Third Party Logistics Management

In the past decade, the tide of third party logistics (3PL) has been sweeping all over the world. It has radically changed the operational patterns of modern commercial institutes and become one of the drives of economical success. This book devotes nine chapters to introduce and discuss the concept of 3PL. It begins with an overview of logistics including its definition and current trend, the underlying causes that have resulted in its fast development, the motivations of companies to use 3PL strategy and the 3PL opportunities to a company. Then the book explores the evolution of the 3PL. It points out that the core of 3PL is to develop core competence. The chapter three first reviews theoretical model of 3PL service market. Then, the development motivation and advantages and disadvantages of 3PL are given out in this chapter. The following five chapters depict the organization management, service management, transportation management, inventory management, and information management of 3PL enterprise. The book finally discusses the prospect of the Chinese third party logistics development.