The Supply Chain Role of Third‐Party Logistics Providers

2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yemisi A. Bolumole
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Strategic Orientation ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Logistics Strategy ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Logistics Process ◽  
Outsourcing Strategies

Outsourcing, the strategy in which organizations employ the services of external providers, has attracted growing interest. Academic and industrial attention has also focused on the role of seamless supply chain processes in achieving and sustaining competitive advantage. This research is based on petrol retailers in the UK that have adopted logistics outsourcing strategies for implementing supply chain solutions to their convenience‐goods operations. Its aim is to identify the factors, which influence outsourcing decisions and the nature and supply chain implications of outsourcing strategies. Research findings indicate that the capability of service providers to facilitate supply chain solutions is largely influenced by four main factors, which in turn substantially determine their role in the supply chain: the strategic orientation of the outsourcing organization; its perception of service providers' role within the logistics strategy; the nature of the resultant client‐provider relationship; and, the extent to which the logistics process is outsourced.

Evaluating the Supply Chain Role of Logistics Service Providers

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yemisi A. Bolumole
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Third Party Logistics ◽  
Logistics Service ◽  
Logistics Strategy ◽  
Logistics Service Providers

The shift from traditional and functional third‐party logistics to comprehensive supply‐chain relationships has significant implications for the role of third‐party logistics service providers (3pls). Extending previous research in which four factors were found to influence 3pls' supply chain function, this paper contains an assessment of the varying role(s) 3pls can play in the supply chain. The factors include: the strategic orientation of the outsourcing organization; its perception of 3pls' roles within the logistics strategy; the nature of the resultant client‐3pl relationship; and, the extent to which logistics is outsourced. The supply chain impact of these factors are evaluated based on the findings from case study research. Each different 3pl role (conceptual and empirical) is examined and implications for practical implementation are provided.

The Role of Third‐Party Logistics Providers in Mass Customization

2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Remko I. van Hoek
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chains ◽  
Mass Customization ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Third Party Logistics ◽  
Annual Survey

Mass customization is coming to the forefront of international supply chains, contributing to an increasing focus on postponement. Third‐party logistics providers, are targeting postponement applications as an extension of their service portfolios. Findings from a multi‐annual survey (1996‐1999) are presented to generate insights into the supply chain mechanisms service providers can use to develop postponement services. A framework for achieving extension of their activities is then developed.

Product Resynthesis as a Reverse Logistics Strategy for an Optimal Closed-Loop Supply Chain

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chinmay Sane ◽  
Conrad S. Tucker
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Reverse Logistics ◽  
Closed Loop ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Third Party ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Closed Loop Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Strategy ◽  
Logistics Strategy ◽  
Original Product

With continued emphasis on sustainability-driven design, reverse logistics is emerging as a vital competitive supply chain strategy for many of the global high-tech manufacturing firms. Various original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and multi-product manufacturing firms are enhancing their reverse logistics strategies in order to establish an optimal closed-loop supply chain through which they can introduce refurbished variants of their products back into the market. While a refurbished product strategy helps to mitigate environmental impact challenges as well as provide additional economic benefits, it is limited to an existing product market, possibly a subset of the existing market, and fails to commercialize/target new markets. In addition to refurbishing, the alternatives available for utilizing End-Of-Life (EOL) products are currently restricted to recycling and permanent disposal. In this work, the authors propose employing a new EOL option called “resynthesis” that utilizes existing waste from EOL products in a novel way. This is achieved through the synthesis of assemblies/subassemblies across multiple domains. The “newly” synthesized product can then be incorporated into the dynamics of a closed-loop supply chain. The proposed methodology enables OEMs to not only offer refurbished products as part of their reverse logistics strategy, but also provide them with resynthesized product concepts that can be used to expand to new/emerging markets. The proposed methodology provides a general framework that includes OEMs (manufacturers of the original product), retailers (distributors of the original product and collectors of the EOL products) and third-party firms (managers of the EOL products) as part of a closed-loop supply chain strategy. The proposed methodology is compared with the existing methodologies in the literature wherein a third-party supplies the OEM only with refurbished products and supplies products unsuitable for refurbishing to another firm(s) for recycling/disposal. A case study involving a multi-product electronics manufacturer is presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed methodology.

