Armstrong & Associates

Last year at this time industry analysts were saying that the third-party logistics providers were confronting considerable challenges created by uncertainty. That situation may have only become more complex for 2020, experts now maintain.

For the seventh consecutive year, the consultancy Armstrong & Associates (A&A) is staging its 3PL Value Creation North America Summit in Chicago this week.

The numbers are in, and thanks to significant merger and acquisition activity, some of the top tier players have shifted a bit. However, industry analysts note that intangibles related to service levels and digitization blur some of the lines in the rankings.

In this webcast, Evan Armstrong, president of Armstrong & Associates offers logistics and supply chain managers the industry’s most comprehensive overview of the state of domestic and global third-party logistics arena.

The inexorable advance of Amazon is creating new challenges for logistics managers who must meet heightened shipper expectations while navigating today’s complex 3PL marketplace.

More than a few moving parts remain intact, when it comes to the interaction between Basel, Switzerland-based global 3PL and airfreight forwarder Panalpina by Hedehusene, Denmark-based global 3PL DSV, in regards to the latter’s pursuit of the former as an acquisition target, now the DSV has upped its offer for Panalpina and a separate party, Agility, is in talks with Panalpina about "partnership opportunities."

While the outcome had been predicted in industry circles, the verdict that Basel, Switzerland-based global 3PL and airfreight forwarder Panalpina will not be acquired by Hedehusene, Denmark-based global 3PL DSV is now official.

In a world that is becoming increasingly commoditized, brand recognition is particularly important to the third-party logistics (3PL) industry, observes Armstrong & Associates.

When the “3PL Value Creation/North America Summit 2018” convenes in Chicago this month, shippers will hear from a diverse group of industry experts on how to drive the best deals with their lead providers in both the global and domestic arenas.

As savvy forwarders embrace and utilize more sophisticated digitized solutions to set them apart from the pack, industry analysts are seeing the race narrowing. Evidence of this trend is made clear when the Top 25 features nearly a half dozen players vying for the same coveted ranking.

Technology will make individuals more efficient to the point where a third party that provides additional people might not be needed.

What do shippers need to do when evaluating the best 3PL? That question and others will be addressed at the 3PL Value Creation North America Summit 2018 in Chicago this October.

Supply chain activities specifically related to transportation have seen dramatic changes in the last five years driven by end user experience and the technologies available to support, maintains Ravi Dosanjh Executive Armstrong & Associates’ (A&A) Vice President – International Advisory.

John G. Larkin, CFA, Managing Director - Transportation and Logistics, STIFEL Investment Banking shares his views on the current state of the 3PL industry in advance of major conference this fall.

This webcast explores the gains to be made by properly leveraging 3PLs for optimized service and demonstrates how shippers can measure ROI and plan for the future.