipment until it reaches the consignee.

Receiving clerk
Checks products delivered against the order and shelves the products in the right order, using materials-handling machinery as appropriate. Sends the indicated units the documents attesting delivery, after attaching them. May participate in the unloading of merchandise.

Logistics operations officer
Is fully responsible for the work of a given warehouse sector (grocery, beverages, personal care products).

Warehouse forklift driver
For a given warehouse zone, ensures that picking areas are correctly addressed and stocked, in compliance with traffic and safety rules and deadlines, in conjunction with Receiving and Order Picking.
May prepare merchandise.

Picker / packer
In the warehouse, picks a stores order, looks for items, removes correct quantities, tags items, loads them on rolls or palettes, and records changes.

3.2 Sectoral policies: Contrats d'études prospectives and sectoral monitoring agencies
Management and labour, both having employment and training skills, have adopted tools such as contrats d'études prospectives for particular sectors in order to take their consideration of occupational classifications to the sectoral level.

CEPs are not, therefore, (forecasting or forward-looking) studies like any others, for they are inspired by the issue of changing work and competencies with which both social partners are confronted, and are conducted jointly by management and labour. It will be easier to reach a minimal accord on this issue if technical support is instituted with the objective, where necessary, of helping professional sectors to fine-tune their proposals and develop a specification that emphasises the economic, technological and socio-organisational issues around which the CEP must be structured. Such technical support is mainly intended for those professional sectors lacking both a logistics structure and adequate study and analysis capability. It may in some cases be intended to quickly diagnose one or two points deemed seen as priorities by the sector with a view to facilitating negotiations between the professional organisations and the trade unions.

Since 1988, some forty contrats d'études prospectives (CEPs) have been signed between government and professional and union organisations representing sectors. The creation of a sectoral monitoring agency is often one of the CEP's recommendations.

3.2.1 - CEREQ's comparative analysis (1999) of eight CEPs In its analysis of monitoring agencies' activities, the Centre de Recherche et d'Études sur les Qualifications (CEREQ), a public centre of expertise serving training and employment stakeholders, compared eight sectoral systems, five of which identify logistics jobs, including the trade sector's system (FORCO), which lists four of them:

• Packaging, stocking and handling labourers
• Storage managers
• Logistics executives
• Inspectors, warehouse supervisors

Such is the case with the Observatoire National Paritaire des Métiers et des Emplois de la Plasturgie [a national joint monitoring agency for the plastics industry], which has developed a chart of benchmark jobs comprising 15 functions, including logistics/scheduling (including three jobs: manager, planning technician, warehouse operator), as well as wholesale trade, which has developed its own elaborate trades catalogue, and which lists, under logistics, the following trades:

• Expert inspector
• Purchasing clerk
• Forklift driver
• Workshop foreman
• Warehouse foreman
• Warehouse operator
• Picker / packer
• Receiving checker
• Logistics manager
• Quality manager

The description of these jobs contains the following headings:

• Definitions
• Tasks and activities
• Work situation
• Competencies
• Training
• Awareness and behaviour

For example, Annex 1 gives descriptions of a job as it appears in the wholesale trade CEP (1997).

CEREQ's analysis also refers to the national employment and vocational training scorecard for highway transport and auxiliary transport activities, which includes a handling/warehousing job family. However, this scorecard will be undergoing some changes to take into account the 21 new logistics-related jobs identified in the collective agreement.

There are two types of job description for employment and information purposes in France, corresponding to the organisation of these two areas of activities: one is related to information services on jobs and sectors, available mainly to students, and the other is related to employment agencies and related services, all dealing with the correspondence between employers, employees and job seekers.

On the one hand, the information purposes job description may be at a number of institutional agencies that have been created to circulate information oriented to teachers, students, or any job seekers looking for information and orientation inputs.

Information purposes are mainly covered in France by ONISEP, a specialised structure reporting to the labour department.

On the other hand, some institutional bodies are working to implement employment policy in France and to improve cross-referencing between job vacancies, applicants and employers. The best example of such a body is the public national employment agency called ANPE, standing for Agence Nationale pour l'Emploi, as well as APEC, the Agence pour l'Emploi des Cadres.

4.1 ONISEP
ONISEP (the Office national d'Information sur les Enseignements et les Professions), is a public institution reporting to the Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale, de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche.

