Title: Service quality analysis: case study of a 3PL company

Authors: Hsiao-Yun Neo, Min Xie, Kwok-Leong Tsui

Addresses: The Logistics Institute - Asia Pacific, National University of Singapore, Singapore. ' Industrial and Systems Engineering Department, National University of Singapore, Kent Ridge Crescent, 119260, Singapore. ' Industrial and Systems Engineering Faculty, Georgia Institute of Technology, GA, USA

Abstract: Service quality is important to penetrate, build and maintain market share. The objective of this paper is to study the quality of service provided by 3PL companies. Approaches such as SERVQUAL can be used. A case study is carried out on a 3PL company. The results from SERVQUAL show that the customer values reliability such as documentation accuracy, picking accuracy and on-time delivery. Ease of communication and productivity are also regarded as very important. Quadrant analysis and gap analysis indicate that the company performance is up to the customer|s expectations for most of the attributes except for on-time delivery, efficient utilisation of the warehouse and the productivity level. Areas for further improvements are also identified. The case study can serve the purpose for similar analysis in other organisations.

Keywords: service quality; SERVQUAL; quadrant analysis; gap analysis; motivation theories; 3PL company; on-time delivery; reliability; communication; productivity; customer satisfaction; customer service.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2004.005539

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 2004 Vol.1 No.1, pp.64 - 80

Published online: 19 Oct 2004 *

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