Speaking of Supply Chain · 2026-06-18 · 12 min
Key moments - from our scoring
Substance score
41 / 100
Five dimensions, 20 points each
Mibok's latest global outsourcing study, titled 'Outsourcing under Pressure,' exposes a fundamental paradox in logistics partnerships: while outsourcing volumes continue to grow globally, satisfaction rates remain surprisingly low. Author Baron Mueller-Dautbert discusses why the economics of outsourcing are shifting away from simple cost comparison toward questions of governance, trust, and digital capability. The study finds that only 50% of projects achieve overall economic and qualitative success, and merely 33% in Germany alone. Automation and digitalization investments require longer contract terms and deeper integration, creating what Mueller-Dautbert calls the 'lock-in effect' - where 85% of German companies now identify supplier dependence as their greatest risk, surpassing traditional concerns like cost and quality. Key dissatisfaction drivers include KPI transparency, pricing structure visibility, IT capabilities, and automation investments. Mueller-Dautbert emphasizes that much project success is determined before go-live through detailed documentation, realistic KPIs, and strong governance. Regional variations emerge, with Germany prioritizing cost control and insourcing, while Europe focuses on expertise and transparency. Successful future partnerships will be defined by transparent economics, realistic KPIs, strong governance, and deliberately managed partnership architecture rather than binary make-or-buy decisions.
Longer contract terms and deeper integration required for automation and digitalization enable service providers to exploit dependence through lock-in effects; 85% of German companies now identify this dependence as their major risk compared to traditional cost concerns.
Only 50% of outsourcing projects achieve overall economic and qualitative success globally, dropping to 33% for economic success alone in Germany.
They shift outsourcing decisions away from simple labor cost comparison toward considerations of capital requirements, system integration, data quality, IT testing, long-term operating models, implementability, transparency, and investment risk allocation.
A large share of success is determined during the tendering and contracting phases through detailed process documentation, implementation plans, IT testing, realistic KPIs, strong governance, and sufficient resources and site visits.
Hybrid models allow companies to gain outsourcing benefits without over-dependence by selectively insourcing critical capacities where control, differentiation, knowledge retention, or flexibility matter while outsourcing scalable operational activities.
Our reviewer’s read on each dimension, with quotes from the episode.
The episode surfaces a handful of genuinely useful data points (50% overall success rate, one-third economic success in Germany, 85% dependency-as-top-risk figure) in a short runtime, but large stretches are structural scene-setting or the host paraphrasing what the guest just said, diluting the signal considerably.
overall economic and qualitative success is achieved in only about half of all projects, the economic success only one third in Germany
as labor cost advantage shrink, decisions shift towards implementability, transparency, control and who carries investment risk
The core arguments - outsourcing is risky, lock-in is real, hybrid models are emerging - are well-worn in supply chain circles; the regional maturity comparison (Germany vs. Latin America) is mildly differentiated but no genuinely counterintuitive or first-principles claims appear.
hybrid models are growing because companies want outsourcing benefits on one side without overdependence
Germany, for example, is very cost and control driven, with high outsourcing maturity and rising share of insourcing
The guest is an author of the underlying study and a working consultant with three decades of firm research history - relevant and credentialed - but is fundamentally a consultant promoting their own firm's report rather than an operator who has executed outsourcing decisions at scale.
For nearly three decades, MIBA Consultings Outsourcing Study have been an integral part of the discussion surrounding the development of supply chain value creation
In our projects, we increasingly observe a desire among clients for atomation and digitalization to be provided by their logistics service providers
Three concrete percentage figures from the study provide real anchors, but all data is self-sourced from Miboc's own survey with no external validation, no named companies, no dollar figures, and no individual case studies to illustrate the claims.
eighty five percent identified dependence on service providers as the major risk
overall economic and qualitative success is achieved in only about half of all projects, the economic success only one third in Germany
The host's questions are logically sequenced and cover the study's terrain, but there is no pushback, no probing of methodology, and repeated moments of simply restating the guest's answer approvingly, resulting in a promotional rather than interrogative conversation.
Oh wow, those are some scary numbers
That is great to hear that it doesn't have to be an all or nothing proposition for companies
Computed from the transcript - who did the talking, and the words that came up most.
For years, outsourcing came down to a cost decision. Run the numbers, pick a provider, move on. The easy math no longer holds: companies are outsourcing more than ever, and most of them still aren't happy with the result. In this episode, Ellen Wood sits down with Bernd Müller-Dauppert of Miebach, who co-authored the firm's new outsourcing study, Outsourcing Under Pressure. He makes the case that the real risk today isn't cost or quality. It's how dependent you become on a provider once the contract is signed. He also gets into why automation and data demands have changed the math, why only about half of these projects actually pay off, and what the companies that get it right do differently. In this episode: • Why dependence and the lock-in effect now rank as the single biggest outsourcing risk - well ahead of cost • How automation and data-quality demands quietly rewrite the economics of the outsource-or-not decision • Why most of a project’s success or failure is locked in before operations ever begin • When a hybrid model - insource what’s critical, outsource what scales - beats betting on either extreme
Transcribed and scored by The B2B Podcast Index.