4.1.1 - ONISEP's trades fact sheets
The ONISEP site allows young people to consult 400 different trades fact sheets, in particular for orientation purposes. It is interesting to note that the fact sheets are searched by field. But the field of logistics is not represented as such. You must access the logistics-related trades by querying the "transport" field.

The logistics jobs listed are:

• Scheduling manager
• Logistician
• Warehouse operator
• Automotive supplies warehouse operator
• Merchandiser
• Buyer

For each of these jobs, ONISEP presents:

• Activities related to work in this trade
• Relevant working conditions
• Qualifications for working in this trade
• Career and promotion opportunities
• Salary expectations
• Training

Sample descriptions:
Scheduling manager
The scheduling manager establishes a manufacturing schedule and tracks the progress of work. He or she may even, in some companies, manage the various means of production (supplies, equipment, personnel.).

Establish a manufacturing schedule
The sales office transmits the orders it has received: what product should be manufactured, in what quantity, by what date?
From the information in the company's database, the scheduling manager will know the components of the product to be manufactured, and, for each component, the subsequent operations to be performed: turning, milling, rectification, testing, etc.
He or she sets precise start and end dates for each operation to ensure turnaround times can be met.
He or she then distributes all of these operations among the various work stations of a workshop or factory.
For each shift, he or she establishes a work schedule for the various orders, taking priorities into account (parts to be provided as soon as possible).
The manager then has on his or her computer a table-the schedule-indicating for each shift the work to be done in a given period. This is the forecast manufacturing schedule.

Track the progress of the work
Once manufacturing begins, he or she must monitor it.
The computer networks linking the workshops to the scheduling unit provide real-time information on the progress of the work. The scheduling manager can at any time refer to the schedule to compare each work station's actual production with what was planned.
If a discrepancy is noted, and the lag is too great, he or she will then make the requisite decisions: use another workshop's excess capacity, bring new equipment on line, subcontract to an outside company, etc.
To pilot operations in this way requires quick reactions and a great ability to adapt to unforeseen circumstances.

Manage the various means of production
In SME-SMIs, the scheduling manager controls all stages of production management.
He or she can thus create the right conditions for manufacturing to start up on the scheduled date: for example, by ordering spare parts or raw materials. He or she then sets the quantities to be received, the delivery deadlines to be met, and makes up purchase orders for suppliers.
In consultation with the personnel unit, he or she determines what staff complement will be necessary.
Finally, with the methods, maintenance and quality units, he or she sees to it that manufacturing equipment (machinery) will be available.

4.1.2 - The CD-ROM Voyage au Cour des Métiers du Transport et de la Logistique
In 1999, ONISEP published a CD-ROM in partnership with the AFT-IFTIM Group. This tool is intended for young people aged 14 to 18. The programme introduces them, through trades video clips and filmed interviews, to trades, professionals' world of work and the corporate world. Its goal is to arouse their interest and help them find a career path. Thus, it aims to encourage young people to take their future in hand, to empower them to continue their research, and to encourage them to find out more and know the corporate world better. It is intended to be at once "informative, realistic and interactive". Each trade is presented in:

• a trades video clip lasting about a minute
• texts presenting the trade in all its aspects
• the list of ONISEP publications dealing specifically with that trade
• encounters with other professionals in the form of thirty-second video interviews
• an interactive simulation of a recruitment interview.

In the ONISEP representation, the transport occupations are better known and highly developed, whereas the logistics services industry is simply divided in two parts, which are the warehouse area and the white-collar area. The logistics jobs that are described and exemplified are:

• Forklift driver
• Warehouse operator
• Warehouse manager
• Senior manager logistics

For each of these jobs, ONISEP presents:

A description of the main characteristics of the trade and the main activities involved.
A profile explaining the working conditions prevalent in the trade, as well as the qualifications it requires.
A "training" heading indicating what diplomas are indispensable to ply this trade.
The possible career shifts, into another position or a new function.

This document presents working conditions and work environment. Its main objective is to get job seekers to apply for jobs in transport and logistics and to adapt their competencies, training and expertise to these specific jobs.

4.2 ANPE's operational trades and jobs directory (ROME)
In this agency, one specialised department is in charge of job description follow-up. ANPE uses the Répertoire Opérationnel des Métiers et des Emplois (ROME), whose first version dates from 1993.

Unlike PCS, the ROME code no longer relies on hierarchical criteria to differentiate the players in the fields of warehouse operations and handling-hence, there are three fewer logistics jobs than in the PCS classification.

