Issue with FGP
Although much of the case study work carried out focussed on the benefits of FGP, it is important to comment upon potential issues that arise through implementation. From the case study, it could be contended that a single point of control os not needed if the CC network infrastructure was put in place. However, with no overall single point of control, there will be additional costs as achieving collaboration between all parties for the transport movement would not always be possible. This is confirmed by the results presented in (le blanc et ql) in their analysis of FGP in the Dutch retail market. Through evaluating the impact on a range of logistics costs , they found the presence of FGP reduces total costs by approximately 8 per cent.
Secondly, there is the question of who manages the point of control. In the grocery sector, the power of the retailers makes FGP suitable . However, this may not apply in all instances. Ultimately, the point of control should be at the point best placed to leverage economies from the transport operations. Equally, the geographic spread of the network is also important if the strategies shown in Figure 2 are to be exploited. It dose not necessarily have to be the customer or supplier that provides the point of control. When the issue of FGP arose in the grocery sector , the major 3PLs proposed that they may be best placed to provide this control, generating economies of scale by combining distribution networks for a number of customers
Finally, the implementation of FGP has been heavily dependent upon ICT, particularly for transport planning, but also communication with hauliers. However, in the UK it has been found that the larger haulage companies and 3PLs have the greater ICT capabilities. Consequently, there is a risk that the process design of FGP may increasingly preclude the use of smaller haulers due to their lack of technological capabilities.