Introduction
In their article entitled, “Third-Party Logistics (3PL) and supply chain performance in the Chinese market: A conceptual framework,” Zhang and Okoroafo (2015) affirm that with the internationalization of business operations, competition amid different players has developed into rivalry amid supply chains. Though not explicit; the thesis of the authors is that supply chains are turning highly developed and critical to the aggressiveness of different organizations.
The Facts
One fact that Zhang and Okoroafo (2015) use to support the thesis is that supply chains are turning considerably global and advanced. The second fact is that the interconnected, universal form of supply chains results in their being highly complicated. This signifies that it is progressively demanding to maximize product and knowledge streams and finally convey the appropriate service intensities, swiftness to marketplaces, and least functioning outlays.
The third fact used to support the thesis is that apart from potential risks, global supply chains have initiated new forms of opportunities, decreased the scope for fault, and enhanced the confidence of organizations on professional service suppliers. If planned suitably, the international supply chain could be an actual basis of competitive benefit (Poirier, Quinn, & Swink, 2009).
The facts offered by the authors correlate with information from the course content that a global supply chain is an intricate, active system with interruptions due to lengthy delivery, in addition to long lead times. The authors employed an extensive pool of resources of over sixty sources. Though most of them are recent, a few were written in the 1990s.
Review
As affirmed by Zhang and Okoroafo (2015), the establishment of third-party logistics (3PL) service could assist the supply chain to realize cost decrease and cut down lead time all together. The information given in the article is valuable in the profession of business economics as it enlightens on the incorporation of 3PL in the supply chains to improve their success, which could translate to triumph in the career.
Third-party logistics assists in the management of the manner in which resources are shipped to the regions that they are needed (Ding, Kam, & Lalwani, 2012). With national borders turning greatly porous to economic endeavors and capital being increasingly portable, business value chains are becoming highly global in their scale.
The internationalization of production involves a considerable development of global sourcing for both constituents and finished products. The greatest issue that executives encounter is settling on the activity in the value chain that may effectively be sourced globally, and that may require being carried out in geographical closeness to one another.
Zhang and Okoroafo (2015) were true in the affirmation that there are a massive amount of gains that businesses attain through outsourcing supply chain management to third-party logistics. 3PL provides a comprehensive resolution for gathering, covering, warehousing, and shipping (Ding et al., 2012).
The implementation of third-party logistics providers offers businesses dependable logistics benefits and maximizes productivity via collective awareness and possessions. Third-party logistics suppliers offer a broad supply system that gives advantages over internal supply chains. With the application of a third-party logistics system, every stride in the supply chain may be implemented in the most competent, cost efficient manner. Selecting a third-party logistics permits businesses to gain from supplies that are unobtainable internally.
The authors were right to state that third-party logistics providers save time. For instance, third-party logistics providers save an organization the time required to accomplish the supply chain. In this regard, an organization does not need to worry about the official procedure, billing, inventories, training, and recruitment entailed in having the goods taken to a preferred destination (Ding et al., 2012).
Organizations that have seasonal operations also benefit from free transitions between the times of positive and depressing occurrences in their undertakings attributable to the capacity to use more storehouse space and resources when required. Moreover, as discussed in the article, the use of third-party logistics providers enables organizations to develop into new areas devoid of obstacles.
Third-party logistics providers offer distribution centers and storehouses that are tactically positioned to permit fast moving of products anywhere across the globe (Ding et al., 2012). Decentralized delivery provides lesser expenditures and gives faster delivery. Additionally, third-party logistics providers have the supplies to flawlessly back development into emerging markets.
It was faulty reasoning for Zhang and Okoroafo (2015) to focus much on the lack of optimal implementation of third-party logistics in the Chinese market. They affirm that it is not just that the research on third-party logistics in China is still in its formative years, but also the task of third-party logistics in the supply chain is not excellently studied.
Though this is the reality, the authors ought to have focused more on recommendations that could enable China triumph in the application of third-party logistics providers. Some major strengths of the logistics sector that could be tapped in the Chinese market encompass aspects such as excellent connectivity and advanced infrastructure (Ding et al., 2012).
Conclusion
Supply chains are getting highly enhanced and significant to the aggressiveness of diverse organizations. The coordinated, universal form of supply chains leads to their being exceedingly sophisticated.
The article offers valuable information regarding business economics as it informs of the integration of 3PL in the supply chains to advance their success, which could ensure conquest in the career. Devoid of some faulty reasoning, the article presents an enormous amount of benefits that organizations could achieve through outsourcing supply chain management to third-party logistics.
References
Ding, M. J., Kam, B. H., & Lalwani, C. S. (2012). Operational routines and supply chain competencies of Chinese logistics service providers. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 23(3), 383-407.
Poirier, C. C., Quinn, F. J., & Swink, M. (2009). Diagnosing greatness: Ten traits of the best supply chains. Fort Lauderdale, United States: J. Ross Publishing.
Zhang, H., & Okoroafo, S. C. (2015). Third-Party Logistics (3PL) and supply chain performance in the Chinese market: A conceptual framework. Engineering Management Research, 4(1), 38-48.