Third Party Logistics Services Usage: A Case Study of Medium and Large Scale Chinese Firms

This paper examines the usage of third party logistics services in China. Foci was made on four constructs that we believe are the primary determinants of the future usage of third party logistics service. These constructs are: extent of use of the third party logistics services in the manufacturing and the trading enterprises; decision making process for choosing a contract logistics services provider; impact on the usage of contract logistics services on the organization; and different types of demands in different industries. An empirical research was carried out to study the impact of these four factors on the future usage of third party logistics services. Results based on the analysis of data relating to 156 firms in China indicate that the extent of use of the third party logistics services between manufacturing enterprises and trading enterprises differ greatly. Most of these users are satisfied with the services providers and have largely seen positive developments within the organization. With a high current level of satisfaction, most firms surveyed indicated a moderate to substantial increase in usage of their services