Survey Finds Global 3PL Leaders More Optimistic on Growth
Third-party logistics providers continue with business as usual, despite the global economic challenges that have been impacting the industry over the past few years, as was revealed today in the 18th Annual Survey of Third-Party Logistics Providersauthored by Dr. Robert Lieb, professor of supply chain management at Northeastern University and sponsored by Penske Logistics.
In 2010, none of the North America companies surveyed were unprofitable, and 88 percent of them met or exceeded their revenue projections in 2010 - as compared with only 50 percent in 2009.
Global CEOs continued to focus on innovation and growing their businesses despite the uncertainty of where the economy is headed. Forty-four percent of companies added new sustainability initiatives in 2010, and 52 percent of them expanded on existing initiatives.
In North America, CEOs identified key market opportunities to capitalize on in the region such as offering enhanced technology solutions, expanding NAFTA cross-border logistics services, strengthening relationships with existing customers and gaining market share through mergers and acquisitions.
North American CEOs expect their companies to grow 10.8 percent over the next year, with the industry growing at a rate of 6.8 percent.
In Europe, CEOs expect Eastern Europe to provide a market opportunity, as well as catering to specialized client needs such as the movement of pharmaceutical products. Company growth in the region is expected at 8.4 percent, and industry growth is expected at 6.1 percent.
As the transportation and logistics industry becomes more sophisticated in the Asia-Pacific region, market opportunities focus on growing volumes in China and India, more extensive road transport services to support manufacturing in China as it moves inland and support emerging B2C e-commerce supply chains.
CEOs surveyed in the region expect their companies to grow 15.8 percent, and the industry to grow 9 percent over the next year.
“For most of these companies, 2010 was a much better than the previous year, both in terms of revenue growth and also profitability,” commented Dr. Lieb. “Yet many of the CEOs are still concerned about the stability of the world economy and uncertain about what it will mean moving forward.”
To view the complete news release, please click here.
By Sabrina Michaeli, Porter Novelli