Exciting Outsourcing opportunities in the Supply Chain

Exciting Outsourcing opportunities in the Supply Chain

Various challenges in the supply chain have made business process outsourcing (BPO) an increasingly attractive alternative. This blogs summarizes and comments on Accenture best practices:

Third party logistics companies (3PLs – represented by DHL, UPS, FedEx and CEVA, etc.) and professional service firms (represented by Accenture, Capgemini and IBM, etc.) are positioning themselves across the entire value chain and are beginning to compete on each other’s turf.

3PLs are expanding beyond their core physical, asset based activities to areas outside logistics. Professional service firms are leveraging their skills in HR, finance, accounting and indirect procurement.

The needs and opportunities are as follow:

• Deliver business outcomes beyond cost reduction
• Provide process excellence, centralization and standardization
• Provide end-to-end supply chain capabilities, integration and flexibility
• Meet expectations of increasingly demanding, diverse and difficult-to-please customers
• Build, operate, maintain and enhance tools & systems able to deal with increasing complexity
• Overcome talent recruitment & retaining challenges
• Provide analytics and planning technologies
• Offer high-end off-shore labor arbitrage
• and industry based insights and deep functional knowledge
• Achieve seamless integration of the above

Business Process Outsourcing has evolved in approach and service over time:

Outsourcing provider – 3PLs or professional service firms – will be a powerful player in helping meeting the complex challenges in the supply chain.

Companies are well-advised to examine offered services and take advantage as it fits their needs.

What are your thoughts?

+++To share your own thoughts or other best practices about this topic, please email me directly to alexwsteinberg (@) gmail.com.

Alternatively, you also may connect with me and become part of my professional network of Business, Digital, Technology & Sustainability experts at

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexwsteinberg   or
Xing at https://www.xing.com/profile/Alex_Steinberg   or
Google+ at  https://plus.google.com/u/0/+AlexWSteinberg/posts