A Leading third party logistics services company has called for there to be an industry-wide ombudsman facility. This facility would then be used to monitor both the working practices and the pricing structures of the companies that work to offer IT services to the supply chain sector.

Mark Elward, the Managing Director of DK Fulfillment, a company based in the West Midlands, has said that there seems to be a culture with some of the IT suppliers that lead to the focus on extracting as much revenue from their clients as they can. Mark feels that the price charged by suppliers to undertake what appears to be the most straightforward task is completely unreasonable and his colleagues in the industry feel the same way.

It is thought that forming an impartial Ombudsman body that will work towards providing regulation in the sector and also help to resolve disputes could be a positive step towards resolving this problem. It is thought that part of the problem in these situations is that some IT systems suppliers can attempt to overcomplicate the nature of the technology they are working with in order to confuse their clients, creating a false mystique about the work that is needed in order to justify the higher fees.

When explaining his point of view, Mark suggested that the experience is like taking your car to a garages. If the client has no understanding of what is wrong and what needs to be done to put it right, they are at the mercy of the garage to be honest and explain the process and quote a reasonable price for the work. It is the experience of a number logistics companies that every time there is some minor modification required, they are told that the work will take at least three days and there will be a daily rate charged by the IT supplier.

In order to create a solution, Mark has said that he would like all IT suppliers to embrace more of a true partnership approach when responding to their clients. This change of attitude will help both parties.