Characteristics of resources as a determinant of implementation of the physical internet concept in supply chains

Abstract

Contemporary companies strive for increasing efficiency of logistics processes. Efficient logistics processes allow for implementation of corporate goals with reduced use of resources. Considering the evolution of the concept of resources, authors in the article focused on the concept of Physical Internet (PI). For the study purposes, authors of the paper have limited the Physical Internet idea to sharing resources in supply chain. In the article, results of two survey studies are presented. The first was conducted among academic teachers specializing in management and logistics area. The second study was conducted among managers of production and logistic companies in Poland’s territory. The first survey study aim was to identify importance of sharing resources as a way to increase efficiency of supply chains and to identify key determinants of developing PI concept at resources level. The main aim of the second study was to get the managers’ opinion on whether it is possible to share resources in supply chains. Potential difficulties in sharing resources with respect to their division into material and non-material ones and possible supply chain functioning areas were identified.