Third-party logistics during the sport competition

The last two decades have been marked by a great technological advance with the establishment of the internet and the transformation in the way of administering in a globalized world. This has required companies to take actions capable of responding to the changes and new demands of a more versatile, competitive, and digital market. The digital age, with so much information in real time, makes it possible for companies to know the consumption needs and desire of groups of people, or even other companies, better understanding the means to offer products and services. In this digital and globalized environment, innovation and agility in actions and decisions are fundamental for companies to stay in the market and not be passed by the competition.

Natural business model classification is often known in general as: 1PL, 2PL, 3PL, 4PL, 5PL and the latest is 6PL. 1PL (first party logistics) means that logistics services are provided by the manufacturers or distributors themselves [6]. 1PL is explained as a rule, understood as autonomous logistics when all the necessary operations (transportation, warehousing) are carried out by the owner of the goods independently through its own infrastructure and members [7]. 2PL (second party logistics) means that the company itself carries out several logistics roles such as planning, storage, building supply chains. 2PL is generally an asset-based carrier symbolizing property rights on means of transport such as freight forwarding lines and airlines. 2PL is also defined as a shipper hiring a transporter or warehouse operator for clearly defined operational activities [3]. 2PL limited contracts or leases transportation infrastructure (such as trucks, containers, ships) to customer companies for goods mobility [2]. The logistics flow that exists in supply chains generates various types of activities that, as a rule, are not in the field of business, for this reason they are obliged to hire specialized agents.

The question is how and how many types of activities the company decides to transfer. To the extent that this number of activities is greater, facilitating not only issues related to logistics management, as well as investments are also needed, the more the company becomes dependent on agents for who has transferred services. Therefore, the decision on how to proceed with your logistics is related to an organization's understanding of how much this service may or may not add value to its product and the importance it attaches to it. So outsourcing, quarter or privatization, it will be related to this decision, that is, the company can succeed as a model as for the other, the question is how he manages his choice.

In the most developed types of third-party logistics partnerships, it is important that the contract contains all possible rights and obligations of the parties. It is important that the contract is transparent.

This kind of discussion may seem hypothetical, but it is actually very real. The purpose of this document is to extensively classify the problems faced by third-party logistics companies and identify potential gaps.

Table 1. The potential gaps of the challenges of 3PL companies.

The most important thing is that the company must identify the weak link in the activities of 3PL. It can be any tool. To do this, it is necessary to take into account the actual capital losses and the sources of such losses. After the monitoring, it will be easier to prioritize the organization of 3PL-servise.

The specifics of 3PL work are peculiar, especially in the context of various industries. We have considered the 3PL-system in the organization and conduct of the Olympic Games. Since China's successful bid to host the Olympic Winter Games, the development of a number of new technologies has intensified since 2015. Everything possible was done to organize high-tech and environmentally friendly Games [5]. The Organizing Committee of the Beijing Games ensured environmentally friendly competitions, including through cooperation with 3PL operators of companies that produce hydrogen powered buses.

The purpose of the study is to reveal the functional features of outsourcing services of 3PL operators in the context of the preparation and holding of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games. The theoretical analysis of the data indicates that during preparation for the XXIV Olympic Winter Games, the Organizing Committee received an additional $11.51 million of investment, of which 65% were meant for the improvement of the ski cluster facilities [4].

Due to the fact that the clustering of the Games became a key area of investment, it seems relevant to consider in detail the issue of logistics operations between the three clusters. In the process of preparation, the Organizing Committee of the Games in Beijing developed a system of logistics operations in a structured way, which are reasonably classified as meso-level logistics (Fig. 1).

Logistics among clusters              Tird Party Logistics

Clusters that were used                  Outsourcing to reduce the cost of during the games                      maintaining an ecological fleet

Corporate logistics                  Information logistics installing equipment for the                 among sports federations and creation of technical snow                 the National Olympic Committee

TechnoAlpin Company

Fig. 1. The system of third-party logistic operations in the preparation and holding of the sport competition [4]

Analysis and generalization of empirical data allow us to state the fact that, as a rule, the Organizing Committees of the Games, when preparing, "rely" on the professional attitude of local companies providing logistics services. 85% of all operating vehicles were energy-efficient and environmentally friendly [4]. Thus, the XXIV Olympic Winter Games have become one of the most environmentally friendly in terms of transportation and cargo transportation [5].

A simplified structure of the orderly interaction of the organizing committee with outsourcing companies in preparation for the games is shown in Figure 2. In this system, the International Olympic Committee is the body that controls the regulatory aspects of cooperation and organization of logistics campaigns in preparation for the Olympic Winter Games. The rights and obligations of the parties must not contradict the provisions of the Olympic Charter [5].

It should be noted that other companies producing hydrogen vehicles – BAIC and AUV – also participated in the implementation of the strategy for holding environmentally friendly Winter Olympics [1].

Every year the system of organizing the Olympic Winter Games is being modernized, logistics processes are being optimized, and some tasks and risks are delegated to outsourcing companies. Clear evaluation of the composition of logistics costs is the key to making economically sound decisions.

The expediency of attracting Third-party logistics operators is due to the fact that outsourcing companies ensure the successful implementation of logistics operations by providing their own fleet of vehicles, a warehouse network, qualified support of experts, brokers and other necessary specialists.

Thus, the effectiveness of cooperation between 3PL operators and the Organizing Committee of the Games is determined by the amount of the total logistics costs. The experience of using this type of cooperation of the Organizing Committee of the Games in Beijing ensured the holding of environmentally friendly competitions.

The different modalities of contracting logistics services through a provider of services in the outsourcing or quarterization and primarization model, it is still presented in phase of studies, and as mentioned is still little studied. In order to complement this understanding, it is possible to affirm that this work achieves its goal, and still contributes to new ideas by presenting a conceptual framework that classifies hiring possibilities logistics services. Structure that is only an essay for new discussions and propositions to respect of the theme.

Finally, this essay leaves open the discussion on the subject, and the author is aware of that there may be numerous gaps that need to be understood and better explained, contributing for future studies related to the provision of logistics services.