A group decision making support system in logistics and supply chain management

Logistic provider selection is Multi-Criteria Decision-Making problem.Selection of the best alternative depends on opinion of the group stakeholders.Criteria values are determined in linguistic terms and real use of DSS presented.Basis of the developed DSS is the second most popular MCDM method TOPSIS-F.The investigation carried out under a European Commission project. PurposeThe paper proposes a decision support system for selecting logistics providers based on the quality function deployment (QFD) and the technique for order preference by the similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) for agricultural supply chain in France. The research provides a platform for group decision making to facilitate decision process and check the consistency of the outcomes. MethodologyThe proposed model looks at the decision problem from two points of view considering both technical and customer perspectives. The main customer criteria are confidence in a safe and durable product, emission of pollutants and hazardous materials, social responsibility, etc. The main technical factors are financial stability, quality, delivery condition, services, etc. based on the literature review. The second stage in the adopted methodology is the combination of quality function deployment and the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution to effectively analyze the decision problem. In final section we structure a group decision system called GRoUp System (GRUS) which has been developed by Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse (IRIT) in the Toulouse University. ResultsThis paper designs a group decision making system to interface decision makers and customer values in order to aid agricultural partners and investors in the selection of third party logistic providers. Moreover, we have figured out a decision support system under fuzzy linguistic variables is able to assist agricultural parties in uncertain situations. This integrated and efficient decision support system enhances quality and reliability of the decision making. Novelty/OriginalityThe novelty of this paper is reflected by several items. The integration of group multi-criteria decision tools enables decision makers to obtain a comprehensive understanding of customer needs and technical requirements of the logistic process. In addition, this investigation is carried out under a European commission project called Risk and Uncertain Conditions for Agriculture Production Systems (RUC-APS) which models risk reduction and elimination from the agricultural supply chain. Ultimately, we have implemented the decision support tool to select the best logistic provider among France logistics and transportation companies.