Area Development
Capgemini's 15th Annual Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Study finds that global economic uncertainty has taken its toll on the logistics industry. An average of 11 percent of surveyed company sales go towards logistics, with 42 percent of those funds fueling outsourced logistics services, a drop of up to 15 percent in recent years.

Simultaneously, 65 percent of shippers reported increases in the use of outsourced logistics compared to total logistics services.

The report also finds that 89 percent of shippers say they have a positive relationship with 3PLs, and 68 percent said 3PLs provided innovative ways to improve operations. But shippers continue to outsource transactional, operational, and repetitive activities.

"Many shippers regard logistics and supply chain management as key components of their overall business success. Increased use of outsourcing and high satisfaction levels suggest that 3PLs can certainly take some credit for helping shippers to weather the economic storm," said Dr. C. John Langley Jr., professor of Supply Chain Management at the Georgia Institute of Technology, which collaborated on the study. "Despite a challenging environment, 3PLs have an opportunity to continue to mature and grow by offering an increasing number of value-added services for shippers."