Moreover, whereas qualifications form one of the sorting principles in PCS, ROME uses them only for assignment to the major occupational categories. Similarly, status is not a guiding principle in ROME (job seekers are by definition looking for a salaried position, no matter what their previous status: independent worker, for example).

ROME is, in general, more detailed than the PCS classification, but as regards logistics jobs, six are identifiable. These are: two types of warehouse worker, one technician and two management level jobs (one operational, the other more strategic).

• Technical executive, methods-scheduling-planning
• Goods storage and distribution operator
• Goods loading/unloading operator
• Logistics manager
• Industrial buyer

For each job, one form was created, with the following items:

• Main titles of the job
• Brief definition
• General working conditions
• Training and experience needed
• Shared competencies

With a distinction between:

• Basic technical competencies
• Associated competencies
• Job-related abilities
• Specific activities
• Location where the activity has to be performed
• Working conditions

As an example, the description of one of these occupations is given below.

Goods storage and distribution operator
Most common titles: storesman, courier service consolidator, warehouse operator.
Specific titles: shipping officer, consignment clerk, chief storesman or chief warehouseman, warehouse supervisor, quay team leader, head storesman, chief courier, labeller-tallyman, order picker, receiver, dispatcher, shipping manager, warehouseman-salesman.
Definition: takes part in the logistics function of the company by receiving, storing, preparing and distributing goods. Use of a computer for inventory management is increasingly indispensable. May in some cases have supervisory duties.
General employment conditions: This trade or occupation is carried on in a shop, on distributors' (dealers') premises, in a warehouse or on a loading quay, alone or as part of a team. The work may involve the handling of hazardous cargoes or materials or the use of materials-handling machinery. In some cases the work may necessitate contact with clients (shop work).
Training and experience: Depending on the function, this trade/occupation may be entered with a level IV (CAP or BEP) or V (Bac professionnel) education. To gain employment as a warehouse supervisor, chief courier or quay team leader a number of years of experience are necessary. It is possible to quickly gain a supervisory position (chief warehouseman) with level III training such as a DUT in transport and logistics. This trade or occupation is also accessible through ongoing training.
Common skills:
Basic technical skills:

• Receive and stock products or merchandise
• Recognise and check products or merchandise
• Prepare deliveries and shipments

Associated skills:

• Hold a trade proficiency certificate as a forklift driver
• Have some grasp of a foreign language

Employment-related abilities:

• Meet deadlines (preparing deliveries and shipment runs)
• Comply with rigorous monitoring processes (product receiving, tallying quantities taken from inventory.).

ROME is now in the process of being amended. There will be an impact on jobs found to be logistics-related, whose descriptions will be amplified. In particular, the goods loading/unloading operator, the goods storage and distribution operator, and the logistics manager would disappear, being replaced by the following:

• Forklift driver
• Handling operator
• Storesman/order picker
• Logistics site supervisor
• Logistics technician

4.3 The occupational family classification or FAP
Because of the need to analyse employment and unemployment by trade, a specific trades classification has been developed based on the occupational family (FAP): http://www.travail.gouv.fr/etudes/emploi_metier/pres_fap.html. The occupational family classification is a classification of trades used by DARES and many other organisations to reconcile employment data with unemployment data.

Accordingly, it was based on the Répertoire Opérationnel des Métiers et des Emplois (ROME) used by the ANPE to code the employment sought by job seekers and employers, and on the Nomenclature des Professions et Catégories Socioprofessionnelles (PCS), used in particular in coding the census and the employment survey.

The trades are clustered by occupational families (224 at the detail level, 84 at a more aggregate level), which in turn are placed in broad occupational categories (22 in number) such as construction, mechanics or computing. The numbering system adopted reflects both the logical order of the families and the clustering principle. It begins with a letter representing the occupational category (e.g. J-Tourism and transport).

These "occupational categories" must not be confused with areas of activity, even though the names are sometimes very similar. Except in particular cases, what is being looked at is individuals' activities, not those of the company they work for. The first figure after the letter is a serial number. At this level of generality, DARES publishes summary fact sheets on employment and unemployment by occupational family (1983-1998 or 1982-2002 period), on the basis of such criteria as age or diploma level. The second figure indicates the qualification (independent, skilled worker or not, highly skilled worker, qualified employee or not, first-line supervisor, technician or intermediate occupation, engineer and executives).

Six logistics jobs may be identified (see following table and corresponding jobs in PCS and ROME codes).

