If your current lineup of risk management solution contenders fails to include a supply chain logistics services player (LSP), also known as a third-party logistics provider (3PL), you may want to consider a timeout. As the largest LSP in the world, with approximately 510,000 under its employ, Deutsche Post DHL Group has entered the solution space with a game-ready option that is worth a serious look.
If you have initial concerns about the “motivations” of a technology platform funded by a major physical supply chain participant; or the relevance of all of those supply chain operators; or how a company like DHL, which owns significant carrier assets, avoids conflicts of interest, well, you’re not alone. In fact, that pretty much describes the mindset we brought to our meeting with DHL’s Resilience360 product leadership.
In spite of these concerns, we came away extremely impressed. Resilience360 has functionality rivaling that of the market leaders (e.g., Resilinc and riskmethods).
DHL’s new solution suite offers a nice path forward, including a unique diagnostic approach that provides supply chain organizations a way to walk before they run full speed into a comprehensive supply risk application suite. For DHL, it’s a great way to move up the value stack as a more strategic supply chain services partner beyond core logistics execution, and it also takes advantage of the capabilities DHL has built in its core business, extending them to its customers. Such an approach is analogous to the classic IBM business model: “We’ve done that to ourselves very well and can do that for you as a service.” Of course, IBM might not be the shining example to hold up given its performance over the last few years, but let’s not let the data get in the way of a good metaphor.
In this two-part Spend Matters PRO analysis, we’ll dive under the covers and evaluate the capabilities of DHL’s multi-pronged solution and give some evaluation guidance on its capabilities relative to other options in the market.