September marks the release of our Annual Masters of Logistics study, perhaps the most highly-anticipated piece of research we undertake—and by far the clearest snapshot we have of how well shippers and carriers are operating in these challenging times.

As it has for the past 17 years, the Masters identifies emerging logistics trends and offers shippers insightful benchmarking data on transportation and distribution practices gleaned from some of the world’s leading organizations. Not only does it offer a “report card” of how well the overall industry is working, but it digs into how the biggest and best are currently running their logistics operations.

LM has once again collaborated with the esteemed research team of Mary Collins Holcomb, Ph.D., of the University of Tennessee and Karl Manrodt, Ph.D., of Georgia Southern University and received support from our friends at SAP and Capgemini. Mary and Karl have done another terrific job of putting context around all the data beginning on page 36.

If you’re new to the Masters of Logistics I would suggest you treat the findings as you would any well-written biography of someone you admire. Using the data, Mary and Karl allow small- to mid-sized shippers to draw parallels between their operations and those that we call the Masters of Logistics—those organizations with annual revenues greater than $3 billion that have exhibited logistics performance above and beyond the ordinary.

What were the key findings in the 2008 study? The most resounding takeaway this year is that the gap that started to emerge back in 2006 between the Masters and the less-advanced players has quickly turned into a deep chasm—due mainly to the collection and analysis of internal business intelligence.

First, this year’s findings show that there is a significant difference between the Masters and smaller firms in terms of distribution network design and facility location. And when it comes to making network design decisions, the Masters have placed primary control in the hands of an internal logistics and supply chain team as opposed to other internal functional areas or outsourced partners.

According to Mary and Karl, “While analysis could certainly be performed by other parts of the organization, or even outside the firm by others, having this type of tool within this very functional area means that it can become a key facilitator in making better decisions.”

This internal intelligence also makes the Masters more nimble, allowing them to incorporate analysis into their decisions at a tactical, operational, and, dare I say, practical level. The Masters spend more time on strategic planning, more time with their carrier and provider partners, and have spent the time necessary to integrate their IT with their external supply chain partners. In turn, the Masters report better on-time delivery, a very low level of freight loss and damage, and few customer complaints.

But I’m just scratching the surface of the findings. To fully digest the data I suggest you read the feature starting on page 36 and then bring your questions to the live webcast on Thursday, September 25 (register at logisticsmgmt.com/masters08). You can also join us live when we present the findings at CSCMP’s Annual Global Conference in Denver on October 7 (Track 4-5).

Comments? E-mail me at michael.levans@reedbusiness.com