El sector de los operadores logísticos y la externalización de servicios en una economía globalizada. El caso de la Comunidad Valenciana

Abstract

Economic globalization supported by technological improvement and price reduction in transportation and communications −amongst others− has generated complex worldwide systems of supply, production and distribution that demand high efficiency in the management of the logistic system. This new reality provides the logistic system with a significant role in products' final costs and consequently influences both company and geographical competitiveness.Presently, production is structured by networks in which each node is a specialized part of the production chain. In this context, more and more companies decide to outsource their logistic services, although with different levels of implementation depending on different geographical areas. This situation has brought up a new concept of the third party logistics provider (3PL) as a company specialized in providing logistic services to the supply and distribution chains.