The purpose of this research is to understand the value a fourth‐party logistics provider (4PL) can create within an organisation and to identify an appropriate measure of such value creation.
The paper presents a conceptual model that is based on research of 4PL implementations within the alcoholic beverage industry.
This paper presents a framework by which contribution by 4PL's to organisations might be valued.
Future research may be widened to include financial and service measures within customers and suppliers thereby considering the wider value chain for a given commodity where a 4PL is involved in facilitating delivery of the goods or services.
The paper assumes that 4PL providers have the requisite skill set to manage and deliver added value versus an in‐house solution.
This paper offers insights into the pre‐requisite conditions for a company to consider outsourcing to a 4PL provider, the conditions/attributes that contribute to securing a 4PL relationship, the value that can be created through use of a 4PL and a method by which to assess the creation of value.
