Benchmarking the operational efficiency of third party logistics providers using data envelopment analysis

Purpose – In an era of downsizing and financial cutbacks, the operational efficiency of third party logistics providers (3PLs) dictates their competitiveness and/or survival. In an effort to help 3PLs enhance productivity and price leverage in the increasingly competitive third party logistics market, this paper aims to develop a meaningful set of financial benchmarks that will dictate best practices. In particular, the paper proposes a data envelopment analysis (DEA) that is proven to be useful for measuring the operational efficiency of various profit or non‐profit organizations.Design/methodology/approach – Using the examples of major 3PLs in the USA, this paper is the first to illustrate the usefulness of DEA for measuring the competitiveness of third party logistics services. The proposed DEA model also helps 3PLs identify potential sources of inefficiency and provide useful hindsight for the continuous improvement of operational efficiency. Furthermore, the proposed DEA model not only helps 3PLs est...

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