Logistics and Supply Chain Management has been a vital part of every economy and every business entity. Both sciences have become prestigious research fields focusing on best practices, concepts, and methods. Outsourcing Management for Supply Chain Operations and Logistics Services is concentrated on the key players of the outsourcing paradigm; the organizations that provide logistics services, the Third Party Logistics (3PL’s), as well as their clients, presenting and promoting the lessons learned by their cooperation. Specifically, this publication presents studies which are relevant to practitioners, researchers, students, and clients of the application of the Outsourcing practice on the Logistics and Supply Chain Management services giving emphasis to 3PL’s.

Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Business economics - Supply, Production, Logistics, grade: 1, Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, language: English, abstract: The process of globalization and the removal of barriers to international trade have led to an increased importance of Supply Chain Management for most businesses involved. To remain competitive, there is a need for all partners within the supply chain to collaborate and communicate (Zacharia et al. 2011; Christopher 2011). These two requirements, together with the creation of efficiency in all processes involved, an increased concentration on core competencies and the outsourcing of certain functions, can enhance the competitiveness and the service level of a company, as discussed by Christopher (2011). According to Bolumole (2003), there exists an imbalance between what companies seek to achieve and what they are able to perform in-house. Therefore, “the rationale for outsourcing to third party increases” (Bolumole 2003, p.93). This assignment will illustrate the development of third party logistics companies (3PLs) from the initial outsourcing to a collaborative partnership in supply chains today. The essay will be divided into three parts: development of 3PL, drivers for outsourcing as well as outsourced activities and how these add value to businesses.

For any business involved in today's supply chains, logistics services are critical. Companies have to decide whether to retain their own logistics operations or place their trust in third-party suppliers. This potential move away from the traditional approach of managing these processes internally can lead to improved service and reduced cost although this isn't always the case. The Logistics Outsourcing Handbook provides step by step guidance on the process of logistics outsourcing and explains how to apply this information for commercial success. Vital advice is given on benchmarking existing operations, how to shortlist companies, produce a request for a proposal, choose the optimum supplier and implement and manage the contract. The Logistics Outsourcing Handbook analyses outsourcing from both an industry wide perspective, while also drilling down into specific individual considerations. The book provides valuable guidance in terms of contractual relationships, cost models and the integration of information technology systems. By analysing current statistics and surveys, looking into factors behind why contracts are awarded and terminated important insights can be acquired. This book contains tools, models, online resources and case studies on the outsourced relationships of companies including Intel KFC and BA to further develop the reader's knowledge which makes this book an informative and essential resource.

Logistics and supply chain outsourcing is an area of constant growth, and global sourcing is now a competitive requirement. This text covers both strategic and operational aspects with observations and practical advice.

During the last decade, logistics outsourcing is growing in importance worldwide. Meanwhile, many different kinds of logistics services are also introduced in the outsourcing market. However, up to now, there are no guidelines for the food processing industry to identify which logistics activities should be outsourced to which type of logistic service provider (LSP). By combining managerial and economic theory, this book builds an integrated research framework to demonstrate decisive factors for outsourcing different kinds of logistics activities and their effect on logistics performance. Using empirical evidences from the food processing industry in Taiwan and the Netherlands, this study shows that: - outsourcing decisions of different levels of logistics activities have different determining factors. - total outsourcing (i.e. having the LSP orchestrate the whole logistics process) results in higher logistics service performances in terms of lead-time, reliability, and flexibility. - currently the Netherlands have higher percentages of outsourcing of transportation and transportation management than Taiwan. In the future, Taiwan will probably outsource value added activities and logistics orchestration activities more than the Netherlands. This book is recommended for a broad audience of professionals and practitioners who concern themselves with the design, planning and management of logistics in international food supply chains.

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Business economics - General, grade: 2, Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh (School of Language and Management), language: English, abstract: The business world offers numerous examples of companies sourcing their activities out. This literature review will put emphasis on companies that engage with a third-party that provide logistics services to them. Third-party logistics (TPL), which can be perceived as outsourcing logistics, has been receiving considerable amount of attention within the academic world (e.g. Lieb and Bentz, 2004, 2005; Lieb and Randall, 1999; Cooper and Johnstone, 1990; Fernie, 1989; Marasco, 2007). This trend has been dominating both the business world and the academic world since the 1980s (Stalk, Evans and Shulman, 1992; McKinnon, 1999) and yet, this topic doesn’t seems to be exhausted. While Porter (1985) illustrate the Value Chain, he argues that organisations need to assess their activities in their value chain and evaluate whether they create a competitive advantage by executing this activity in-house. If they do not achieve so, he continues by suggesting outsourcing that activity. Hsiao et al. (2009) distinguish between core business outsourcing and non-core business outsourcing. A firm’s core business or core competencies can be designated as “the collective learning in the organization, especially how to coordinate diverse production skill and integrate multiple streams of technologies” (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990). Core business outsourcing can be understand as activities such as product design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and sales (Facanha and Horvath, 2005), and research has proven that this business conduct may have positive effects in order to be responsiveness to inconsistencies in demand (Dabhilkar and Bengtsson, 2008; Jiang et al, 2007). The non-core business in manufacturing industry incorporates activities such as IT, HRM, accounting and logistic services (Hsiao et al, 2009). However, this literature review will not focus on outsourcing core business but will concentrate on outsourcing non-core business; in particular outsourcing of logistics activities to TPL. Initially, this paper will draw attention to essential definitions that have been published over the years. This will be followed by an examination to discover the driving forces for this field. The main body will be closing with the highlighting the risk that are associate with outsourcing.

The purpose of this book is to help you with the development and implementation of a successful End-to-End Supply Chain Management - Strategy: optimising your processes from manufacturer to retailer. This book answers four questions: - How to develop an end-to-end supply chain - strategy? - How to create the necessary supply chain infrastructure? - How to make collaboration work between the partners in the network? - How to plan and manage the supply chain flows? It will enable you to: - Systematically improve your sales productivity in the retail stores; - Enhance the operational / qualitative performance of your processes and those of your partners in the supply chain; - More effectively balance the trade off Time v Costs. This book provides you with: - A Supply Chain System - Model: a framework to develop your End-to-End Supply Chain; - 8 Strategic Building Blocks which can be used as a toolkit; - 50 Lessons Learned based on experiences from practice; - A strategic roadmap: to plan, organise, lead and control your supply chain. For whom has this book been written? This book is useful for thinkers and practitioners! For everyone who wants to learn more about supply chain management and the development and implementation of an end-to-end supply chain strategy.