
559ROI for Supply Chains and Other Issues
Third-Party Provider
In Chapter 9, we described the role of third-party logistics providers (3PLs) in helping
move the goods along the supply chain. There is a growing awareness that logistics pro-
viders can assume even greater roles as supply chain facilitators, or even “a ‘maestro’ that
can coordinate the entire network and align the incentives for all the participating play-
ers” (Bitran et al. 2007, p. 34). The authors concede that most large companies would not be
interested, or willing, to turn over the entire supply chain to a third party; however, there
are some who would be willing to outsource ...