Sustainable logistics service providers : A qualitative case study of future technology and IT solutions attributes for 3PL clients

Sammanfattning: The growing demand for commerce has disrupted the market's supply chains. To manage the customer demands, contracting a third-party logistics (3PL) can help make the chain more resource efficient. Actions such as implementing sustainable technology and IT infrastructure are important to invest in. This can make a positive impact on operational performance and financial indicators. However, it is unclear what motivates clients to sign on more sustainable technical solutions inside a logistics warehouse. The creation of a warehouse takes years, which requires a forefront strategy and technical solutions with multiple attributes. By evaluating key performance indicators (KPIs) that are important for both clients and 3PL, a co-align strategy for a sustainable competitive advantage can materialize. This by creating a sustainable balanced scorecard (SBSC) and from those evaluating attributes required by the technology and IT infrastructure. The purpose of this master's thesis is to identify the attributes required from the technology and IT infrastructure by the clients of a 3PL for their technical solution inside the warehouses. To be a sustainable logistic service provider requires a client with a sustainability mindset. Sustainable initiatives are only interesting if there is a guarantee of return on investment. The priority for clients is the operational activities – a direct value for the end customer. One challenge is that the clients do not have insight into what sustainable indicators to use inside the warehouses. Providing a sustainable strategy for the warehouses is identified as the logistic service provider's responsibility. A number (39) of KPIs were identified as important when evaluating the previous strategy at a case company and interviewing 11 respondents. All respondents were clients of a 3PL, working at a 3PL, or suppliers to a 3PL. An additional feature to the known framework of SBSC was developed by the author, named "attribute aiding". With the additional feature of "attribute aiding", additional (22) attributes from technology and IT infrastructure could be identified from the created SBSC. Future research can evaluate how accurate this procedure is. Practical implications are that the future technology and IT infrastructure will require abilities to show and act depending on when it is most beneficial to be resource-efficient or cost-efficient. What can be done inside the warehouses are adding services to the client's business, showing transparency and secure control over the operations, acting with ergonomic considerations, and improving the partnership.