An analysis of the logistics innovation development process at logistics service providers

Abstract

An innovative approach is no longer a luxury for logistics service providers, nor their clients, but a necessity, that is critical to the success of both partners of outsourcing. In the field of logistics, the importance of innovation has long been neglected. Approaches developed within the field of product and service innovation are not suitable for the logistics industry or they cannot be simply implemented by logistics service providers, therefore a new approach from a logistics service provider point of view is needed. This paper looks at different research literature and summarizes the major findings in this research area, focusing on the logistics innovation development process within a logistics service provider. The objectives of this paper is to examine approaches of logistics innovation development and to describe the process of logistics service development from a logistics service provider view point. A four-phase process is selected. Moreover, some proposals of potential logistics innovations for each logistics subsystem have been added, since supply chains should now be viewed as a whole in order to meet competition.