Integration between manufacturers and third party logistics providers?

Third-party logistics (3PL) providers offer logistics outsourcing to firms so that companies can focus on their core competencies. Because the supply chain has such a large impact on a firm's cost and customer service, it is important to ensure that the selected 3PL understands and is capable of providing the services needed by a firm. This paper explores the use of interpretive structural modelling (ISM) in evaluating the selection of a 3PL. Based on expert opinions, the participants rated the relationships between 12 main criteria for 3PL selection and then ISM was applied. The results indicated that cost has the most dependence and least driving power, whereas financial stability has the most driving power and least dependence. Cultural alignment showed weak driving power and weak dependence. Dependent attributes which had weak driving power and strong dependence were cost, reputation, and quality. Locations, collaboration, range of services, and experience had attributes which have strong driving power and strong dependence. And finally, financial stability, flexibility, information technology, and metrics were found to have strong driving power and weak dependence.

For most of the manufacturing firms, logistics is not considered to be a core competency and it is often performed by Third Party Logistics Provider (TPLP). The present work describes an efficient decision framework for TPLP evaluation and selection in supply chain. The objective of this paper is to explain how an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Performance Value Analysis (PVA) algorithm can be used to capture and analyse Significant Categories (SCs) and Performance Indicators (PIs) for ranking the TPLPs effectively. The application of decision framework for TPLP evaluation and selection has been demonstrated with a case situation.

The modernization and digitization of businesses have significantly influenced the growth of the courier industry in Malaysia and globally. In today’s dynamic business environment, rapid shifts in operational processes have increased the demand for strategic partnerships to ensure sustainability in the digital age. Among these, collaboration with third-party logistics (3PL) providers has become a critical component of supply chain management. The integration of 3PL services, whether through contract logistics or outsourcing demonstrates the need for businesses to remain adaptable, particularly with the rise of e-commerce. While courier companies have traditionally been part of the logistics landscape, the evolving nature of logistics management now necessitates deeper engagement with 3PL providers. Consequently, organizations must carefully evaluate the performance and suitability of such partnerships before implementation. This study aims to review existing performance metrics within the 3PL sector and identify key factors that contribute to effective performance measurement. The ultimate goal is to develop relevant performance indicators tailored to courier companies operating in 3PL environments.

Aims: This study sought to determine selected demographic characteristics, the extent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools’ usage, opportunities in ICT, challenges in the use, strategies to improve the use, and the correlation between the selected demographic factors and ICT tools’ usage among peasants who produce cassava in Rangwe Sub-County, Kenya. Study Design: A correlation research design was used in this study conducted at Rangwe Sub-County, Kenya from 8th December 2021 to 14th January 2022.
 Methodology: The study gathered data with the aid of pretested structured questionnaire from 106 Cassava Peasants (CPs) who used or not used ICT tools in agricultural extension.
 Results: The response rate achieved was 100%. The majority of the CPs were female (62%), middle-aged (36-50 years), attained primary education (52%), and earned the lowest average annual income (X ≤ KES160, 000). The majority of ICT tools users in extension were males, elite, higher-income earners, and youths. The largest percentage of ICT tools users mentioned, ICT tools availability as one of the opportunities in ICT, expensiveness as the main challenge in the use, ICT services subsidies as one of the improvement strategies. Spearman’s correlation analysis showed that a correlation between the selected demographic factors and ICT tools’ usage was statistically significant at a 1% level of significance (P=.000).
 Conclusion: Adoption of ICT tools in agricultural extension services is directly proportional to income, gender equality, and education, while it is inversely proportional to age. The provision of supporting policies for the selected demographic factors, availability of training centers, and subsidized credit interest rate would increase ICT tools usage in extension.

This study investigates the dynamic carbon emission reduction strategies in a three-tier cold chain supply system consisting of producer, third-party logistics (TPL) provider, and retailer. Using differential game theory, it explores the emission reduction and preservation strategies of supply chain members under different cost-sharing mechanisms. This study finds that when the entity with higher marginal profits shares the costs, the TPL provider increases its efforts in emission reductions and research and development (R&D) investment. The producer and retailer are more willing to enhance their emission reduction efforts when sharing emission reduction costs, which increases carbon emission reduction and decreases overall emissions. Cost-sharing for preservation enhances the TPL provider’s R&D enthusiasm but does not affect the total emission reduction. When the marginal profits of the producer and retailer reach a certain level, sharing both emission reductions and preservation costs can simultaneously improve carbon reduction and preservation quality. An emission reduction cost-sharing contract can increase corporate profits, while a preservation cost-sharing contract further enhances profitability based on emission reduction cost sharing. Furthermore, the carbon emission reduction and preservation quality of fresh products gradually increase over time and eventually stabilize.