Table 9. PCS/ROME/FAP matches for logistics jobs
FAP	PCS	ROME
H092 methods, scheduling, planning engineers	3843 planning, scheduling engineers and executives	53111 Technical executive,methods-scheduling-planning
J020 packaging and handling labourers	6792 Stock handlers, transport operations labourers 6793 sorters, packagers, shippers	43311 Goods storage and distribution operator 43312 Goods loading/unloading operator 43313 Mover
J140 skilled storage and handling workers	6514 forklift drivers 6515 warehouse operators	43311 Goods storage and distribution operator 43312 Goods loading/unloading operator
J180 storage managers	4891 warehouse, storage overseers 4892 handling managers	43314 Mail clerk 43311 Goods storage and distribution operator
J690 transport and logistics executives	3861 transport and logistics executives	61311 Logistics manager 61312 Goods transport operations manager 61313 Passenger transportation operations manager
R491 sales engineers and executives (matches 6 PCS codes, only one of them in logistics, and 3 ROME codes, one in logistics)	3842 industrial purchasing and procurement engineers and executives	33111 Industrial buyer
Source: DARES (http://www.travail.gouv.fr) Transport jobs are shaded

In cross-referencing the ROME and PCS specifications, which do not have a one-to-one correspondence, at the level of the 224-position occupational family classification-that is, at the maximum level of detail-, several ROME numbers were placed opposite a single PCS number when necessary, as the ROME classification is more detailed. All possible cases were considered in terms of qualifications for each trade in ROME. Thus, in some cases, the same ROME number was assigned to one, two or three different families, depending on the qualification.

4.4 The trades baseline [référentiel des métiers] of the Agence pour l'Emploi des Cadres (APEC)
A major player in the executive recruitment market in France, the Agence pour l'Emploi des Cadres (APEC) assists companies in recruiting their executives and also assists the executives at all stages of their professional lives (first job, mobility, professional advancement.). These jobs are identified and described in trades baselines specific to occupational categories, one being concerned with the logistics and transport trades.

APEC's 2002 transport and logistics trades baseline lists a number of transport and logistics trades, including missions, recruitment profiles, employers, advancement possibilities and personal accounts by executives currently employed:

• Logistics analyst
• Logistics consultant
• Supply chain manager
• Shipping and receiving manager
• Operations manager
• Platform manager
• Warehouse manager
• Shipping manager
• Inventory manager
• Purchasing clerk
• Purchasing officer

A distinction should be made between:

• diplomas granted by the Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale (national secondary-school and higher diplomas),
• designations granted by other departments, and
• certificates created and issued under the aegis of the professional sectors.

In all three cases the certification issued attests to a "qualification", that is, the ability to conduct professional activities in a number of situations work, with varying degrees of responsibility as defined in a "baseline".

5.1 Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale diplomas
Commissions Professionnelles Consultatives (CPC) [professional advisory committees] are convened so that the Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale, employers, wage earners, public authorities and qualified persons may consult and give their opinions on the creation, upgrading or elimination of diplomas in technological and professional teaching. At present there are 17 such committees, corresponding to the major areas of economic activity; logistics sector diplomas are dealt with by the "transport and handling" and "marketing techniques" CPCs (http://eduscol.education.fr/D0006/default.htm).

Each diploma of the Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale has its employment baseline, which strongly emphasises working conditions (occupational context, type of business, place in the company's organisation, employment environment, general employment conditions). Skills required to carry on the various trades are also described in great detail (cf. the decrees defining or creating the diplomas). These are broken down into:

• general competencies
• final competencies (expertise)
• operating conditions
• associated knowledge

This information is available, in particular, for the following diplomas:

• CAP Warehouse operations and courier service officer
• BEP Logistics and marketing
• BAC Logistics professional
• BTS Transport and logistics
• DUT Logistics and transport management
• DU Logistics operations management

In the operational area, the CAP Warehouse Operations diploma is applicable to the various operators' jobs. The modules are oriented towards order picking, storage techniques, handling procedures, etc. Otherwise, the Logistics and Marketing BEP allows people to obtain a reception, storage or order picking job. As such, these two diplomas are targeted to people wanting warehouse workers' jobs. The highest degree in logistics is the Professional A level in logistics, which trains candidates in IT systems knowledge, customer relations, cost optimisation and flow management.

