Introduction:
Automative industry in India, the sixth largest in the world, has produced more than 3.5 million vehicles in 2010 alone. The Indian automotive industry in mainly includes the industries associated with the manufacturing of two wheelers, three wheelers and four wheelers-such as cars and trucks. The major Indian players include Maruti, Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors. In 1990s and after, Indian automotive industry saw many foreign players establishing their manufacturing and assembly plants in India, catering to the Indian market. Major foreign players include Toyota, Hyundai, General Motors and Volkswagen Group. Major automotive hubs in India are Chennai, NCR and Pune.
As the operations of automotive industry are increasing rapidly in terms of volume and complexity, companies in India need to follow global standards and best practices for achieving optimization of their supply chain. One of the practices, which are followed by leading companies, is fourth party logistics (4PL) company, or a lead logistics provider (LLP)
Need for 4PL
1) Concept Definition: Lead Logistics provider or 4PL
4PL is term introduced by Accenture in 1996.It describes 4PL as an "integrator that assembles the resources, capabilities, and technology of its own organization and other organizations to design supply chain solutions". 4PL i.e fourth party logistics provider is a company which re-designs a manufacturer’s or retailer’s supply chain; implements the solution and then manages the logistics companies required as part of the overall solution. 4PL provider is also referred as Lead Logistics provider(LLP) which manages a range of other 3PLs on behalf of a manufacturer or retailer as part of an overall supply chain solution[1].
4PL concept of a (Source: Allyin International 'www.allynintl.com')
4
So in short, 4PL is an