The number of actors in the total logistic chain
has grown. As a consequence of competition,
various enterprises have focused their activities
on their core business (or core competence) and
contracted out other activities. The actors in the
logistic chain usually pay attention to their own
goals, which may conflict with the goals of other
partners. Integrating the several processes and
partners may lead to advantages for each partner,
thus providing a win-win situation. This is the
reason why integrated logistic management has
gained much attention in recent years. To achieve
the required cooperation between all actors it is
essential to be able to demonstrate the potential
benefits of integration to each actor. Modelling
the total logistic chain, answering what-if questions
and making trade-offs will help to demonstrate
an integrated approach.