Third-party logistics (3PLs) provider selection via fuzzy AHP and EDAS integrated model

Abstract

In the global competitive environment, companies not only improve the quality of service and increase the efficiency, they also decrease the cost by means of third-party logistics (3PLs). 3PLs, therefore, is an important strategy for companies desiring to gain a competitive advantage and 3PLs provider selection plays a critical role for the success of outsourcing. Nevertheless, the level of uncertainty in the selection process is relatively high and need to be carefully considered. Hence, in order to select a proper 3PLs provider, integration of the Fuzzy AHP and Evaluation based on Distance from Average Solution (EDAS) has offered a novel integrated model, in which Fuzzy AHP is used for calculating priority weights of each criteria and EDAS is employed to achieve the final ranking of 3PLs providers. Besides, in order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model, it is validated by a case study. Cost together with quality, and professionalism are found to be the most important factors for 3PLs provider selection. Consequently, the advantage of this model is that it is simple to apprehend and easy to apply. The use of the proposed model leads to the selection of suitable alternative successfully in other selection problems.