Company
Background
For this assignment assume Pharma Group is
a German based company which manufactures a wide range of pharmaceutical and
personal care products (e.g., shampoo, soap, toothpaste). In addition to its
domestic market, the company exports its products to numerous countries across
the globe.
In recent years, the company has witnessed
considerable growth in the GCC market where it supplies six distributors based
in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, KSA, Qatar and UAE. Originally, all the distributors
were supplied directly from the company’s Hamburg factory, the goods being
shipped in 40 feet temperature-controlled sea containers.
However, three years ago the company
established a manufacturing facility in Dubai to supply their UAE market and,
following the successful operation of this facility, it has been decided to
expand production at the site with a view to supplying each of the other GCC distributors
with their requirements from the Dubai site.
Currently, the Dubai factory stores all the
finished goods at the site and operates two of its own temperature-controlled
vehicles to undertake deliveries to its distributor in Dubai.
To facilitate the expansion of production,
and more easily manage the deliveries across the GCC region, the company has
decided to contract out the storage and delivery operation to a third party
logistics service provider (3PL).    
General Information on sales volumes to
the region:
Annual Volume 20,000 pallets (equivalent to
1,000 x 40ft trailer loads).
Goods stored and transported at 22C.
The company is anticipating volumes will
double over the next 5 years, hence there will be a requirement to support this
expansion in terms of additional storage and transportation capacity.
The
Assignment
As a Senior Logistics Manager with Pharma
Group, you have been given the responsibility of appointing a third party
logistics service provider to undertake the following responsibilities.
Transport
the finished goods daily from the Dubai based manufacturing facility to
the 3PLs storage facility in the UAE.
Provide
sufficient storage capacity to hold 1,200 pallets at a temperature of 22C.
Assemble
the orders required for the GCC distributors.
Prepare
export documentation.
Undertake
deliveries, by road, to the GCC distributors to meet their weekly
requirements and arrange customs clearance at appropriate borders.
Provide
IT interface between the 3PL’s site and Pharma Group’s Dubai based staff
to enable Pharma Group to have visibility of relevant inventory and despatch
data.  
1
Third Party Logistics Service Provider Selection (25 marks)
Outline what factors you would consider
when assessing the capabilities of potential third-party logistics service companies,
prior to appointing one as your service provider. (You are not required to
recommend a particular company).
2 Information Systems Requirements (25
marks)
It is
important that clients can maintain good visibility of their inventory when
outsourcing their logistics requirements. 
Detail
the information which you would expect the 3PL service provider to be able to
provide to Pharma Group regarding the operation, either on a real time basis or
in the form of reports which might be called off as and when required.
3 Benefits (30 marks)
Assess what
you would consider to be the benefits to both Pharma Group and the companies
GCC distributors because of this new method of operation.
A further 20 marks for overall clarity,
conclusion and recommendations
2,500 –
2,750 words maximum