The Future of Third-Party Logistics : Key Issues for a Logistics Integrator

• Logistics has increasingly been recognized as a vital part of an organization’s competitive resources. With an increased outsourcing of the logistics function, due to increasing competition and high customer expectations on service-level, there is a need for more professional and well-equipped logistics services. This need is emphasized by the tendency that competition increasingly takes place between supply-chains more than between companies. There is a development of actors, known as third-party logistics providers or logistics integrators, who can take the role as integrator for several companies in a supply chain. This article focuses on the driving forces of these actors and how they can stay competitive by providing customers specific logistics solutions. A case study is presented of a Logistics Integrator and three of its customers with a varying degree of integrated collaboration in the logistic chain, and some key issues are presented from the provider’s and the customer’s perspective.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Samhällsbyggnadsteknik -- Transportteknik och logistik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Civil Engineering -- Transport Systems and Logistics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

3PL

third-party logistics

logistics integrator

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kap (subject category)