Two of the UK’s biggest supermarket groups have announced plans to invest huge sums of money in to their logistics.

The Co-operative Group and Asda are each pumping millions in to their in-house logistics in an effort to significantly improve their UK networks.

Asda is hoping to increase capacity and efficiency and reduce annual mileage by one million miles by opening three new UK distribution depots this year, as well as creating 5000 jobs by opening 25 new stores, while the Co-op is investing £22 million in a new distribution depot in an effort to enhance transportation services to its UK stores.

Asda and The Co-op are not the only big names improving their in-house logistics. After five years of outsourcing, global power management company Eaton made the decision to bring logistics back in house which resulted in obtaining better deals from carriers and more concise negotiations in the procurement of services.

US supermarket giant Wal-Mart has also experienced success since moving logistics in-house. The retailer wanted to take ownership of transporting goods from vendor farms and factories to its outlets to improve on-time delivery rates.

Logistics is a sector in which there is always room for improvement; streamlining distribution services can substantially help in lowering the transportation costs within an organisation, but whether or not to outsource services will be the question on many procurement professional’s minds throughout 2012.