Innovation Performance for 3rd Party Logistics Providers

1
Innovation Performance for 3rd Party Logistics
Providers

• Yen-Chun Jim Wu
• Assistant Professor
• Dept. of Transportation, Warehousing, and
  Logistics
• National Kaohsiung First University of Science
  Technology, Taiwan
• 2009/11/10

2
Research Purpose

• To evaluate logistics providers technological
  innovation from the perspective of patenting
  achievement.

3
Performance Criteria

• Cost
• On-time/JIT delivery
• Service
• Responsiveness etc.
• None of the above deals with technological
  innovation.

4
Using Patents as Innovation Performance
Indicators

• Patent statistics are often used as the
  indicators of technological innovation at all
  levels (country, industry, firm).
• Patent Map analysis is frequently utilized by
  many industries such as hi-tech, bio-tech,
  software, pharmaceutical, IT.

5
Examples of Applications

• Rival analysis
• Technology tracking and forecasting
• Identifying important development
• International strategic analysis
• Infringement monitoring and current awareness.

6
Patent Requirements

• Usefulness
• Novelty
• Nonobviousness
• Adequate disclosure

7
Research Method

• Subject
• Top 3rd party logistics providers
• Sources
• Inbound Logistics (2002) top 100 provider list
• Other articles
• Resulting in 115 3rd party logistics firms.

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Research Method

• Database
• United States Patent Trademark Office (USPTO)
• Delphion database
• Date
• From 1982/1/1 to 2002/12/31
• Search
• By assignee name

9
Patent Map

• A collection of patent statistics, mainly
  composed of
• Patent counts analysis
• Country analysis
• Competitor analysis
• Inventor analysis
• Citation analysis
• International Patent Classification (IPC) analysis

10
Patent Counts/Assignees Technology Lifecycle chart
Growing until 2000 but declining since 2001
11
Patent Counts/Inventors Technology Lifecycle chart
Growing until 2000 but declining since 2001
12
Application date Issue date by year
For filing, growing until 1997 but declining
since 1998
13
Patents by country
US is the leading innovator, followed by France.
14
Company RD Capability
Schneider is the leader in terms of RD
capability.
RD Capability(Patent counts1.2citation
counts1.4self-citations0.9)
15
Detailed RD Capability Indicators
Caterpillar has made particular effort to RD
activity.
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Citation Analysis
Schneiders patents are of high quality and
recognized by others.
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Detailed Citation Analysis
Schneiders patents are of high quality and
recognized by others.
18
Patent Ranking
Caterpillar is the top patent owner, followed by
Ryder.

• Patent Ranking (prior to 1993)

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Patent Ranking
Schneider is the top patent owner, followed by
UPS.

• Patent Ranking (After 1993)

20
Top 5 Competitors by year
Caterpillar remains stable while Schneider is
aggressive since 1996.
21
Inventor Analysis
22
Patent counts vs. Inventor by year
23
Top 10 most highly cited patents
Out of top 10 most highly cited patents, 8
belongs to Schneider and 2 were owned by UPS.
24
Top 10 most highly cited patents
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IPC Analysis(2-tier)
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Top 3 IPC Areas
A61, H01, and B65 are the top 3 IPC classes.
27
IPC Analysis by year
28
Top 5 Competitors by IPC
Each firm is interested in pursuing different
technology areas.
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Conclusion

• Making good use of patent statistics can depict a
  real picture of technological innovation of the
  logistics industry and then propose a practical,
  useful suggestions for researchers and
  practitioners.
• Unlocking the Hidden Value of Patents
• Rembrandts in the Attic, Kevin G. Rivette David
  Kline, Harvard Business School Press, 2000.

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Thank you for your attention!