The production activity of enterprises depends on both internal and external conditions of their operation. Customer requirements regarding products are constantly growing and becoming more individualized.
This situation causes the rules of the game in sales markets to tighten, rapid technical progress leads to the creation of new technologies and the shortening of product life cycles, and the depletion of raw material and energy resources as well as other components necessary in the production process creates economic threats. The factors presented have a fundamental impact on the efficiency of both individual processes and the entire enterprise. The current market situation forces companies to look for new ways to increase their competitive position in the market. This is confirmed by studies that analyzed management methods and techniques used in manufacturing enterprises to avoid the effects of the economic crisis. To this end, enterprises most often decide to:
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acquire new sales markets (28%),
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optimize inventory (16%),
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outsource certain processes (9%),
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expand the portfolio (9%),
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change the way logistics processes are carried out (5%),
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change the products and services offered (4%).
One of the more frequently used methods was outsourcing certain economic processes. The main intention of transferring certain processes to cooperation is the rationalization of cost levels, which is also the target intention of using other methods and tools from the list above. Outsourcing has become a very common optimization tool, which, in addition to cost optimization, has also led to a reduction in order fulfillment times. However, a large part of enterprises fell into the “outsourcing trap,” getting rid of key processes that determine their competitive position in the market from their own scope of activity. Currently, enterprise management teams, when analyzing efficiency at a strategic level, very often decide to use insourcing.
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Source: Logistyka Magazine 3/2013