The relationships between a shipper and its service providers are critically important. While one might assume that a company’s bonds with its third-party logistics provider (3PL) would be solid and seamless, they rarely are. “In an ideal world, shippers and 3PLs would operate in harmony,” said Marc Blouin, senior vice president at conference sponsor DHL Solutions. “In reality, there’s a gulf there.”

In this session, Blouin shared tips on creating successful and mutually beneficial working processes, designed to help shippers be better prepared as they enter new relationships with 3PLs or improve existing relationships.

Blouin singled out the top reasons that companies outsource logistics services, including: the increased need for wider geographic coverage, profitability mandates from executive management, escalating field-service labor costs, and increasing areas of low-density product installation.

Shipper-3PL relationships are usually mutually beneficial, said Blouin, but as logistics managers stretch their supply chains across the globe, creating value and gaining benefit from those worldwide bonds becomes more and more difficult. At the same time, the growing need for businesses to diversify and delegate as their supply chains become broader and more complex has validated the 3PLs’ role in every aspect of logistics. Yet even as the use of third-party contracts continues to increase, the proper management of these evolving, dynamic relationships is often overlooked.

“The 3PL provides these critical elements that supply chain professionals look for when managing their supply chains,” said Blouin, who cited several of his company’s clients as examples of how the two entities can work together to create effective global supply chains. They included Unisys and Sun Microsystems, which Blouin said are “unlocking greater opportunities in their supply chains” as a result of working closely with the 3PL on a global basis.

To replicate that success, Blouin suggested, shippers can formalize a global partner strategy by looking at local, regional, and global projects. Use the entire supply chain, he added, and avoid compartmentalizing labor, physical infrastructure, and transportation. “Use the tools and information at your fingertips in today’s business world to help you make the right decision,” he concluded.