Outsourcing And Third Party Logistics

Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Business economics - Supply, Production, Logistics, grade: 1, Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, language: English, abstract: The process of globalization and the removal of barriers to international trade have led to an increased importance of Supply Chain Management for most businesses involved. To remain competitive, there is a need for all partners within the supply chain to collaborate and communicate (Zacharia et al. 2011; Christopher 2011). These two requirements, together with the creation of efficiency in all processes involved, an increased concentration on core competencies and the outsourcing of certain functions, can enhance the competitiveness and the service level of a company, as discussed by Christopher (2011). According to Bolumole (2003), there exists an imbalance between what companies seek to achieve and what they are able to perform in-house. Therefore, “the rationale for outsourcing to third party increases” (Bolumole 2003, p.93). This assignment will illustrate the development of third party logistics companies (3PLs) from the initial outsourcing to a collaborative partnership in supply chains today. The essay will be divided into three parts: development of 3PL, drivers for outsourcing as well as outsourced activities and how these add value to businesses.

How to save your business millions!!! The international expert and author Rob O’Byrne gives his powerful and essential tips and insights based on over 1,200 client assignments across 22 countries. This book shows you how to find the greatest potential for massive savings and increased bottom line. You’ll Learn:* How to access the big ticket items to reduce costs* 5 critical tips on measuring for superior performance* Balancing cost and service for more effective distribution* How to stop inventory investment blow outs* 3 key steps to developing a game winning supply chain strategy* The 5 key steps to improving warehousing effectiveness* Avoiding the stuff that screws your supply chain performance

This book uses state-of-the-art scientific methods to reveal that most firms currently do not realize the full potential of logistics outsourcing. It shows the complexity of outsourcing performance and that its true drivers lie in the relationship between service providers and their customers. Through the results of a large-scale empirical survey, the book also emphasizes the importance of a firm's approach towards outsourcing.

ISBN 978 1 846930577 Published: 2007 Pages: 130 Description Fourth Party Logistics: Is It The Future Of Supply Chain Chain Outsourcing? About the Author Serafettin was born in Turkey and has a Bsc. Finance degree. He then came to Manchester, UK to further his education in Master's level. He is a recent graduate of the University of Salford with an Msc. International Business. He understands that globalisation affects everyone. He is one of the few people that can forward think changes, and understands that the complex nature of 4PL, will make the world a smaller place. He believes that value adding should be the initial focus for every business model, not only for 4PL, and utilising 4PL will significantly help achieve this initial focus. That's why he is passionate about this new wave in supply chain outsourcing. He is a person that can refocus companies. He is the sort of person that consultant companies would charge their clients 7,000 a day for. He is among the few that understand 4PL. This book is written as a single case study, focusing on leading edge technology to assist the reader in understanding 4PL. About this Book This book is for those who are looking to know all about Fourth Party Logistics (4PL). This book is produced using 4PL methods, printed in print runs of one plus books in three global centers and delivered directly or indirectly throughout the supply chain. Describing 4PL is like describing the offside rule. However, once you understand the principles it really is simple. You can then understand why some corporate companies become lean companies just holding IPR and Trademarks, with very little in turnover, however high GP and NP along with exceptional earnings per head compared to the industry Key Performance Indicators (KPI). This is an educational and practical book that starts to address how 4PL can change your business. There are a number of other books out there that are too sterile in their approach. The author approached 80 consulting companies only one would put its head up to be counted. This book will reveal to you the, who, why and where and without doubt get every Finance Director within different companies asking if they can use 4PL. The book covers the client, the outsource provider and the consultancy company that sold the solution and made it work. 'Fourth Party Logistics' is less of a case study and more of a real practical business guide. The consultancy company in the book was the only one to put their experience to the test. Serafettin Kutlu has much to bring to the party and really does know his stuff. "

Logistics and Supply Chain Management has been a vital part of every economy and every business entity. Both sciences have become prestigious research fields focusing on best practices, concepts, and methods. Outsourcing Management for Supply Chain Operations and Logistics Services is concentrated on the key players of the outsourcing paradigm; the organizations that provide logistics services, the Third Party Logistics (3PL’s), as well as their clients, presenting and promoting the lessons learned by their cooperation. Specifically, this publication presents studies which are relevant to practitioners, researchers, students, and clients of the application of the Outsourcing practice on the Logistics and Supply Chain Management services giving emphasis to 3PL’s.

This is unlike any outsourcing book you have seen because it is specifically designed for logistics and manufacturing executives. To successfully outsource today, you need to gain a core competency in outsourcing, avoid setbacks, and understand how to keep the outsourcing relationship robust. Most organizations do not have outsourcing as a core competency, and this is why so many outsourcing relationships fail. Altogether, the four authors of this book have nearly 100 years of solid experience in logistics and manufacturing outsourcing. They have seen outsourcing from all angles'either as providers, consultants, clients, attorneys or expert witnesses'and it is not always a pretty picture. This expertise makes the authors uniquely qualified to teach companies how to harness the real power behind outsourcing.

Logistics and supply chain outsourcing is an area of constant growth, and global sourcing is now a competitive requirement. This text covers both strategic and operational aspects with observations and practical advice.

