Third-party logistics providers in Spain

Purpose - Companies consider logistics outsourcing for strategic reasons, and build close-knit relationships with third-party logistics (3PLs) providers. The purpose of this paper is to analyse logistics outsourcing in Spain from the viewpoint of 3PLs.Design methodology approach - The paper suggests...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIndustrial management + data systems Vol. 111; no. 8; pp. 1156 - 1172
Main Authors Núñez-Carballosa, Ana, Guitart-Tarrés, Laura
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Wembley Emerald Group Publishing Limited 30.08.2011
Subjects
Alliances
Competitive advantage
Construction
Cost control
Customer services
Economics
Freight forwarding
Industrial management
Literature reviews
Logistics
Management
Optimization
Outsourcing
Production capacity
Strategic planning
Studies
Supply chains
Third party
Value chain
Spain
Case study
Third-party logistics providers
Outsourcing
Strategic outsourcing
Spain
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Summary:Purpose - Companies consider logistics outsourcing for strategic reasons, and build close-knit relationships with third-party logistics (3PLs) providers. The purpose of this paper is to analyse logistics outsourcing in Spain from the viewpoint of 3PLs.Design methodology approach - The paper suggests three propositions and conducts a case study of four 3PLs in Spain, chosen because of their market coverage and their range of services.Findings - The results identify the main reasons why companies choose to outsource logistics, what kind of relationship they build with providers, and how much involvement in the management of their supply chain they seek from providers.Practical implications - Most companies in Spain continue to outsource mainly on the basis of costs, and do so tactically. However, the option of developing an alliance with a 3PL provider is not always more economical, as cost reduction is due more to optimisation of the supply chain than to outsourcing itself. Based on the experiences of the four 3PLs providers under analysis, the paper makes a set of recommendations for senior management in the sector.Originality value - The research helps to fill an existing gap in the study of logistics outsourcing in Spain because it analyses logistics outsourcing from the perspective of the 3PLs provider and not from the viewpoint of the outsourcing organisation, as the vast majority of the studies conducted in Spain have done to date.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
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ISSN:0263-5577
1758-5783
DOI:10.1108/02635571111170749