The Third-party Logistics (3PL) industry is facing both important growth\ud rates and increasing competitive pressure. 3PL providers are required to\ud continuously sustain a more and more competitive cost structure (i.e.\ud efficiency) and develop capabilities to improve their services (i.e.\ud innovation); hence, the evaluation of these key success factors is\ud considered a key issue. This paper develops a quantitative analysis of 71\ud Italian 3PL providers by using Data Envelopment Analysis to jointly\ud assess efficiency and innovation. Furthermore, through a case study\ud research, it corroborates the quantitative results by investigating the\ud strategies of best-in-class companies. Results allowed identifying 13 3PL\ud providers as efficiency leaders and 6 as leaders from both the efficiency\ud and the innovation side. Their input composition indicates a\ud diversification of the business models. A breakdown of the analysis by\ud size and industry focus, along with empirical evidence on the strategies\ud enhancing efficiency and innovation, is also provided

The resources and mechanisms required to complete a value proposition are generally considered as crucial aspects in designing a company business model. However, research in the 3PL arena concerned with studying how 3PL providers define their value creation architecture to meet different shippers' requirements has so far been inadequate. This paper fills the gap, providing a detailed investigation on how the 3PL providers' capabilities and logistics expertise can add value to their shippers' processes. Design/methodology/approach-A qualitative exploratory research was conducted involving, first, a systematic combining process to understand the main factors and operational strategies whereby 3PL providers can create value and build a comprehensive framework of their value creation architecture. Second, a qualitative survey was conducted on 44 leading 3PL providers operating in Italy to understand how these providers can organise themselves to create value for shippers. Findings-The 3PL providers' value creation architecture is presented within a clear and comprehensive framework, together with 30 potential operational strategies that can be used by 3PL providers and the related factors that enable value to be created for shippers. Three main value creation models (Volume-oriented 3PL providers, Process-oriented 3PL providers and Innovation-oriented 3PL providers) are identified. The importance of the different factors enabling value creation is highlighted for each model, identifying the distinctive operational strategies and those adopted most frequently. Practical implications-From a managerial perspective, 3PL providers will find these results useful for developing suitable strategies to compete on the market. From their side, shippers can understand and evaluate how 3PL providers are able to offer value to their logistics processes, allowing them to select the logistics partner who best fits their needs. Originality/value-The present paper fulfils the identified need of examining the 3PL providers' business model in detail. A set of distinct value creation models are identified and thoroughly investigated to reveal the different competitive advantages available to shippers.

Although logistics outsourcing is recognised as a competitive parameter, so far there has been no adequate research on the types of logistics outsourcing and their implications in terms of the third-party logistics (3PL) buying process. This paper fills the gap by focussing on two key issues, i.e., required competitive advantages and 3PL selection criteria. The aim is to provide a comprehensive investigation of such factors and study if and how they vary depending on the outsourcing type. After a literature review and a focus group, a survey of 482 logistics managers was conducted, and a statistical analysis of results was performed. The findings are of interest to both shippers and 3PL providers because they help the former understand which outsourcing type is the most suitable to achieve the desired competitive advantages, and the latter to evaluate the key factors to focus on depending on the required type of outsourcing.