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - General, grade: 2, Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh (School of Language and Management), language: English, abstract: The business world offers numerous examples of companies sourcing their activities out. This literature review will put emphasis on companies that engage with a third-party that provide logistics services to them. Third-party logistics (TPL), which can be perceived as outsourcing logistics, has been receiving considerable amount of attention within the academic world (e.g. Lieb and Bentz, 2004, 2005; Lieb and Randall, 1999; Cooper and Johnstone, 1990; Fernie, 1989; Marasco, 2007). This trend has been dominating both the business world and the academic world since the 1980s (Stalk, Evans and Shulman, 1992; McKinnon, 1999) and yet, this topic doesn’t seems to be exhausted. While Porter (1985) illustrate the Value Chain, he argues that organisations need to assess their activities in their value chain and evaluate whether they create a competitive advantage by executing this activity in-house. If they do not achieve so, he continues by suggesting outsourcing that activity. Hsiao et al. (2009) distinguish between core business outsourcing and non-core business outsourcing. A firm’s core business or core competencies can be designated as “the collective learning in the organization, especially how to coordinate diverse production skill and integrate multiple streams of technologies” (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990). Core business outsourcing can be understand as activities such as product design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and sales (Facanha and Horvath, 2005), and research has proven that this business conduct may have positive effects in order to be responsiveness to inconsistencies in demand (Dabhilkar and Bengtsson, 2008; Jiang et al, 2007). The non-core business in manufacturing industry incorporates activities such as IT, HRM, accounting and logistic services (Hsiao et al, 2009). However, this literature review will not focus on outsourcing core business but will concentrate on outsourcing non-core business; in particular outsourcing of logistics activities to TPL. Initially, this paper will draw attention to essential definitions that have been published over the years. This will be followed by an examination to discover the driving forces for this field. The main body will be closing with the highlighting the risk that are associate with outsourcing.

The construction industry is associated with problems such as low productivity and high costs. This has been highlighted in several government-funded reports in both Sweden and in the UK during the course of over two decades. The construction industry is a large industry sector employing hundreds of thousands and a large contributor to a country’s GDP. The problems therefore have a large impact on society. Some of the problems are rooted in the organizational structure of the construction industry. Compared to other manufacturing industries, the construction industry is organized in temporary organizations. The temporary organizations cause temporary supply chains, fragmentation among construction industry actors and adversarial relationships between those actors. Partnering has been but forward as a solution to overcome the temporariness and the adversarial relationships in the construction. Another solution to mitigate the problems suggested in the reports is supply chain management (SCM). Both concepts have been taken from the manufacturing industries and partnering has been more successful compared to SCM in the construction industry. In the construction industry the progress towards SCM has focused on logistics. In recent years dedicated third-party logistics (TPL) solutions have emerged in the Swedish construction industry, where a company is hired to manage the logistics in a construction project. The purpose with the research presented in this licentiate thesis is to explore how client initiated TPL solutions and partnering can be facilitators for SCM in the construction industry. Being a new phenomenon in the construction industry TPL solutions provide a logistical competence not necessarily included in a traditional construction project. Therefore, TPL solutions are of particular interest when studying the realization of SCM in the construction industry. In the process of realizing SCM in the construction industry, the construction clients have been put forward as having a crucial and important role. The clients are the initiator and funder of construction projects and as such the client can influence the course of a construction project. Therefore, it is of interest to study how the client can take an active role in this process. Initiating a TPL solution in a construction project is one way for a client to take an active part in the realization of SCM in construction. However, in order to study how clients can take an active role towards the realization of SCM in the construction industry, there have to be an understanding of how SCM is to be adopted to the construction industry context. SCM that derives from the manufacturing industry is designed to be used in long-term relationships with permanent organizational structures. The construction industry on the other hand is associated with short-term relationships and a temporary organizational structure. Partnering that is designed to mitigate the temporariness and establish long-term relationships have been quite successful in the construction industry, and could therefore be used as a facilitator for SCM in construction. To study the use of client initiated TPL-solutions in construction and the realization of SCM in the construction industry the following research questions have been addressed: RQ1: To what extent can a third-party logistics solution be a facilitator for client driven SCM in the construction industry?RQ2: How will upstream and downstream tiers be affected when a thirdparty logistics provider is used in a construction project?RQ3: How can partnering be used a mean to facilitate the realization of SCM in the construction industry? To answer the research questions two main methodologies have been used; case study for the empirically grounded research and conceptual studies for the analysis of the case studies as well as for comparing the two concepts of partnering and SCM. All questions have been grounded in literature and previous research. The findings of this research is therefore grounded in both theory and in practice. The main findings of this research is that TPL solutions are not a quick fix for realizing SCM in the construction industry. However, if used right a TPL solution can be an effective tool to address logistical issues in a construction project and to establish an interface between the supply chain and the construction site. By initiating a TPL solution the client addresses the importance of logistical competence in a construction project. A TPL solution does not have a purpose of its own; a TPL solution is a service function to the construction project, providing expertise on logistics management. There are also a number of driving forces and concerns that have been identified, if they are addressed prior to a TPL solution is implemented, the likelihood of its success will increase. Furthermore, both partnering and SCM rely on high trust and share several key components and issues that have to be addressed. Partnering on strategic level with several suppliers included can even be hard to distinguish from SCM. Wherefore, partnering is considered a facilitator for the realization of SCM in construction. By addressing the necessary issues in both concepts a good foundation for SCM is established.