The paper was presented at the Polish Logistics Congress Logistics 2008 – “New challenges – new solutions”, Poznań, May 7-9, 2008.
Competition and globalization processes in global markets encourage companies to constantly seek opportunities to reduce costs, increase market share, and raise their value. Outsourcing and building partnership relations in supply chains have become fundamental ways of building competitive advantage. In the area of logistics services, outsourcing has led to the emergence of companies known as 3PL (Third Party Logistic Provider) on the market. Expanding operations into emerging markets leads to an increase in demand for logistics services and increased interest in 3PL-type services. The market for logistics partners is developing dynamically, which has been confirmed in the cited results of Accenture’s research. The next stage in the evolution of outsourcing services in logistics is the transition from 3PL to 4PL (Fourth Party Logistics), i.e., to a supply chain integrator covering the planning, coordination, and control of supply networks. The analyzed practical cases illustrate the processes of logistics service transformation and the benefits gained by customers purchasing these services.
Outsourcing, i.e., commissioning certain activities to be carried out by entities outside the company and undertaking long-term partnership cooperation, contributes to an increase in company value, cost reduction, intended company transformation, overcoming internal deficiencies, inventory reduction, acceleration of turnover, improvement of liquidity, and many other benefits (both tangible and intangible) for many diverse reasons. Outsourcing is the concept upon which services provided by logistics partners known as 3PL (Third Party Logistics Service Providers) were built. 3PL is therefore a specialized operator providing comprehensive services, which may include forwarding, transport, and warehousing, as well as a wide range of so-called value-added-services, i.e., those that increase the value of products. Initially, definitions described 3PL as “an organization that performs activities on behalf of the shipper, which at least include warehousing and transport”. The abbreviation 3PL is also used to describe the type of logistics services, and in English, they are referred to as Third Party Logistics.
The role of companies known as 3PL is systematically increasing in the modern economy. As providers of professional logistics services, possessing appropriate skills, tangible resources, labor force, and technical equipment, they have gained the acceptance of customers and have become an integral part of their supply chains.
A study conducted by Accenture and Northeastern University among the 66 largest American manufacturers showed that “the most significant cost reduction was brought about by outsourcing 3PL in the scope of”:
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warehouse management – 30%,
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rate negotiation – 16%,
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shipment consolidation – 14%,
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freight payment – 10%,
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direct transport services – 10%,
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transport management – 8%,
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carrier selection – 6%.
In turn, the greatest contribution to the increase in customer service quality was made by outsourcing:
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warehouse management – 22%,
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order fulfillment – 11%,
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freight payment – 9%,
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direct transport services – 9%,
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transport management – 9%,
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delivery monitoring – 7%.
In 2006, the 11th edition of the annual study 2006 – Third Party Logistics was published. The main conclusions of this study are as follows:
The 3PL sector, whose estimated value reached 370 billion USD in 2005, is the main provider of external logistics services, including those related to supply chain management. A survey conducted among corporate executives in North America, Asia, and Latin America points to logistics services as a field that has a significant impact on the competitiveness of the surveyed companies. The two basic requirements related to the selection of a 3PL logistics service provider are price and the quality of the logistics services offered. The most frequently outsourced areas of logistics activity are: transport, warehousing, and customs services. At the same time, the surveyed companies indicated these areas as those that will form the basis for increasing outsourcing processes in the coming years. Customers of 3PL sector companies expressed their satisfaction in the study with their cooperation with operators to date, while emphasizing that they expect continuous improvement in service quality and increasingly wider use of information technology (IT). As a result of globalization processes, customers of logistics companies operate in increasingly extensive and complex supply chains that require modern technologies, primarily IT. The cited study showed that about 60% of respondents specifically evaluate an operator’s capabilities in the field of IT when making a decision about their selection, and only about 35% are satisfied with the level of IT services currently offered by the 3PL operators they cooperate with, while customers attach the least importance to value-added services.
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