Logistics Service Providers:
Many organisations do not perform many of their own logistics activities. They arrange logistics service providers to take advantage of efficient and experienced specialists to look after the transport, while the organisation can concentrate on its core operations. An organisation mainly forms a partnership with other company to look after warehousing, purchase of material, material handling and many of the other functions of logistics. When one company uses other companies to run its logistics are known as third party or 3PL or contract logistics. For McDonalds Keystone distribution works as a 3PL. (Waters; 2003; p.90) However, responsibilities of 3PL is discussed in Appendix B under Supply chain frameworks.
Keystone Distribution UK is a subsidiary of Keystone Foods LLC, which provides food manufacturing and distribution services to quite a large amount of customers in America, Asia, and Europe. Keystone distribution was formed in 1977 in partnership with McDonalds for its UK baker of hamburger bun and since then company is progressing along with McDonalds. Keystone distributor has been efficiently supplying everything to its existing client need to run the business successfully. Keystones manages a large part of McDonalds UK supply chain and replenishing its 1200 UK stores from mops and ketchup to the essential ambient , fresh , frozen foods that makes up the McDonalds menu. (Logistic Business IT Website; 09.Nov.2009) A big organisation like McDonalds need some partner to work with them to look after sourcing, warehousing, procurement, and distribution to run its business but there can be certain issues associated with this that by hiring 3PL, that company can loss control over its logistics activities, difference of opinion and perception can bring problem in service level, also it increase dependency at certain time and end up disturbing operations of business.