(See, for example, Annex 2 for the descriptions associated with CAP Warehouse Operations and courier service officer)

5.2 Types of training driven by sectoral policies
5.2.1 - Job Qualification Certificates (JQCs)
JQCs are issued at the behest of labour organisations, wage earners and employers. The only thing that changes in different sectors is the name and role of the bodies responsible for JQC issuance. The responsible bodies are: the CPNE (Commission Paritaire National de l'Emploi et de la Formation Professionnelle) [national joint commission for employment and vocational training] for national sectoral collective agreements, and/or the professional section of the OPCA (Organisme Paritaire Collecteur Agréé) [authorized joint collecting body].

In the logistics field, Job Qualification Certificates are issued for the following professions:

• Order picker (in mainly food-related businesses)
• Industrial logistics technician (in the chemical industries)
• Telecommunications products logistician (in the metallurgical and mining industries)
• Logistics technician (in the metallurgical and mining industries)
• Warehouse and logistics operator (in metallurgical and mining industries)

For the sector that sells and distributes mainly food, and for the performance of its companies, service quality is the essential factor. Also, means have been taken to upgrade wage earners' qualifications. These are based on close co-operation with the educational system and the involvement of the Commission Paritaire National de l'Emploi (CPNE) in producing qualifications, with the creation of four job qualification certificates, including the "order picker" JQC.

The chemical industries sector has adopted qualifications validated by labour and management alike so as to better meet the need for new, "state-of-the-art" qualifications and cope with rapid technological change. These qualifications complement the training given by the Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale and the job training certificates issued by the Ministère de l'Emploi [department of employment]. The sector now has 23 validated qualifications, including the "industrial logistics technician" JQC. Its professional objectives are defined in terms of capacities.

The metallurgical and mining industries sector has determined that there is a need for high-calibre staff, not met by diploma programmes in technology and trades schools or the existing titres homologués [professional designation] programmes, which can be satisfied by means of qualification contracts. Such contracts have been commonplace since 1987 thanks to the existence of qualification certificates that attest to candidates' skill levels and meet companies' real needs. CQPMs (certificats de qualification paritaire de la métallurgie [joint metallurgical qualification certificates]) are thus the way to obtain professional qualification. Identification and definition of professional qualifications are a company responsibility, with the help and oversight provided by the metallurgical labour associations.

5.2.2 - The professional certification system of the Ministère de l'Emploi: Professional designations (TPs)
The Répertoire National des Certifications Professionnelles (RNCP) [national directory of professional certifications] is intended to ensure that individuals and companies have access to continually updated information on professional degrees and designations and on the qualification certificates on the official lists of the Commissions Paritaires Nationales de l'Emploi des Branches Professionnelles [national joint commissions for professional sector employment]. It lists the following logistics jobs:

• Warehouse forklift driver
• Senior logistics methods and operations technician
• Warehouse logistics technician
• Stockkeeper
• Warehouse order picker / packer
• Logistics manager
• Logistician
• Senior agri-food logistics technician

5.2.3 - AFPA Study "Analyse des emplois type de l'entreposage" [analysis of standard warehousing jobs]
The Association nationale pour la Formation Professionnelle des Adultes (AFPA) [national association for adult vocational training], a provider of qualifying vocation training for adult wage earners and job seekers in France, deals with the whole range of issues involving career orientation, vocational training, validation of vocational learning and human resources advice.

The AFPA conducted its analysis of standard warehousing jobs in 1999; it describes four logistics trades:

• Warehouse operations manager
• Warehousing site manager
• Order picker/packer
• Forklift driver

The descriptions of these jobs contain:

• Alternate titles for the standard job
• Definition (overall purpose)
• General employment conditions
• Employment access conditions
• Area of endeavour and responsibility
• Description of standard job
• Scope of employment-variability

5.2.4 - AGEFAFORIA study
AGEFAFORIA, a labour/management organisation, is the Organisme Paritaire Collecteur Agréé (OPCA) for the agri-food sector (http://www.agefaforia.com). As such, it:

• collects and manages financial contributions from member companies, in particular with a view to financing of the training plan
• reports on vocational training rights and practices
• advises wage earners and member companies, in particular on the development of their training plan and integration of young people through work-study programmes, and participates in the implementation of qualification and learning contracts in each professional sector
• helps develop and implement job qualification certificates
• promotes innovative teaching activities by supporting the creation of custom teaching and training tools (ALICE) and trades information. promotes and manages professional agreements
• helps to carry out contrats d'études prospectives and co-signs objectives contracts between the sectors, the government and the regions.

