Degree of outsourcing particular logistics functions in Mexico
Table V shows that customs brokering, product delivery, fleet management and
operations, supplier payment and auditing and shipment planning and consolidation
are most frequently outsourced by the surveyed firms. The most popular outsourced
functions are of a supportive rather than a primary nature. Inventory management,
logistics information systems, reverse logistics, warehousing and order processing are
usually not considered yet. We suspect that the frequent outsourcing of customs
brokering and delivery is related to the availability of reliable providers of these
particular services such as FedEx, UPS and DHL (Ame´rica Economı´a, 2003). Table V
also shows the expected future use of 3PL in the Toluca area. In general, a limited
increase in 3PL use may be expected for nearly all functions, which is in agreement
with the responses to question 6: over 50 per cent of the participants report a stable
outsourcing level while 32 per cent expect a decline.