Research On Mass Customization Logistics Service Capability

In recent years, the marketing environment of logistics service has changed dramatically. With the scientific and technological progress and productivity of the development, the diversification of customers demand has increased, and the competition between the logistics service providers has pricked up. The uncertainty of logistics service demand greatly increased, so that the logistics service mode changes from a large-scale logistics service mode to mass customization logistics service. Mass Customization logistics service is the logistics service which is provide personalized and customized logistics services to customers at the low cost and high efficiency of large-scale logistics service. It is important to set up the mass customization (MC) logistics services capability with the logistics services.According to the existing research, the research of logistics service capabilities are mainly restricted to large-scale logistics service capabilities, did not involve MC logistics service capabilities. This Papers analysis the motivation, change and characteristics of MC logistics service, and further analysis of the MC logistics service performance objectives as well as the mode operation of MC logistics service, and Put forward the concept of MC logistics service capabilities based on enterprise capabilities theory, mass customization theory and results of research on logistics services capabilities. MC logistics service capabilities is a kind of logistics service capabilities which the logistics service provider provide customized logistics services to customer by using inside and outside the enterprise logistics resources, through the re-integration of logistics functions to achieve large-scale logistics cost and efficiency of the diverse needs to each customer.This paper analysis the resources of MC logistics service with the concept of MC logistics service capabilities. There are four kinds of resources which logistics service providers provide MC logistics service to customers. The main resources are technical resources, management resources, organizational resources and human resources. The process to provide MC logistics services for customers is a transformation process that resources is converted to MC logistics service capabilities and complete logistics services, this process contains four different levels which are demand level, implementation level, ability level, resource layer. MC Logistics Service capability is a complex integration capability by a number of sub-capabilities with multidimensional structure, which consists of technological sub-capability, market developing sub-capability, organization management sub-capability, and integration sub-capability. MC Logistics service capability depends on the resources, and different combinations of resources format different sub-capability. Each sub-capability is not isolated, and they are related, and its relevance depends on the resources to support the various sub-capabilities.Resources have an important impact on evolution of capability as the basis of MC Logistics service capability. From sub-capability of MC Logistics service capability, author analyzes the evolution mechanism of each sub-capability. The evolution process of technological sub-capability is a continuous accumulation process for every elements of technological sub-capability and intermittent transition of overall technological sub-capability, which Promoted by dynamic resource-based and non-dynamic resources with the "two-wheeled evolution model." Recognition order-winner capability, corporate marketing capabilities as well as individual learning ability and their interactions form and promote the formation and development of market developing sub-capability, its growth process is a continuous cyclic process from a lower level to higher levels. The organization management sub-capability is formed under the action of the entrepreneur, the business culture, systems and management processes, and their interaction with each other, it is developed to accumulate resources, reengineer the organization structure, change the system and process, progress the culture. The integration capability of entrepreneurs and manager is formed to integration sub-capability of MC logistics service process, and its evolution there are two paths:one path is through learning to enhance integration capabilities, and the other path is an integration of the experience gained through practice to enhance integration capabilities.Competition, demand, resources, and interaction between sub-capabilities are key factors to promote and develop the MC logistics service capabilities, the complex formation model has been proposed based on competition, demand, resources, and MC logistics service capabilities. Based on dissipative structures theory, paper analysis the characteristics dissipative structures of MC logistics service capabilities, and set up the evolution model of MC logistics service capabilities. According to this model, the evolution process of MC logistics service capabilities is the process that is from disorder to order, from the old dissipative structure to new dissipative structures. In the process of evolution, MC logistics service capability has been increasing. The evolution line of MC logistics service capability is not single-tracks; there is mutation bifurcation and multi-beam rail line. There is growth limit in the complex formation process of MC logistics service capability. The "fundamental solution" of breakthrough growth limit is to identify the inhibiting factors to affect the capability to growth, and reduce or even eliminate constraints on the capability constraints, thereby weakening the regulation of MC logistics service capability regulation loop to facilitate their continued growth. The key foundation to set up MC logistics service capability is modular logistics service processes, flexible organizational structure, and information sharing and logistics alliance. Design the modular logistics service processes is the modular component, and developed the matrix of constraint factors to identify the improvement priority of MC process.The evaluation of MC logistics service capabilities should include two aspects. First, the evaluation is to assess interaction and adaptation between the each sub-capability from a synergistic point of view; Secondly, the evaluation is to assess the performance level of MC logistics service capabilities that formed by the sub-capability. Put forward the evaluation model of MC logistics service capabilities with principal component analysis method and Coupling function, and take the case study by Storage-based logistics service providers to assess their MC logistics service capabilities, and validation of the index system and evaluation model.