3PL Selection Emphasizes Quality
One telling indicator of the nature of shipper-
3PL relationships lies in the process and criteria
shippers use to select 3PLs.
As seen in Figure 21, shippers and 3PLs agree
on the top three most important selection
criteria for choosing a 3PL. However, shippers
value the ability to provide continuous
improvements most (55%), followed by
experience in the shipper’s industry (49%)
and established ongoing relationship (42%).
The 3PLs put ongoing relationship first,
followed by continuous improvement and
industry experience.
3PLs note, however, that shippers can sometimes
reject a 3PL strongly associated with a different
vertical, not always seeing the strong parallels
to their own industry. At the Amsterdam
workshop, however, one shipper did note that
“I want a 3PL to know my industry and offer
insights from other industries,” recognizing
the value of cross-pollination of ideas.
Both sides consider procurement department
approval the least important factor in 3PL
selection. Yet, as seen inFigure 22, nearly half of
shippers (48%) and 61% of 3PLs say centralized
procurement functions are playing more or
much more of a role in the selection process
compared with three years ago.