In 2001 AGEFAFORIA published a study entitled "Nouveaux facteurs d'évolution, quelles incidences pour les formations sectorielles?" [new advancement factors: how will they affect sectoral training?], which deals with the organisational issue in the logistics function in food industries. That study identified numerous logistics trades, described in terms of "overall missions / change in overall competencies".

• Logistics group director
• Logistics manager
• Logistics studies director
• Logistics distribution manager
• Planning officer
• Organisation and distribution officer
• Resource planning manager
• Warehouse manager
• Receiving manager
• Warehouse operations manager
• Stock/ inventory controller
• Warehouse supervisor
• Warehouse operator
• Maintenance operator
• Forklift driver
• Order picker / packer
• Logistics facilitator

During this study, a "target job", that of "logistics facilitator" is defined and described as follows:

Overall mission

• Organises materials flows and makes use of information flows related to the logistics function for which he or she is responsible. Depending on the company's organisation this function may include the upstream and downstream components of the activity, or only one or the other.
• He or she leads a team of warehouse operators and is responsible for organising their activities.
• He or she puts forth proposals and contributes to the ongoing improvement of the function entrusted to him or her, both at the level of flow organisation and use and at the staff or innovation level, and may take part in the conduct of projects.

Key activities

• Activity planning.
• Team management and facilitation.
• Management of machinery base.
• Operational analysis to implement an ongoing improvement process.

Key competencies

• Basic knowledge of logistics ("logistics culture")
• Legal knowledge.
• Ability to use computing tools.
• Economic knowledge: ability to analyse ratios.
• Ability to analyse, anticipate, and step back.
• Managerial skills.

As operationality is the prime factor, very often the logistics facilitator is promoted from within the company's staff, and in particular from among the warehouse operators.

5.3 Vocational training organisation: example of the AFT-IFTIM Group
The AFT-IFTIM Group has on its website (http://www.aft-iftim.com) a transport and logistics trades guide intended to provide young people, companies and job seekers with the fullest possible overview of the transport and logistics stream and recommend the most suitable training for these trades, in every professional sector.

In the logistics field specifically, there are a few examples of trades listed, such as:

• Warehouse manager
• Agency manager
• Warehouse operator / forklift driver
• Logistics manager
• Storesman
• Stock/ inventory controller

The jobs are described from the standpoint of:

• Activities
• Missions
• Competencies
• Work situations
• Knowledge
• Awareness and behaviour

As an example, here is the description given for "logistics manager".

Logistics manager
The logistics manager is in charge of the flow of products and materials through the company; he or she also manages, using software tools, all information flows necessary to his or her mission. His or her competency may be applied at both the operational (by direct management of logistical means) and the functional level. His or her overriding mission is to control and reduce costs in the logistical chain. He or she must also meet client service quality objectives. He or she must reconcile the imperatives of marketing, production, sales and finance, and propose a comprehensive strategy for production, storage, transport and service quality. He or she uses a wide range of tools: robotics for production, storage and order-picking automation, informatics for routing optimisation, inventory management and warehouse setup. Rigorous, organised, pragmatic, he or she is service-oriented and prompt to react. Available, independent, and enjoying human contact, he or she is capable of managing a team.

Some companies, wishing to redefine their human resources management (recruitment, internal mobility, training) are undertaking a baseline construction procedure.

6.1 MICHELIN Group
The MICHELIN Group's description of specific logistics trades is available on the Internet: www.michelin-emplois.com. Duties, level of responsibility and required diplomas are specified.

Local resupply officer (BAC+2/4)
As part of the business team for a given area, you are responsible for implementing the desired inventory policy for each of our clients, in accordance with the specifications laid down by the country's business manager. Under the supervision of the entity's resupply manager (central resupplier), you calculate and transmit the entity's requirements (quantities per dimension), on the basis of sales, forecasts and inventory. By strictly complying with product delivery deadlines and inventory and service quality objectives you will be able to keep our stocks at each distribution point at the desired level for a given date. You consolidate all this necessary information to submit a monthly report and to resolve the entity's supply-related problems if any.

Logistics organisation and methods (Grandes Écoles d'Ingénieurs et de Commerce)
With responsibility for a logistics studies office for a group of countries, you head a team of some ten people and offer internal clients a number of solutions in the search for the optimum costs / services. You manage logistical issues, priorities and you take the "make or buy" decision.

