Sources of competitive advantage for enterprises in the TFL industry – case study

Purpose: The aim of the research was to assess and analyse the factors that are the sources of competitive advantage of the company in the TFL industry, which stands for Transport, Forwarding, Logistics. Design/methodology/approach: The article analyses the company's own documents. Opinions in the analysed company were collected using a survey questionnaire. A number of analyses were carried out to create data compositions and decompositions. The subject of the analysis was a local logistics centre providing its distribution, storage and transport services both in the region and the whole country. It specializes in providing integrated logistics solutions and designing the best possible methods of distribution, storage and transport of the region's customers. Findings: According to the study, the analysed centre ensures professional and efficient implementation of logistics processes. It provides services in the field of comprehensive handling of the order execution process, starting from the administration of products to the preparation of transport and subsequent distribution. The conducted research, however, indicated several weak points of the company, which are: high costs related to the exchange of information or untimely execution of orders. According to the authors of the study, in order to gain an advantage on the market, the analysed logistics centre should implement solutions that will eliminate the above-mentioned risk factors and improve them enough to become a source of competitiveness for the company. Originality/value: The article presents the results of the composition of source and survey data concerning a company in the region of the TFL industry. The study attempts to indicate the determinants of the competitive advantage of a logistics company. Due to the analyses used, it is a very interesting overview of factors from the point of view of the functioning of a local logistics company. Keywords: TFL, transport, forwarding, logistics, logistic centre, transport in the supply chain. Category of the paper: Case study.