Collaborative logistics management and the role of third‐party service providers (original) (raw)

Benefits, Risks, Selection Criteria and Success Factors for Third-Party Logistics Services

Maritime Economics & Logistics, 2008

The need to reduce logistics costs is well recognised, often, however, without identification of the factors that could contribute to such a reduction. Third-party logistics (3PL) is an augmenting activity of the transport system, which can strengthen the cooperation of different transport modes. As a new practice, conditions of success are driven from personal or empirical situations, often hiding the real causes. To tackle this problem, a major survey has been conducted among both buyers and suppliers of logistics services in the United Kingdom. From the survey, several key findings of customer perceptions of logistics services provided by 3PL companies were derived. Results of the survey show a clear difference in points of view between suppliers and buyers. The results of the survey shed light on how the architecture of logistics outsourcing can be improved.

How to establish and maintain outsourcing relationships between Logistics Service Providers and their clients ? 101 – Complexity in Business : Insights and solutions

2016

Purpose: What influences collaboration between LSPs and their clients in the midst of uncertainty lies in the analysis of supply chain collaboration between logistics service providers (LSPs) and their clients, with a main focus set on communication, coordination, and technological issues, (i.e. rational measures to achieve defined goals), resulting interdependencies and complexity as well as organizational coordination principles and mechanisms. Qualitative interviews with experts from leading LSPs on how they establish and maintain outsourcing relationships operationally were conducted and analyzed by open, axial and selective coding, following a grounded theory approach methodology. Coordination as a precondition for collaboration is based on communication between LSPs and their clients. The more complex and/or interdependent processes reveal themselves to be in an outsourcing relationship, the more intense coordination efforts have to be established and maintained for outsourcin...

A Qualitative Study on Orchestrator Role of Third Party Logistics Providers

2013

Third party logistics service providers (3PLs) have an important role in logistics triad, and supply chain collaboration. However, there is a lack in marketing literature about their consideration as one of the natural parties of the supply chain. Indeed, related with their firm sizes, firm tenures and their service offerings in recent years, they have become to act as the orchestrators of the supply chain. This study aims to prove the orchestrator role of 3PLs in Turkey by stating their standardization, visibility and neutral arbitration roles between suppliers and producers. In-dept interviews were conducted on eight logistics professionals consisting both practitioners and academics of logistics in order to create a scale to understand the changing role of 3PLs in Turkey. The results showed that the 3PLs in Turkey have reached to an improved role as the orchestrators of the supply chain.

The Emerging Role of the Third-Party Logistics Provider (3PL) as an Orchestrator

Journal of Business Logistics, 2011

T he connectivity and communication requirements of leading supply chains have created the emergence of a more advanced role for third-party logistics providers 3PLs. They have evolved from providing logistics capabilities to becoming orchestrators of supply chains that create and sustain a competitive advantage. This article uses a theoretical perspective based on resource-based theory, network theory and transaction cost economics, and a thorough literature review, to develop a model with seven propositions. Finally, using structured interviews of industry executives from a leading 3PL, we offer empirical support for the model and propositions that can be used to define the orchestrator role of a 3PL.

How to establish and maintain outsourcing relationships between Logistics Service Providers and their clients?

2020

Purpose: What influences collaboration between LSPs and their clients in the midst of uncertainty lies in the analysis of supply chain collaboration between logistics service providers (LSPs) and their clients, with a main focus set on communication, coordination, and technological issues, (i.e. rational measures to achieve defined goals), resulting interdependencies and complexity as well as organizational coordination principles and mechanisms. Qualitative interviews with experts from leading LSPs on how they establish and maintain outsourcing relationships operationally were conducted and analyzed by open, axial and selective coding, following a grounded theory approach methodology. Coordination as a precondition for collaboration is based on communication between LSPs and their clients. The more complex and/or interdependent processes reveal themselves to be in an outsourcing relationship, the more intense coordination efforts have to be established and maintained for outsourcin...

Global challenges and research gaps for third-party logistics: literature review

International Journal of Logistics Economics and Globalisation, 2019

Most firms selling or producing goods at least use 3PLs for their domestic and global operations. However, they face several challenges both internally and externally. The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding and an exhaustive review, of the current state of research concerning the global challenges that the third-party service providers face in the course of their operations based on the primary themes and integrations. We conducted a systematic review approach to gather, scrutinise and synthesise data about the accuracy and values of the past articles published in the digital databases between 1990 and 2017 and selected 74 primary articles. We grouped the challenges into different common categories namely; barriers due to technological advancements, logistics flexibilities, industrial dynamics and lack of proactivity, minimising the lead time as well as customers' satisfaction and future expectations.

The Supply Chain Role of Third-Party Logistics Providers

The International Journal of Logistics Management, 2001

The Cranfield School of Management Working Papers Series has been running since 1987, with approximately 450 papers so far from the nine academic groups of the School: Economics; ABSTRACT , I-..a1 :d *Y#\ -*i,; * b"i Y 'r' ! I -7-t) -, . '-1^ / Logistics, defined as the process of strategically managing the procurement, movement aw s~ora@' 1. ( materials; parts; finished inventory and related information flow through the organisation and its marketing channels, is increasingly being recognised as a vital part of an organisation's marketing strategy.

Third-Party Logistics Service Providers: Purchasers' Perceptions

The Journal of Supply Chain Management, 1996

A recent survey of manufacturers provides insight into their relationships with providers of international logistics services. The research examines the purchasers’ perceptions regarding the service providers’ capabilities. Further, differences between high-performance logistics providers and those perceived as providing lower levels of performance are identified and discussed.

Logistics Services Outsourcing: Recommendations for Achieving Success

22nd Annual IMP Conference, 2002

The importance of services -including transportation -continues to grow, both in terms of their contribution to GDP and the share of workforce. Still, the issues associated with distribution, especially logistics outsourcing, although affecting a large part of firms' activities, have not received as much attention in the literature as they should be. Moreover, some firms still do not regard logistics as an important activity, and this may considerably harm their competitiveness. This paper aims to give suggestions to practitioners, whether to outsource logistics services at all and if yes, then how to select suitable service providers and achieve success in relationships with them.