Supply team analyst (Bac + 2 / 4)
At the European level, for one of our product lines, you do the requisite analyses for a supply team's service and inventory objectives to be met.
To optimise processes, you perform planning analyses and calculations regarding inventory standards, manage the relocation of products according to their destinations, upstream and downstream stock levels and performance indicators: days of stock (DOS), order fulfilment lead time (OFLT), delivery performance (OTD, TSD) for the product family. You notify the entity of the alert thresholds and propose corrective action, whose impact you measure. Finally, you identify variances between actual and forecast inventory and manage information to guarantee delivery performance.

Central resupply officer (Master's / DEA / DESS)
Under the direction of the entity's sales manager (or flow manager) and in accordance with its cost structure and service strategy, you define and control the entity's distribution inventory policy for a given geographic and commercial area. Having functional responsibility for the resupply officers of the various countries, groups of countries and automaker accounts, you propose distribution inventory management methods for the entity having regard to "service rate" performance and objectives. You specify the parameter-setting rules for IT systems as well as the means of implementation and the methods and algorithms for inventory management in the different countries and accounts receivable. You also monitor the "inventory policies" applied by heads of commercial departments and the proper application of standard rules, investigate and propose such changes in IT systems and modus operandi as are required for the conduct of the mission (centrally and locally). Finally, you set up and run the resupply network.

Forecaster (Master's / DEA / DESS)
In your own area you help develop sales forecasts and make them available through dedicated IT systems. In co-operation with the marketing / sale functions, both central and local, you validate these forecasts and analyse their performance a posteriori (micro and macro indicators). In addition to analysing discrepancies between sales forecasts and actual demand, you propose quality indicators and take such corrective measures as are required to continuously improve forecast performance. Finally, you break down macro sales plans to the micro level and roll out the detailed sales plan to central and local marketing / sales forces. In so doing, you help develop and transform the demand scheduling process.

Supply planner (Master's / DEA / DESS)
For one of our product lines, in co-operation with the team's other supply planners, you propose a supply plan to achieve service and inventory objectives. You identify and manage the associated risks and help establish inventory standards. Once this supply plan is validated you implement it, this is: manage the relocation of products according to their destinations and upstream and downstream inventory levels, set alert thresholds, identify discrepancies between actual and projected inventory, take corrective measures, anticipate production adjustments.

Capacity manager (Grandes Écoles d'Ingénieurs et de Commerce)
After several years' industrial or logistics experience, you facilitate factory planning and product relocation in accordance with distribution needs. You take responsibility for the tactical planning procedure. Your sphere of action is at the level of a continent, or even the whole world. English is your language of work.

Distribution manager (Grandes Écoles d'Ingénieurs et de Commerce)
After broad experience in logistics, you direct the "logistics function" players, who, at MICHELIN Group, are in charge of storage and transport operations, so as to ensure compliance with client commitments. You work with your opposite numbers in logistics on solutions calculated to improve storage and transport. You are responsible for logistics costs. Your sphere of action is at the level of a continent, or even the whole world. English is your language of work.

Forecast manager (Grandes Écoles d'Ingénieurs et de Commerce)
You take responsibility for the distribution forecasting process within your business unit. You consolidate, then analyse, all forecasts in your entity's product and geographic areas. You have forecasting experience. You have fluent English.

Forecaster (Grandes Écoles d'Ingénieurs et de Commerce)
Under the direction of the forecast manager, you produce forecasts for the product area you are responsible for in conjunction with the sales and marketing units (inputs and validation).

Supply team manager (Grandes Écoles d'Ingénieurs et de Commerce)
In your area, you are responsible for managing inventory available for distribution and also for arbitration. You set commercial inventory standards and the parameters of the distribution system. You are responsible for the demand satisfaction rate, one of the MICHELIN Group's key indicators, which we use to measure and control client service quality. You have considerable experience in logistics, industrial planning and resupply.

Supply team assistant (Grandes Écoles d'Ingénieurs et de Commerce)
You are a recent graduate assisting the supply team manager in all of his or her duties. You have generalist training, with a specialisation in logistics and / or supply chain and / or production management.

Supply chain IT systems organisational consultant (Grandes Écoles d'Ingénieurs et de Commerce)

The Association Française de NORmalisation (AFNOR) (http://www.afnor.fr) establishes job definitions linked to standardisation processes; these are the Profils professionnels (1996). The objective of AFNOR's work was to devise knowledge baselines through analysis of professional profiles established in conjunction with the European Commission for Standardisation. To that end, the working group relied on a methodology intended to generate fields of knowledge and to build a baseline that could be used as a framework both for initial and ongoing training.

