Historically, third-party logistics providers, or 3PLs, provided traditional logistics services, such as transportation and warehouse management and nothing more than that. However, the increased volume and scope of services demanded from 3PLs have given rise to their changing role, where today they are engaged in strategic coordination of their customers’ supply chain activities. So say Zach Zacharia, Nada Sanders and Nancy Nix in their most recent article on The Emerging Role of the Third-Party Logistics Provider (3PL) as an Orchestrator. Here they show how 3PLs have evolved from providing logistics capabilities to becoming orchestrators of supply chains that create and sustain a competitive advantage. The question is, what is it that defines an orchestrator? And, are 3Pls also becoming risk orchestrators?

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