Master of Logistics: Comparative Analysis of Third Party Logistics and Fourth Party Logistics

First, the comparison between third-party logistics and fourth-party logistics

1, development comparison

(1) developing third-party logistics

Third-party logistics (3PL or TPL for short) is a form of logistics in which third-party professional enterprises undertake enterprise logistics activities relative to the consignor of Party A and the consignee of Party B.. It provides its professional logistics services by cooperating with the first party or the second party. It does not own goods, nor does it participate in the sales of goods, but provides customers with serialized, personalized and information-based logistics agency services based on contractual constraints and alliances. Including the design of logistics system, EDI capability, report management, cargo consolidation, carrier selection, freight forwarding, customs declaration agency, information management, warehousing, consulting, freight payment and negotiation.

(2) the development of the fourth party logistics

The third-party logistics is efficient in the view of one or several enterprises, but the third-party logistics enterprises are fragmented in integrating all social logistics resources, and the result of this addition is not necessarily efficient or even inefficient. Therefore, it is effective for the third party logistics to solve enterprise logistics in a certain range, but it is far from enough to solve the logistics bottleneck in economic development and the new logistics bottleneck in e-commerce. It is this contradiction that gave birth to the fourth party logistics.

The fourth party logistics (4PL for short) is a downstream extension outsourced to the third party logistics in order to solve logistics management and reduce costs. It plays the role of sharing resources. Due to the increase of speed, flexibility and global pressure, the fourth party logistics has assumed the responsibility other than the traditional third party logistics, that is, the fourth party. It pays attention to the integration of supply chain and the sharing of resources. Therefore, a successful fourth-party logistics organization is established under the principle of sharing risks and benefits. This kind of organization often appears in the form of joint venture between customers and fourth-party organizations.

2. Comparison of the characteristics of third-party logistics and fourth-party logistics.

(1) Characteristics of Third Party Logistics

A, informatization.

It is embodied in the commercialization of logistics information, digitalization and coding of logistics information collection, electronization and automation of logistics information processing, standardization and real-time delivery of logistics information, and digitalization of logistics information storage. Informatization can better coordinate the links of production and sales, transportation and storage. Commonly used technologies include: EDI technology, EFT technology to realize rapid payment of funds, bar code technology, e-commerce technology and global positioning system.

B, contracting.

Logistics operators provide multi-functional and all-round comprehensive logistics services according to the contract requirements, and standardize all service activities and processes with contracts. The third-party logistics alliance also clarifies the relationship between participants through the form of contracts.

C. Personalization.

Logistics demanders have different business processes and demands, so third-party logistics services are required to be customized according to customers' business processes to provide targeted personalized services and value-added services.

D. cooperation.

The strategic alliance between users and operators of third-party services requires mutual disclosure of more information, breaking the traditional business shackles and changing from "business relationship" to "cooperative relationship". This relationship is win-win, and it is the guarantee to improve the availability, service and more efficient operation of the system.

(2) the characteristics of the fourth party logistics

The fourth-party logistics usually appears as a logistics service price agent, forcing the fourth-party logistics to take a high-starting route to intercept the top resource combination in the supply chain, thus forming the characteristics of high starting point and high technology content.

One of the characteristics of the fourth party logistics is that in the whole process, the fourth party logistics itself does not invest any fixed assets, but reasonably distributes and manages the assets and behaviors of buyers and sellers and third party logistics suppliers, provides comprehensive supply chain solutions, effectively meets the diverse and complex needs of the demand side, and concentrates all resources to solve problems for customers. The fourth party logistics integrates the capabilities of management consulting and third party logistics service providers. More importantly, the design, implementation and operation of a unified technical solution to maximize customer value can only be achieved through the joint efforts of Qixin consulting company, technology company and logistics company.

The second characteristic of the fourth party logistics is to increase value through its ability to influence the whole supply chain, that is, it can bring benefits to customers in the whole supply chain. The fourth party logistics makes full use of the capabilities of many service providers, including third party logistics, information technology providers, contract logistics providers, call centers, telecom value-added service providers and so on. , plus the ability of customers and the ability of the fourth party logistics itself. In a word, the fourth party logistics can meet the extensive and complex needs of today's companies by providing all-round supply chain solutions. This scheme pays attention to all aspects of supply chain management, which not only provides technical solutions for continuous updating and optimization, but also meets the unique needs of customers.

A successful fourth party logistics must have four basic principles:

(a) Establish a shared cooperative organization;

(2) the function of the whole supply chain;

(3) organizing the best operation ability of the supply chain;

(four) to give the fourth party the right to operate independently.

Second, China logistics market demand analysis of two kinds of logistics.

1, there is huge room for the development of third-party logistics in China.

It is an indisputable fact that the logistics market in China has great potential. With the gradual acceleration of China's opening to the outside world after China's entry into WTO, the prototype of China's "world factory" has appeared, and major multinational companies in the world have set up R&D bases and production bases in China, which will attract more domestic and foreign logistics enterprises to enter this market. Such a favorable prospect requires us to carefully analyze our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges, and develop the logistics industry in China healthily.

At present, China's third-party logistics is still in its infancy, and the internationally accepted logistics network design, forecasting, inventory management and other services can only be provided by a few enterprises, so the development space is very huge. The proportion of third-party logistics in the whole logistics market is 80% in Japan, 57% in the United States and only 18% in China. According to the survey of China Storage Association, within two or three years, 60% of industrial and commercial enterprises in China will outsource all integrated logistics services to new logistics enterprises.

2. The demand for third-party logistics in China is growing rapidly.

China logistics market demand and modern logistics industry have entered a period of rapid growth. In 2003, China's third-party logistics developed rapidly, and a number of super-large state-owned logistics enterprises joined the third-party logistics market. In the past three years, 70% of logistics service providers have experienced an average annual business growth of 30%. The scale of the logistics market reached 240 billion yuan, an increase of about 26% over 2002. From 2000 to 2005, the annual growth rate of the third-party logistics market in China is expected to reach 25%.

3. The fourth party logistics in China is still in the exploratory stage.

The fourth party logistics company mainly provides a technical platform for the third party logistics company that does not have full service. The core business covers logistics audit, logistics planning, logistics consultant, system implementation and logistics training. One of the reasons for the high cost of domestic logistics is that there is no reasonable logistics solution and no scientific guidance of high-end consulting. These are difficult to be provided by the third-party logistics itself, which focuses on specific business, because the third-party logistics companies lack the strategic expertise to operate the whole supply chain and the related technologies to truly integrate the supply chain processes. Therefore, the fourth party logistics has been put on the agenda. The fourth-party logistics, which is divorced from the third party, will become a theoretical supply chain solution service provider because it is divorced from the actual business and operational capabilities. The development of third-party logistics in China is not yet mature, and the fourth-party logistics is still in the exploration stage. Therefore, there is almost no demand for the fourth party logistics in China at present, and it is too early to develop the fourth party logistics in China.

Third, the development strategies of two kinds of logistics in China