The previous sections reviewed the most important policy documents reflecting
European priorities in the field of logistics and transport, as well as key studies
investigating/suggesting performance objectives for EU transport and logistics based
on EU policy priorities. This review led to the identification of the most important
problems / performance issues that the logistics sector currently faces. These
problems / performance issues were classified in six major KPAs (efficiency,
effectiveness, costs, environmental sustainability, safety/security, employment) for
the logistics sector covering policy goals and requirements at EU and national level
and performance requirements for logistics service providers.
The above-mentioned analysis of major policy documents and key studies also
determines the requirements that logistics performance measurement should fulfil in
order to support the attainment of the policy goals. These requirements demonstrate
the ideal or “where we want to be” status of logistics performance measurement. On
the other hand, the analysis of existing performance measurement approaches at
national and company level indicate the current state-of-practice, i.e. the “where we
are now” status in logistics performance measurement. The objective of the gap
analysis is to determine the differences and identify the gaps between the current
state of practice in logistics performance measurement and the desired future state.
Based on the findings of the gap analysis, recommendations are provided as to how
the identified gaps can be bridged. The approach for performing the gap analysis and
developing recommendations is illustrated in Table 5.3.
Table 5.3 Approach for gap analysis and recommendations