1 - >
Speaker 1: Dependence has emerged as the greatest risk because of the 2 - > longer contract terms and the resulting deeper integration innerant in 3 - > a collaborative partnership, This can be exploited by the service provider. 4 - > The key term here is the lock in effect. In Germany, 5 - > eighty five percent identified dependence on service providers as the 6 - > major risk. 7 - >
Speaker 2: Welcome to Speaking of Supply Chain, where meeboch experts from 8 - > around the world unpack the real stories, strategies, insights and 9 - > innovations shaping the future of supply chain. I'm your host, 10 - > Ellen Wood. Outsourcing was once seen as a straightforward equation 11 - > reduce costs, improve efficiency, and focus on core competencies, but 12 - > that equation is getting a lot more complicated. According to 13 - > Mibok's latest global outsourcing study, logistics outsourcing is growing again 14 - > across regions, yet satisfaction remains surprisingly low. Companies are wrestling 15 - > with rising complexity, growing dependence on providers, automation investments, pricing pressure, 16 - > and a persistent lack of transparency. At the same time, 17 - > the rules of the game are changing. Outsourcing is no 18 - > longer just about labor or cost savings. It's becoming a 19 - > question of governance, trust, digital capability, and long term partnership design. 20 - > So what does the future of outsourcing actually look like? 21 - > And why are there so many organizations simultaneously outsourcing more 22 - > while also bringing critical capabilities back in house. Today we're 23 - > unpacking the findings behind the study Outsourcing under Pressure with 24 - > one of its authors to explain what these shifts mean 25 - > for supply chains, logistics providers, and business leaders across the world. 26 - > Welcome Baron Mieller Dautbert Man. 27 - >
Speaker 1: Thanks On for having me. 28 - >
Speaker 2: Great to have you here on the podcast. So let's 29 - > get into this study that just came out. The state 30 - > of outsourcing is growing again globally, but it indicates that 31 - > satisfaction is really still pretty low. What does that contradiction 32 - > reveal about the current state of these partnerships between logistics companies. 33 - >
Speaker 1: Yeah. For nearly three decades, MIBA Consultings Outsourcing Study have 34 - > been an integral part of the discussion surrounding the development 35 - > of supply chain value creation. At regular intervals, they provide 36 - > insights into market trends, decision making, logic, and success factors 37 - > in logistics outsourcing. The current survey from twenty thirty six 38 - > builds on the findings of previous studies and examines in 39 - > particular how automation, digitalization, and the increasing complexity of decision 40 - > making processes influences shipper's outsourcing behavior. In our projects, we 41 - > increasingly observe a desire among clients for atomation and digitalization 42 - > to be provided by their logistics service providers. This trends 43 - > or this trend, presents the challenge of approaching outsourcing in 44 - > a much more collaborative spirit than it was the case 45 - > in the past. Investment in automation require longer contract terms, 46 - > digitalization projects require a partnership based approach of data handling. 47 - > This apparent contradiction points to a market driven by bio 48 - > strategic imperative to avoid managing logistics in house, which is 49 - > precisely why outsourcing continues to grow. However, success depends on implementation, governments, 50 - > and the quality of partnership. Consequentially, overall economic and qualitative 51 - > success is achieved in only about half of all projects, 52 - > the economic success only one third in Germany. 53 - >
Speaker 2: Oh wow, those are some scary numbers. So why is 54 - > the dependency on service providers now viewed as a bigger 55 - > risk than traditional concerns like coster quality. 56 - >
Speaker 1: Yeah, indeed, dependence has emerged as the greatest risk because 57 - > of the longer contract terms and the resulting deeper integration 58 - > innerant in a collaborative partnership. So this can be exploited 59 - > by the service provider. The key term here is the 60 - > lock in effect. In Germany, eighty five percent identified dependence 61 - > on service providers as the major risk. 62 - >
Speaker 2: Wow, that's a lot. You had mentioned automation and data 63 - > digitalization earlier. How are those changing that the economics behind 64 - > that decision to outsource or not to outsource. 65 - >
Speaker 1: They make outsourcing less of a simple cost comparison, or 66 - > to make solutions require capital, system integration, ramp up planning, 67 - > high data quality, IT testing, and as I said, long 68 - > term operating models as labor cost advantage shrink, decisions shift 69 - > towards implementability, transparency, control and who carries investment risk. 70 - >
Speaker 2: True, So I guess that leads into that transparency and 71 - > the trust that needs to be there between those two 72 - > partners and that the visibility of those KPIs become such 73 - > major pressure points between shippers and those logistics providers. 74 - >
Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. Our customers increasingly ask us what I'm paying for. 75 - > The study identifies KPIs and transparency, pricing, IT, digitalization, quality, 76 - > and automation as the top dissatisfaction drivers. Rising provider cost 77 - > can be legedi made, but without CLEO cost structure and 78 - > KPI with ability, price increase feel arbitrary and damage trust. 79 - >
