What is the fourth party logistics?

The concept of the fourth party logistics was first put forward by Accenture Consulting in the United States in 1998. Provide logistics planning, consulting, logistics information system, supply chain management and other activities for Party A, Party B and third parties. The fourth party does not actually undertake specific logistics operation activities. Mainly refers to the logistics consulting services provided by consulting companies. At the request of the logistics company, the consulting company provides the analysis and diagnosis of the logistics system, or provides the optimized design scheme of the logistics system. In a word, the fourth party logistics company takes its knowledge, intelligence, information and experience as its capital, and provides a whole set of logistics system consulting services for logistics customers. To engage in logistics consulting services, the fourth party logistics company must have a good logistics industry background and relevant experience. It does not need to engage in specific logistics activities, let alone build logistics infrastructure, but only provides integrated solutions for the whole supply chain. The fourth party logistics is a supply chain integrator, which mobilizes and manages the resources, capabilities, technologies and supplementary services provided by the organization itself to provide comprehensive supply chain solutions. The fourth party logistics not only controls and manages specific logistics services, but also puts forward a plan for the whole logistics process, and integrates this plan through e-commerce, so there are many types of fourth party logistics providers, and the degree of change can be very great. The key of the fourth party logistics is to provide customers with the best value-added services, that is, fast, efficient, low-cost and personalized services. The development of the fourth party logistics needs to balance the ability, technology and smooth trade management of the third party logistics, but it can also expand the autonomy of its own operation. The fourth party logistics also includes the following four characteristics: supply chain reengineering, function transformation, business process reengineering and multi-functional multi-process supply chain management. The benefits brought by the fourth party logistics to customers include profit growth and operating cost reduction, that is, through the outsourcing function of the whole supply chain, the operating efficiency is improved, the procurement cost is reduced, and the process is integrated to achieve the goal. The definition of the fourth party logistics in the traditional sense, the so-called first party logistics refers to the warehousing and freight transportation of the production enterprises themselves; Second-party logistics refers to the functional services that production enterprises employ fleets and warehouses to do warehousing and cargo transportation. Third-party logistics is to provide overall management services for the whole supply chain. With the globalization and complexity of the supply chain, the information transparency and personalized market demand brought by the rise of the Internet, the fourth party logistics came into being. Accenture Consulting's "fourth party logistics" is defined as a supply chain integrator, which integrates and manages different resources, capabilities and technologies owned by companies and complementary service providers to provide a complete set of supply chain solutions.