ABSTRACTThe need for the education system to teach twenty-first century skills produces an emphasis on the teaching of first language (L1) writing on the assimilation into the teaching process of information and communications technology (ICT) tools that promote writing. The purposes of this study are to examine general aspects of the integration of ICT tools into teaching-learning-evaluation processes and the unique aspects of ICT tools relevant to teaching L1 writing. A research questionnaire was developed to examine the disciplinary aspect of teaching L1 writing alongside general aspects of integrating ICT into teaching. The research tool tested on 391 L1 secondary school teachers. The findings show that e teachers perceive themselves as having achieved some mastery of the ICT tools examined and that they agree with positive statements about the value of using ICT tools in L1 teaching. Although they sometimes-to-often use ICT tools to assess their students' writing, they make limited use of them to teach L1 writing. We suggest that there may be a disciplinary barrier to ICT tool use in teaching in the form of a lack of teacher appreciation that ICT tools can greatly promote the teaching of L1 writing.

Enterprises have difficulty in completing all the required operations when facing market competition and environmental changes. In such situations, enterprises begin to explore their capacity to outsource logistics from external support, hence giving the existence of a third-party logistics. But in recent years, few scholars have inducted the third-party logistics to reverse logistics. This study thus explores the relationships among recycling by manufacturers, retailers, and third-party logistics providers in the framework of reverse logistics. Returned items must be disassembled, inspected, and disposed off to determine if they can be re-manufactured in the recycling process. Thus, this study constructs a mathematical model to get the maximum profit under the assumption that transfer price is induced by a third-party logistics service. From an overall supply chain standpoint of total profit, the third model in which the third-party provider leads returned product collection before transferring back to the manufacturer for remanufacturing, is preferred. This study shows that it is feasible when a third-party logistics provider is used in the reverse logistics system and that return rate and retail price are the main determinants of total profit. Therefore, the total profit increases when the retail price increases.

Several educational organizations provide Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tool registries to support educators when selecting ICT tools for their classrooms. A common problem is how to populate these registries with descriptions of ICT tools that can be useful for education. This paper proposes to tackle it taking advantage of the information already published in the Web of Data, following a Linked-Data approach. For this purpose, SEEK-AT-WD is proposed as an infrastructure that automatically retrieves ICT tool descriptions from the Web and publishes them back once they are related to an educational vocabulary. A working prototype containing 3556 descriptions of ICT tools is presented. These descriptions can be accessed either from a web interface or through a search client that has also been developed. The potential of the proposal is discussed by means of a feature analysis involving educators, data publishers and registry administrators. Results show that it is much easier to update the data associated to SEEK-AT-WD in comparison to other approaches, while educators obtain from a single registry thousands of tool descriptions collected from the Web.

The Indian manufacturing industry is growing rapidly, and supply chain management (SCM) plays the most important role in the industry. In SCM, customer satisfaction in terms of quantity, quality and on time delivery is the most important critical factor. To satisfy this requirement, the best third-party logistics (3PL) service provider is required. Therefore, the selection of the best third-party logistics provider is one of the basic requirements in SCM. Logistics services are the backbone of an economy, providing the efficient, cost effective flow of goods and services on which other commercial sectors depend. The logistics companies work as the outsourced or third-party service providers and support the organization's logistics functions. In this study, we identified some important criteria for 3PL implementation in SCM in Indian manufacturing industries. With the help of this study, supply chain managers from small to medium sized manufacturing industries can simplify the selection process for 3PL vendors. This study will help in the selection of the best vendor from such a competitive group and provide justification for the selection.

There are a lot of information and communication technology (ICT) tools for education, but the motivation to use those varies from teacher to teacher. In this paper we present results of an international survey on teachers' use of ICT tools in education. The purpose of the survey was to find out what motivates teachers to use ICT tools in the context of teaching. The survey also intended to reveal which tools are used as well as the needs and requirements that are not covered by the existing tools. Most of the 45 respondents suggested that the integration of tools depends on how well they fit into the learning and teaching process and how easy it is to integrate them. The first category of indicated influencing factors comprises human factors like the teachers' skills, attitudes and opinions towards the tools. The second category is about intrinsic values including teachers' satisfaction, level of interest, joy and entertainment. The third category of influencing factors consists of user requirements towards ICT tools such as usability, level of interactivity, adaptability and meeting learning requirements. There are also issues related to limited teacher-student interaction. This study suggests that teachers should be more involved in designing ICT tools for education. It is also indicated that gamified ICT tools could be promising to enhance the intrinsic motivation for teaching and learning processes.

