Market Based Solutions

Third party logistics providers and their key partners are focused on market based solutions to meet the demands and most importantly to shape the market through new services.  This is really a key strength of third party logistics providers and they bring the skills and expertise to the problems to deliver market solutions. This difference in the third party logistics solution model is that the solution delivered can generally be utilized to produce a solution that they can then use across the marketplace.  This model is huge when it comes to moving the market forward to change the expectations and also change the market capabilities to support change demands of the customer and partner. This is a new outcome that would not be available if the third party logistics providers did not have the expertise and the bandwidth to support the demands and deliver market solutions that can be used be customers and partners across the marketplace.

This is very much the same model as modern ERP software and Human Resource service providers.  The key difference between the ERP capabilities and the supply chain services capabilities is the ERP capabilities are delivered through software that is installed in the customer environment while the supply chain third party logistics providers outsource the functionality.  In both examples though the impact on the market is similar; the ERP software has revolutionised business management while third party logistics providers are leading the delivery of market changing supply chain solutions through flexible technology and integration with partners.

These supply chain market solutions would not have been possible 20 years ago when the greatest supply chain initiatives were driven  by the largest players it the marketplace through their own inwardly focused initiatives. During those times the supply chain solutions were focused on the benefits of an individual company and the partnerships were a one-way focused relationship.  The recession broke this model when the large organizations focused on their supply chain for cost savings and reduced staff while driving for cost savings. This provided the third party logistics market to scoop up the experience and expertise and they took this opportunity to focus on their solution offerings and also to partner with other service providers in the marketplace to deliver solutions that are now changing the marketplace.

This is the beginning of a new age of market based solutions that shift the focus to the solution meeting the demands of the entire supply chain market through a collaborative base model that benefits all of the participants.  This model is furthered through the increase in specialization in the market and solutions that in itself requires collaboration and partnerships to build and deliver solutions. The challenges in solutions now are being met through collaboration and partnership rather than command and control.  Thes collaborative practice requires a robust and flexible framework of technology and communications methods that were not possible even five years ago.

This focus on market based solutions put together through partnerships with specialized service providers supports a model that supports speed of service delivery and the ability to select and provide services based on your own specific needs while the service providers are able to focus on a wide range of services that move the entire market forward.  This collaborative framework supports the changing demands of the participants with a lower level of investment from each of the participants in the partnership.