Speaker 2: Absolutely, you know, it just feels like prices are going 80 - > up rather than they're getting value for the increased in cost. 81 - >
Speaker 1: Exactly. 82 - >
Speaker 2: So, when it comes to the outsourcing process of finding 83 - > a provider getting the contract signed, how much of that 84 - > success or failure is determined before the operations even start 85 - > during that tendering phase, During that searching phase, and I 86 - > guess even the contracting phase getting to those agreements. 87 - >
Speaker 1: Exactly, a large share of success is determined before go life. 88 - > Poor information later changes, tight schedule, unrealistic KPIs and weak 89 - > governments create problems that operates operations intererant. The study stresses 90 - > detailed documents, process description, implementation plan, and it testing enough 91 - > resources and site visits as critical success factors. Moreover, if 92 - > a project gets off to a poor start, it can 93 - > become trapped in a vicious circle from which is extremely 94 - > difficult to break free. 95 - >
Speaker 2: One thing I remember reading in another paper that was 96 - > put out by me back was the difference in the 97 - > way that they approach these perspectives or these areas of 98 - > the conversations and the contracting So are those regional are 99 - > the Is that a regional difference in how those priorities 100 - > are determined in the contracting phase. 101 - >
Speaker 1: Not always, but there are differences. Germany, for example, is 102 - > very cost and control driven, with high outsourcing maturity and 103 - > rising share of insourcing. Europe shows stronger construms runs around expertise, 104 - > loss and transparency, and in Latin they show a strong 105 - > growth and capacity expansion logic with shorter tender cycles and 106 - > higher reported economic success. Priorities are therefore diverging biomaturity and 107 - > market pressure. 108 - >
Speaker 2: It's interesting, So you mentioned insourcing and some of those 109 - > those hybrid models where it's not just all or nothing 110 - > with a third party logistics provider. Why are more companies 111 - > embracing those types of models and doing both insourcing and 112 - > outsourcing at the same time. 113 - >
Speaker 1: Yeah. Indeed, hybrid models are growing because companies want outsourcing 114 - > benefits on one side without overdependence, and they selectively insource 115 - > critical capacities world control, differentiation, knowledge retension, or flexibility matters. 116 - > Why while still outside scalable operational activities. 117 - >
Speaker 2: That is great to hear that it doesn't have to 118 - > be an all or nothing proposition for companies, they're looking 119 - > to get some assistance with that distribution of their materials 120 - > that they don't have to give everything away. They can 121 - > create a model that works specifically for their business, that 122 - > utilizes the benefits of those those service providers while still 123 - > maintaining the adherence to their brand, the product quality and 124 - > insourcing the more important things to the company, and just 125 - > letting distribution centers handle the distribution. So what will define 126 - > successful outsourcing partnerships in the next five years? 127 - >
Speaker 1: Say? Yeah, The consequence will be that successful partnerships over 128 - > the next five years will be defined by transparent economics, 129 - > realistic KPIs, strong governance, capability, wilvast implementation planning, and shared accountability. 130 - > The winning model is not make or buy, but deliberately 131 - > managed partnership architecture. Excellent. 132 - >
Speaker 2: So where can our listeners get a copy of this 133 - > outsourcing report? 134 - >
Speaker 1: It's available on the METBA website. 135 - >
Speaker 2: Well, thank you Burned so much for joining us today 136 - > and giving us some insight into what is happening within 137 - > the area of outsourcing for distribution. 138 - >
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you, it was a pleasure for me. 139 - >
Speaker 2: Outsourcing may still be growing, but this study makes one 140 - > thing clear. The future won't be defined by who can 141 - > offer the lowest cost. It'll be shaped by who can 142 - > run the most transparent, adaptive, and trusted partnership. Thank you 143 - > so much again to Burn for joining us and helping 144 - > us uncover the realities behind the data, and for challenging 145 - > how we think about the future if ofgistic collaboration. Thanks 146 - > for listening and see you next time on Speaking of 147 - > supply Chain. 148 - >
Speaker 3: You've been listening to Speaking of Supply Chain a meboch podcast. 149 - > Keep connected with us by subscribing to the show in 150 - > your favorite podcast player. If you like what you've heard, 151 - > please rate the show that helps us to keep delivering 152 - > the latest in supply chain information. Thanks for listening. Until 153 - > next time.
Automation Will Not Fix a Broken Process79 / 100
Why Pharma Cannot React Its Way Out of the Next Crisis80 / 100
Why Your Planning System Can't Help You Change76 / 100
Why Your Planning System Is Not the Problem80 / 100
Why Modex Matters More This Year67 / 100