In the context of the Philippine educational system, the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in various subjects is a growing trend that has the potential to enhance both teaching and learning processes. This study assessed the influence of the teachers’ attitudes and perceptions toward the integration of Information and Communication Technology tools in the selected upland elementary schools of Tabogon District, Tabogon, Cebu, for the school year 2024–2025 as the basis for a targeted intervention plan. The research design utilized a descriptive correlational research design. The weighted mean and the Pearson product-moment correlation r were also employed. The study revealed that there was no significant relationship between most of the respondents’ profile variables such as age, gender, highest educational attainment, number of years in teaching, learners’ general academic performance, and availability of ICT tools and their perceptions in all three aspects (challenges, benefits, and ethical considerations). In addition, it also concluded that variables such as age, gender, highest educational attainment, number of years in teaching, participation in ICT tools, learners’ general academic performance, and the availability of ICT tools do not significantly influence respondents’ attitudes in these three areas. Therefore, the researcher highly recommends applying the output of this study entitled “Intervention Plan on Enriching Attitudes and Perceptions Toward the Integration of Information and Communication Technology Tools and Academic Performance in EPP”.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is one of the important tools in today life in the world. It has been integrated everywhere in the human life and it made drastic changes in the field of Library Profession in recent era. This study investigates the Awareness of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Tools among the Engineering College Library Professional in Pondicherry by investigating the ICT infrastructure, current status of library automation, purpose of ICT tools, library professionals knowledge about ICT tools, problem facing use of ICT tools, To find out the type of training programs expected by the library professionals from library and barriers to acquiring ICT knowledge for library professionals.

Integrating revolutionary technologies in crime detection and prevention has transformed the landscape of modern security systems. This study aims to analyze the role and effectiveness of advanced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools, including facial recognition, thermal sensors, drones, GPS tracking systems, and real-time surveillance cameras, in enhancing crime prevention strategies. This research uses a descriptive survey approach. Data was collected through an online questionnaire distributed to 100 respondents using a non-probability sampling method. Data analysis uses a descriptive approach to describe the use of ICT in crime detection and prevention. The findings reveal that public awareness of ICT tools is increasing, with significant recognition of their potential to support connectivity, intelligence gathering, and proactive security measures. Advanced technologies were identified as essential in improving response times, enabling real-time monitoring, and enhancing the overall efficiency of crime prevention systems. Correlating with previous research, the study confirms that ICT tools provide innovative solutions for combating crime and fostering a sense of security within communities. These insights emphasize the need for continuous innovation and policy support to integrate cutting-edge ICT tools into law enforcement frameworks, ensuring adaptability to evolving security challenges.

Objective: The objective of the paper is to investigate the influence of deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools in a supply chain context. Methods/Analysis: The influence of deployment of ICT in Supply Chain Management (SCM) is studied using System Dynamics (SD) methodology using the tool, Causal Loop Diagram (CLD) using software Vensim. Findings: SCM discipline is grappled with dynamic and operational changes and challenges and this unpredictability can be understood better using SD. ICT capabilities fundamentally improve supply chain integration and performance. ICT adoption for SCM improves collaboration, workflow and decision-making which lead to cost savings; improved operational efficiency and inventory visibility. One process in SCM namely inventory control is described using SD. Introduction of a parameter, ICT capability dramatically changes the context and gives rise to new positive feedback loops Novelty/Improvements: The paper uses CLD for ICT influence on SCM process of inventory control. This can be extended for all supply chain management processes in both planning and execution. Case studies with the influence of specific ICT tools like RFID, Cloud, Social Media, Business Analytics, Mobile technology and Multi-agent systems are also possibilities for extending the study. Supply chain managers can deliberate on decisions, strategy, issues and policy by developing scenarios using SD tools and software packages. However the research limitation is that this is a simulation in a specific supply chain context. Generalization of this scenario may not be possibleKeywords: Causal Loop Diagram (CLD), Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Inventory, Supply Chain Management (SCM) ICT, System Dynamics (SD)

Optimal quoting of delivery time by a third party logistics provider: The impact of shipment consolidation and temporal pricing schemes