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There are a lot of reasons for logistics outsourced. Decisions to use logistic outsourcing services
can be influenced by the region, company size, industry type, occupied markets or many oth-
ers (Hong et al., 2004). Grossler et al. (2013) discovered that while companies that outsource
internationally focus on achieving cost benefits, companies that outsource domestically focus
on achieving capacity flexibility.
In general, logistics outsourcing can be used at one of the following stages (Idnes, 2013):
2PL (second-party logistics)
This form of logistics outsourcing is suitable for small companies with a very simple supply
chain. The manufacturing company orders some logistics services from a specialised firm
(for example transport).
3PL (third-party logistics)
As Third-Party Logistics (3PL) are termed organisations offering external logistic services
such as transportation, distribution services, warehousing, packaging and many others. This
branch has become very popular with manufacturing companies which need to decrease
their logistic costs or to implement some verified strategies of supply chains. Third-Party
Logistic providers gain more expertise and, therefore, their level of service can bring more
value to customer companies. This type of logistics outsourcing is the most often used in
practice.
4PL (fourth-party logistics)
It is the closest type of cooperation, in which case a 4PL provider takes responsibility for the
whole supply chain optimisation and helps to manage individual subordinate 3PL providers.
This type of logistics outsourcing is used especially by large supranational organisations.
The main goal of this paper is to describe the situation of the Czech market in the area of logis-
tics outsourcing from the viewpoint of manufacturing companies. We also compare our results
with those of the global 3PL study conducted by Capgemini (2013), and discuss some differences
and especially problems of Czech manufacturing companies. The evaluation of selected logistics
activities and their impact on a company´s performance was part of a large research study con-
ducted in 2009 by Tomas Bata University in Zlín under the Czech Science Foundation. During
this study, respondents were also asked about the position of the logistics departments in their
organisation structure. While in 2001 almost 6 % of Czech companies did not have their own
logistics department and used only 3PLs provider services, in 2009 this number decreased to less
than 1 % (Bobák & Pivodová, 2011). However, the results mentioned above do not mean that the
usage of 3PLs services has decreased as well; the study did not discuss this area separately and,
therefore, the present paper describes only this particular field of logistics.
In our study, we focus on examining potential dependences between areas of logistic outsourc-
ing and (outsourced logistic activities) and expected contributions to logistic efficiency. Our aim
is to find out an answer to which activities should be outsourced and under which conditions
or what are the main barriers to using outsourcing services in logistic area more intensively. A
lot of research studies are focused on the relationships between the provider and consumers of
logistic outsourcing services, decision-making procedures or global trends as Stojanovic (2012)
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