A Hybrid MCDM Approach in Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Provider Selection

Abstract

Third-party logistics (3PL) is becoming more and more popular because of globalization, e-commerce development, and increasing customer demand. More and more companies are trying to move away from their own account transportation to third-party accounts. One reason for using 3PLs is that the company can focus more on its core activities, while the 3PL service provider can provide distribution activities in a more professional way, save costs and time, and increase the level of customer satisfaction. An emerging issue for companies in the logistics industry is how they can decide on the 3PL evaluation and selection process for outsourcing activities. For the first time, the entropy and the criteria importance through intercriteria correlation (CRITIC) methods were coupled in order to obtain hybrid criteria weights that are of huge importance to decide on the 3PL provider evaluation and selection process. The obtained criteria weights were further utilized within the additive ratio assessment (ARAS) method to rank the alternatives from the best to the worst. The introduced hybrid–ARAS approach can be highly beneficial, since combining two methods gives more robust solutions on one hand, while on the other hand eliminating subjectivity. Comparative and sensitivity analyses showed the high reliability of the proposed hybrid–ARAS method. A hypothetical case study is presented to illustrate the potentials and applicability of the hybrid–ARAS method. The results showed that 3PL-2 was the best possible solution for our case.

Route Planning of Supermarket Delivery through Third-Party Logistics Considering Carbon Emission Cost

“…Equation ( 4) indicates that the timestamp when the vehicle leaves the supermarket i equals the time when the supermarket is served after the vehicle arrives. Equation (5) indicates that the time when the vehicle arrives at supermarket j is the time when the vehicle leaves supermarket i, as well as the driving times from i and j.…”

“…Third-party logistics companies adopt different processing strategies (i.e., splitting or merging orders) to complete delivery services. Thus, the third-party logistics delivery mode has rapidly developed in recent years [4,5]. However, the logistics companies not only need to consider reducing distribution costs, but also the impact of carbon emissions, in line with the global trend of reducing carbon emissions.…”

Application of Pfahp-Gtopsis Methods for Third-Party Logistics Provider Selection

“…Analysis of the financial situation of the 3PL company planned to be a business partnership (Keshavarz Ghorabaee et al, 2017); (Gürcan et al, 2016); (Jovčić & Průša, 2021); (Percin, 2009); (Ejem et al, 2021); (Sharma & Kumar, 2015); (Pishdar et Whether the 3PL company has the infrastructure adequacy to carry out logistics activities (Jovčić & Průša, 2021); (Percin, 2009); (Pamucar et al, 2019); (Singh et al, 2022); (Gürcan et al, 2016) Following the criterion and alternative selection, the decision-makers were presented with a series of questions designed to establish the relative weights of the criteria and assess the 3PLP companies' performance. Decision makers utilized linguistic variables to evaluate criteria and alternatives due to face-to-face surveys.…”

“…According to (So et al, 2006) responsiveness was the most crucial element in 3PL consumers' perceptions; however, Mohammadkhani and Mousavi (2023) concluded from their investigation that the most crucial factors in 3PLP choosing are economic ones. Jovčić and Průša (2021) analysed the price criteria as the most important factor in the selection of 3PLP. According to Wiangkam et al (2022) the most crucial factor in choosing a 3PLP is on-time delivery.…”

Comparison of MCDM methods effectiveness in the selection of plastic injection molding machines

“…The second weighting method that has been used is the CRITIC (CRiteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation) method. This is the weighting method for criteria that consider the correlation between criteria [29], [30], [31], [32], [33].…”