The supply chain decision problems are becoming more complex with the globalization of businesses that spatially span across several international borders. One such strategic decision problem is the location selection problem, which determines an optimal location to build a new facility. This requires multicriteria evaluation of N alternate locations with respect to M location attributes. In this paper we develop a generic framework that can aid the decision maker in identifying and grouping the M attributes into an hierarchy for location selection in global supply chains. An hierarchical structuring is proposed with four fundamental criteria: product/process value chain, economic & political integration, resources & management, and connecting technologies. These are integral to many global business activities and the generic sub-criteria for the above are identified. This aids the decision maker to identify and group the M location attributes as a multilevel hierarchical tree. This structuring facilitates the use of analytic hierarchy process to synthesize the information about the M attributes along with the decision maker's preferences, to evaluate the locations. We illustrate the applicability of the framework using a stylized example of locating a Biotech R&D center in Asia.
Abstract-Global logistics flows have increased dramatically in recent years due to the globalization in the world economy. It is more complex than the domestic logistics, consisting of multiple services like multi-modal transportation, cross-docking, storage, and customs clearance. Two issues are in order with multitude of services spanning across international borders: First, a single logistics provider may not be able to provide all the services and second, performance non-conformance with any of the services will affect the entire flow. We address the above issues in this paper by proposing a procurement that allows combinatorial bidding with quality of service measures as business constraints.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.