Title: Analysis of interaction among the barriers of Third Party Logistics

Authors: Akhilesh Barve, Arun Kanda, Ravi Shankar

Addresses: College of Engineering, IILM, Greater Noida U.P, 201308, India. ' Mechanical Engineering Department, IIT-Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India. ' Department of Management Studies, IIT-Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India

Abstract: Changes in the business environment due to the varying needs of the customers lead to uncertainty in the decision parameters. A supply chain satisfied the needs of customers if it is agile in nature. The importance of the Third Party Logistics (3PL) has increased dramatically at many firms as comparative priorities have shifted from production quality to delivery and flexibility for making supply chains agile. However, the deployment of 3PL is not free from barriers. The aim of this paper is to analyse the interaction among the major barriers, which hinder or prevent the application of 3PL. This paper utilises the Interpretive Structural Modelling methodology to understand the mutual influences among the barriers. The paper explores the relationship between 3PL and agility in supply chain.

Keywords: agility; barriers; interpretive structural modelling; ISM; third party logistics; 3PL; supply chain management; SCM; agile supply chains; agile systems.

DOI: 10.1504/IJASM.2007.015684

International Journal of Agile Systems and Management, 2007 Vol.2 No.1, pp.109 - 129

Published online: 07 Nov 2007 *

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