"LSPs tend to take on the characteristics of the industries they serve," says Chris Ferrell, director of the Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium. "And in turn, this impacts the way they run their business and how they serve their customers."

The report, Selecting a Logistics Service Provider: It's Not One Size Fits All, analyzes responses from more than 100 retailers, consumer products companies and warehousing/distribution companies on how LSPs are functioning in areas such as automation, distribution centers, and transportation.

Many supply chain and procurement professionals are identifying and partnering with the best logistics vendors, as well as determining if those vendors can execute at an acceptably high level. "Understanding each prospective vendor's specialties can be the difference between success and failure," says Ferrell.

According to the survey findings, lower costs and increased flexibility continue to top the list of reasons to outsource. Additional results include:

• Nearly half of the respondents outsource transportation operations

• More than half of the companies use some type of internal audit to monitor invoices, and

• Nearly three-fourths of respondents outsource at least part of their DC operations.

For more information on LSPs, download the report, click here. 

Source: Tompkins Supply Chain Consortium