The logistics jobs found were:

Management and organisation

• Director of logistics group
• Logistics director (or manager)
• Logistics management specialist
• Logistics organisation specialist
• Logistics analyst

Materials management

• Materials manager
• Planning and production manager
• Planning assistant
• Scheduling and launch specialist
• Scheduling and launch officer

Inventory and stores

• Stock/ inventory controller
• Inventory management officer
• Warehouse supervisor
• Warehouse operator

Physical distribution

• Physical distribution manager
• Physical distribution organisation specialist
• Warehouse manager
• Transport scheduling specialist
• Fleet manager

For each of these jobs, AFNOR presents:

• Other titles, to the extent that these are commonly used in private companies for profiles of the same type.
• The overall mission, to define the general consistency of the function as it appears from the activities identified in the context of the European Commission for Standardisation.
• What the logistician or logistics officer must be able to do in the job in view of his or her activities.
• Fields of knowledge, so as to understand what background knowledge is needed to resolve the difficulties that arise in this jobs. This knowledge include knowledge that is indispensable to doing the job successfully: the kind that will enable the incumbent to understand, act and learn on the job. For AFNOR, therefore, these are not skills-that is too precise, too context-dependent-but frames of reference that enable the worker to do the job. They are grouped into four major areas, beginning with the more general and abstract and moving toward the more specific and concrete: general/conceptual knowledge, general professional knowledge, logistics-specific professional knowledge, company-specific professional knowledge. In each of these areas, knowledge was assessed at four levels.

Alongside methodical classification systems intended to be used for counting, there are, in France, a large number of other classifications whose objective is to identify and define contents and profiles, with the purpose of evolving a standard or baseline for the evaluation of competencies or training needs.

Such is the purpose, in particular, of the logistics profiles of the European Committee for Standardisation, published by AFNOR, the sectoral collective agreements establishing jobs' position in the hierarchy, and the AFPA's warehousing jobs baselines. Cross-cutting approaches are being taken using a process that is relevant to all economic activities: transport and handling (RFE, ROME), warehouse operations (AFPA), even a definition of the logistics process (AFNOR).

Most of these baselines were established in the 90s, so they are to some extent the result of a new awareness of the importance of the logistics function in defining certain job contents. The ends these baselines have in view are apparently quite congruent on the whole, namely to guide training organisations in setting their training objectives.

The methodologies, though initially supported by qualitative analyses, are all different, in that they structure the data for particular ways of interpretation suited to their own purposes. The difference in methodology is particularly noticeable in the case of the AFNOR procedure, in which the field of logistics and a list of activities considered to belong to it were defined and used to do a statistical assessment, on the basis of a closed questionnaire, of the importance of these activities in various professional situations, thus generating "professional profiles" built on core activities related to information flow management.

The use of so many elements in building baselines has resulted in great variability in the targeted jobs.

Job tracking is also done by the sectoral monitoring agencies; The case of the wholesale trade monitoring agency should be noted insofar as the baselines developed are intended to be usable and to be used by companies in the sector for their human resources management. The objective is to describe the jobs as they are, what the employees do, what duties they carry out. Moreover, it should be noted that all of wholesale trade is covered by six collective agreements. Accordingly, the objective, in setting baselines under the CEP, was for them to be used as a consensus tool that would apply to any of these six agreements.

Chemistry is a sector that demonstrates the difficulty of linking the definition of employment baselines at the sector's standard level to sectoral companies' needs in terms of managing their jobs, and in particular their training needs. Thus, the CPNE validated "industrial logistics technician" training in 1998 for the chemistry sector, whereas no such job was found in the collective agreement; rather, this qualification was jointly validated to cope with new needs in "state-of-the-art qualifications".

None of the baselines analysed, whether cross-cutting or sectoral (wholesale trade CEP, chemistry collective agreement), have much to say about jobs concerned the tactical or strategic area.

Finally, study of the logistics field in France is not concerned only with employment, as this aspect of the issue is just part of a more comprehensive consideration of what is meant by logistics and how it is changing. An example of this is the study published by the Service Économique et Statistique (SES) [economic and statistics service] of the Ministère de l'Équipement des Transports du Logement du Tourisme et de la Mer [department of transport, housing, tourism and seagoing equipment], entitled Les prestataires logistiques en France et en Europe [logistics suppliers in France and Europe], No. 145, October 2003.