Overview on 3PL Selection Problem

2013 ◽  
pp. 266-279
Author(s):  
Aicha Aguezzoul
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Selection Problem ◽  
Third Party Logistics ◽  
Literature Analysis ◽  
Chain Management

Many companies outsource their logistics functions to Third-Party Logistics providers (3PL) instead of achieving them internally. The studies on this field are mostly of empirical type and focused on reasons, benefits, and risks of working with 3PL as well as the role of those on supply chain management. This chapter focuses on 3PL selection problem and presents a literature analysis of 47 articles published within 2001-2011 period. The objective is to identify the mainly approaches applied and their evaluating criteria in measuring the performance of 3PL.

Logistics service quality and customer satisfaction in B2B relationships: a qualitative comparative analysis approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Gaudenzi ◽  
Ilenia Confente ◽  
Ivan Russo
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Qualitative Comparative Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Logistics Service ◽  
B2b Relationships ◽  
Logistics Service Quality

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the logistics service quality (LSQ) from a supply chain quality perspective. The purpose is twofold: (1) to investigate how business customers perceive the LSQ dimensions in business-to-business (B2B) relationships, with a particular focus on the role of logistics service providers and (2) to analyse the manner in which such dimensions, when combined, lead to high levels of customer satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachData collected through a survey of a sample of Italian food companies are analysed using a qualitative comparative analysis approach. The analysis explores ways of achieving customer satisfaction through different combinations of LSQ dimensions and not only via a “single recipe,” as in most symmetrical methods.FindingsThe study describes how seven dimensions of LSQ lead to achieve customer satisfaction, particularly highlighting and discussing how the different LSQ constructs lead to gain high customer satisfaction via different configurations. This approach is unique in identifying not only linear relationships among variables as traditional statistical methods do, via a configurational approach.Research limitations/implicationsMost academic studies in the related literature investigate service quality from a quality management and a supply chain management perspective. This study fills the existing gap in the analysis of B2B relationships, focusing on the role of third-party logistics (3PL) service providers.Practical implicationsThe study presents useful implications for practitioners, describing several ways in which 3PL service providers can combine LSQ dimensions to perform a continuous improvement of customer experience and to gain higher levels of customer satisfaction.Originality/valueThis study fills the existing gap in the analysis of B2B relationships, using the lens of quality management and supply chain management perspectives, and focusing on the role of 3PL service providers.

A fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS methodology to evaluate 3PL in a supply chain

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pravin Kumar ◽  
Rajesh K. Singh
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Fuzzy Ahp ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Preference Ranking ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Logistics Service Providers ◽  
Hierarchy Process

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into the use of an integrated approach of fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (fuzzy AHP) and TOPSIS in evaluating the performance of global third party logistics service providers for effective supply chain management.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the integration of fuzzy AHP with TOPSIS is proposed in determining the relative importance (weight) of criteria and then ranking of 3PLs.FindingsFindings show that the logistics cost and service quality are two most important criteria for performance rating of 3PLs. Deciding the relative importance of various criteria for 3PLs evaluation is a complex task. The superiority of one criterion over the other varies from person to person and firm to firm. Therefore, to capture the variability in decision fuzzy extended AHP is very useful tool. Finally, the preference raking of alternatives are found using TOPSIS.Research limitations/implicationsFuzzy AHP is a complex methodology and requires more numerical calculations than the traditional AHP and hence it increases the effort. But in this paper single stage fuzzy AHP is used to simplify the process. Fuzzy AHP is integrated with TOPSIS for preference ranking of 3PL, which provides a good methodology to rank 3PLs.Originality/valueThere is a lack of research in the literature to deal directly with the uncertainty of human decisions in evaluating the relative importance of multiple criteria. Therefore, fuzzy AHP is an appropriate methodology to find the relative importance of the criteria to rank the 3PLs using TOPSIS.

The Expansion Dilemma for Fourth-Party Logistics Services: Kodan Solutions Private Limited

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 506-516
Author(s):  
Anupama Prashar
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Business Trend ◽  
Logistics Services ◽  
Fourth Party Logistics ◽  
Outsourcing Logistics

The purpose of the case is to introduce the students to an emerging business trend of outsourcing the logistics function. The case enables the students to analyse the benefits of outsourcing logistics function and understand the concept of third-party logistics (3PL) and fourth-party logistics (4PL). The case is developed based on the primary data collected through interviews with the protagonist. Also, secondary data from published reports and archives of the company were used for the development of the case. After the case discussion the students will be able to understand the role of project logistics services in the supply chain. They will also understand the role of value-added logistics services such as cross-docking, reverse logistics and customs clearance, and the documentation involved in cross-border logistics. This case is among the first few cases on the concept of project logistics services and their role in the supply chain management.

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