Högskolan i Skövde

This research investigates the role of logistics service providers in the implementation of a differentiated supply chain. The issue is examined through a multiple case study combined with a literature review. The research shows that logistics service providers can support companies with the implementation of a differentiated supply chain in sourcing and distribution parts by providing services that the company is incapable to provide, by providing certain services more efficiently or by providing complementing services. In some situations, the logistics service provider is even responsible for the entire implementation and should continuously develop the logistics process and customised service according to the company’s market situation. Eurasian transportation flows are nowadays an important part of most supply chains and needs to be considered in this differentiation work. Logistics service providers operating in these flows can support the differentiation by providing more customised and differentiated transportation services and there is a demand for more transportation alternatives in these flows.

The strong competition between companies has resulted in an increased outsourcing of activities that are not considered core activities. This has created an emerging business opportunity in logistics, attracting several new actors and companies to enter the market and fill the demand for new services. These actors represent several types of providers who are often called Third-Party Logistics (3PL) providers. The purpose of this study is to investigate the environment of a 3PL provider that also develops services. The focus is particularly on how the provider has evolved and identifying the key issues on how to be successful in the 3PL industry. The primary research strategy is a descriptive embedded single case study. The findings reveal that the case company has evolved from being a standard 3PL provider to a service developer, since it, in addition to traditional services, nowadays also provides more value-added services. These services involve a set of more standardised activities that can be combined according to each customer's wishes and requirements. The findings also reveal that the main requirements to be a successful service developer are a clear customer understanding and focus, value-added and customised services and reliable deliveries (both in terms of time and a low percentage of damaged goods), as well as the utilisation of Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

Third-Party Logistics (3PL) providers have usually developed themselves through transportation ownership (mainly road or sea), and/or warehousing/freight forwarding capability. However, among these actual operations, there exists a number of other routes, e.g. by offering administrative/indirect work of sales, purchasing, business control and inventory management. With increased service level expectations among OEMs, there is a clear need for these kinds of well-defined and performed non-tangible logistical services. In this paper three case studies are presented, which show that a 3PL integrator could arise from this new service context, and could operate all logistical issues, even without any distribution operations ownership.

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.