Fourth Party Logistics: Is It The Future Of Supply Chain Outsour

ISBN 978 1 846930577
Published: 2007
Pages: 130
Description
Fourth Party Logistics: Is It The Future Of Supply Chain Chain Outsourcing?

About the Author


Serafettin was born in Turkey and has a Bsc. Finance degree. He then came to Manchester, UK to further his education in Master’s level. He is a recent graduate of the University of Salford with an Msc. International Business.

He understands that globalisation affects everyone. He is one of the few people that can forward think changes, and understands that the complex nature of 4PL, will make the world a smaller place. He believes that value adding should be the initial focus for every business model, not only for 4PL, and utilising 4PL will significantly help achieve this initial focus. That’s why he is passionate about this new wave in supply chain outsourcing.

He is a person that can refocus companies. He is the sort of person that consultant companies would charge their clients £7,000 a day for. He is among the few that understand 4PL. This book is written as a single case study, focusing on leading edge technology to assist the reader in understanding 4PL.



About this Book This book is for those who are looking to know all about Fourth Party Logistics (4PL).

This book is produced using 4PL methods, printed in print runs of one plus books in three global centers and delivered directly or indirectly throughout the supply chain.

Describing 4PL is like describing the offside rule. However, once you understand the principles it really is simple. You can then understand why some corporate companies become lean companies just holding IPR and Trademarks, with very little in turnover, however high GP and NP along with exceptional earnings per head compared to the industry Key Performance Indicators (KPI).

This is an educational and practical book that starts to address how 4PL can change your business. There are a number of other books out there that are too sterile in their approach. The author approached 80 consulting companies only one would put its head up to be counted.

This book will reveal to you the, who, why and where and without doubt get every Finance Director within different companies asking if they can use 4PL. The book covers the client, the outsource provider and the consultancy company that sold the solution and made it work. ‘Fourth Party Logistics’ is less of a case study and more of a real practical business guide. The consultancy company in the book was the only one to put their experience to the test.

Serafettin Kutlu has much to bring to the party and really does know his stuff.

He like very few others understands the number of internal and external factors that affect the 4PL process. Stake holders, employees, customers and suppliers need to buy-in to the working model. This working model needs to be not only a living model, but a functional document.

Within this book you will see how the industrial KPI of 18 months lead time has been reduced to 3 weeks. How a stock holding KPI is NIL STOCK, and that the TCO is much higher than traditional KPI’s, however the cash flow and P&L is in better health because of this.

KPI of delivery are reduced from 5 days to 2 days, in some cases 24 hours! Yes product is made to order.

The whole existence of this humble publishing company challenges the larger publishing companies. The investment per book titles is 1,000th of the normal KPI, diversity is embraced with 100+ new books brought on line within 3 months and break even of these new books within 9 months. These results are far better than the industry KPI, of larger publishing houses.

With a reduced overhead, 4PL allows companies to have not only a lower breakeven but a better focus on the core activity.

The downside on 4PL is that of cost, 4PL is not for the faint hearted, there is a steep learning curve. Rather than selling a solution that does not fit, VP Group offers an effective solution. Be warned however that 80% of the time the company, board or managers will hold back such change, therefore 4PL is doomed before it starts.

4PL can halt the decline of a company and hold a trade name for longer, or Last Man standing.

Many think 3PL is the same as 4PL. The difference is best explained as a 3PL provider will deliver your books, while a 4PL provider not only delivers books but prints them and bills the customer.

Implementation takes between 3 months and 5 years, thereafter the process is only as good as the relationship between provider and client. This is true of the setting up of a contract, where there is distrust this leads to non performance.

I, an example not covered by this book, however using the same principles. Production was moved to 4 factories in 2 countries. The 4PL provision included cross boarder finance for the 4PL supplier and their suppliers with 3 European banks.

With 4PL it is hard to go back, using a consultant MIGHT be a good idea, but is not always, normal buying practise do not fit, if it’s cheaper it might not be better. Moving all at once is not always the best idea either.

There are very few that understand 4PL once you have read this book, your mind will be focused.