logistics outsourcing -- a management guide

Abstract

Few informed logistics professionals would suggest that outsourcing is not a meaningful force in their industry; indeed, this entire book is based on the premise that it is extremely important today and will become even more so in the future. It appears that the growth in logistics outsourcing has resulted more from accident than by design. While success stories are plentiful, less publicly, the industry also has been a victim of poor planning, lack of understanding, inadequate performance, or in some cases abject failure. Logistics outsourcing, in many respects, is still an emerging industry, and emerging industries often are characterized by false starts and businesses failures. There are a number of reasons for this characterization, but lack of understanding on the part of both user and provider, more often that not, is the major cause of difficulty and failure in the logistics outsourcing relationships. It is hoped that this book will make some contributions to that understanding and serve as a useful tool for those organizations contemplating or implementing a logistics outsourcing relationship. For the purposes of discussion, logistics outsourcing will be defined as an arrangement whereby logistics service provider performs services for a firm that could be, or have been provided in-house. The term party, while one of common usage, will be referenced as little as possible. Logistics outsourcing is about subcontracting logistics activities to firms that are equipped to provide the services. The concepts of third and even fourth parties quite often serve to confuse, rather than enhance, the relationship.

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