第三方物流3

LogisticsOutsourcingand3PLChallengesMichelleL.F.CheongSingapore-MITAlliance,N2-B2C-15,NanyangTechnologicalUniversity,50,NanyangAve,Singapore639798Abstract—Logisticshasbeenanimportantpartofeveryeconomyandeverybusinessentity.TheworldwidetrendinglobalizationhasledtomanycompaniesoutsourcingtheirlogisticsfunctiontoThird-PartyLogistics(3PL)companies,soastofocusontheircorecompetencies.Thispaperattemptstobroadlyidentifyandcategorizethechallengesfacedby3PLcompaniesanddiscoverpotentialgapsforfutureresearch.Someofthechallengeswillberelatedwiththeexperienceandinformationcollectedfrominterviewswithtwo3PLcompanies.IndexTerms—Logistics,Outsourcing,Third-partyLogistics,ChallengesI.INTRODUCTIONOGISTICShasbeenanimportantpartofeveryeconomyandeverybusinessentity.Logisticscostaverageabout12%oftheWorld’sGDP[1].InSingapore,logisticscostaccountsforabout11%ofitsGDP[2].TheworldwidetrendinglobalizationhasledmanycompaniestooutsourcetheirlogisticsfunctiontoThirdPartyLogistics(3PL)companies,soastofocusontheircorecompetencies.Inarecentstudy[3]conductedbyCapGeminiErnst&YoungUSLLC,GeorgiaTechandFedex,involving400representativesfromNorthAmerica,WesternEuropeandAsiaPacific,itisconcludedthatlogisticsoutsourcingremainsagrowingbusinessglobally.Onasmallerscale,Bhatnagar,SohalandMillen[4]reportedthattheneedforlogisticsoutsourcingisalsoincreasinginSingapore.Theoveralltrendinlogisticsoutsourcingismovingintwodirections:(1)increaseinthenumberofbuyersoflogisticsservices,and(2)increaseintheextentofusageoflogisticsservices.Theextentofusageincludesnumberofactivitiesorbusinessprocessoutsourced,geographicalcoverage,natureandlengthofcontract,percentageoftotallogisticsbudgetallocatedto3PLcompaniesandlevelofcommitment[4].Inatypical3PLarrangement(seeFig.1),the3PLprovidersitsinthemiddlebetweenthemanufacturersorsuppliers(thebuyersofthe3PLservice,knownasshippers)andtheendcustomers(theconsumersoftheproducts).Inthisposition,the3PLproviderwillneedtobalancethedynamicpullsgeneratedbytheupstreamanddownstreamentities,andthusfaceschallengeswhichareuniquetoitsoperations.Manuscriptreceived3rdNovember2003.M.L.F.CheongisaPhDstudentwiththeSingapore-MITAlliance(SMA)undertheInnovationsinManufacturingSystemsandTechnology(IMST)programhostedatNanyangTechnologicalUniversity,Singapore.(email:[e-mail]).Fig.1.Typical3PLarrangementWiththepositiveoutlookforthe3PLbusinessandtheimmensecompetitionwhichislikelytofollow,itiscriticalthat3PLcompaniesrecognizethatlowpriceisnotlongerasure-winstrategy.InastudybySink,LangleyandGibson[5],itwasfoundthatthemostimportantselectioncriterionfor3PLproviderwascorecompetencies.Thus,theobjectiveofthispaperistohelp3PLcompaniesidentifyandcategorizethechallengesinthebusinessinabroadsense,andtodiscoverpotentialgapswhereresearchanddevelopmentcanhelpbridgethegap.Therestofthispaperisorganizedasfollows.Inthenextsection,importantsegmentsofliteratureonlogisticsoutsourcingarereviewed.Subsequently,thebroadcategorizationof3PLchallengesisdescribed,followedbydetaileddiscussionandpotentialgapsidentification.Someofthechallengeswillberelatedtotheinterviewsconductedwithtwo3PLcompanies.Finally,thelistoffutureresearchdirectionsisgivenattheend.II.LITERATUREREVIEWTherearemanypapersonlogisticsoutsourcingandRazzaqueandChang[6]didacomprehensivereviewonLtheoutsourcingofthelogisticsfunction.Ingeneral,thisliteraturecanbegenerallycategorizedaccordingtodifferentfocusarea.Someofthesefocusareasincludelogisticspractices,usageof3PLlogisticsservices,currentstateandfuturetrends,strategiesandperformancemeasurements.Interestedreaderscanbereferredtothefollowingpapers(notmeanttobeexhaustive)ineachofthefocusarea,•Logisticspractices–BardiandTracey[7],McMullan[8],MillenandSohal[9],Rao,YoungandNovick[10]•Usageoflogisticsservices–Lieb[11],Lieb,MillenandWassenhove[12],LiebandRandall[13],Dapiran,Lieb,MillenandSohal[14],Bhatnagar,SohalandMillen[4]•Currentstateandfuturetrends–Kim[15],Gilmour,DrivaandHunt[16],Sheffi[17],Peters,Cooper,LiebandRandall[18]•Strategies–Ballou[19],Copper[20],SumandTeo[21],LaLondeandMasters[22]•Performancemeasurements–PoolsvanAmstelandD’Hert[23],vanHoek[24],vanHeok[25],Chow,HeaverandHenriksson[26]Ontheotherhand,therearenotmanypaperswhichlookatthechallengesfacedby3PLcompaniesandaddresshowtheycanovercomesuchchallenges.OnepaperbyMin[27]listedsomeofthechallengesrelatedtodistributionbutisspecificallyfortheJapanmarket.Someofthelistedchallengesincludeovercomingthedominanceofwholesalers,understandingthecomplexstructureofthedistributionchannelandlegalissues.Thispaperhowever,attemptstoidentifyandcategorizethechallengesfacedby3PLcompaniesonahigherlevelandinabroadersense.Thechallengesidentifiedaregroupedintodifferentlayers.Ineachlayer,theassociatedattributesarelistedandpotentialgapsareidentified.Someofthechallengesarelinkedtotheexperienceandinformationcollectedfromtheinterviewswithtwo3PLcompanies.III.LAYERSOF3PLCHALLENGESLogisticsplanningattemptstomakedecisionatthreedifferentlevels,namelystrategic,tacticalandoperational.Thesethreelevelsaredifferentiatedbytheirplanninghorizon,wheres