An assessment of service quality for international distribution centers in Taiwan – a QFD approach with fuzzy AHP

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to examine the service quality of international distribution centers (IDCs). In this article, a quality function deployment with fuzzy analytic hierarchy process model was proposed to translate the service requirement attributes (SRAs) of the IDC users into the service operations attributes (SOAs) of IDC operators. Further, the IDCs in Taiwan were empirically investigated to validate the proposed model. The results create 18 SRAs and 17 SOAs for IDCs, in which the top five SRAs the IDC users perceive as important are: handlings of damaged cargos, correctness of shipping orders, punctuality, storage spaces, and frequency and routes of transportation. Further, with respect to those SRAs, the top five SOAs in terms of priority for IDC operators are: consolidation & deconsolidation, cargo stowage & discharge, delivery scheduling, logistic processing, and business inquiry. Finally, the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

[1]  Chin-Shan Lu.  An Evaluation of Logistics Services' Requirements of International Distribution Centers in Taiwan , 2004 .

[2]  Angelos Pantouvakis,et al.  Testing the SERVQUAL scale in the passenger port industry: a confirmatory study , 2008 .

[3]  José M. Peiró,et al.  Employees' overestimation of functional and relational service quality: A gap analysis , 2005 .

[4]  Chin-Shan Lu,et al.  MARKET SEGMENT EVALUATION AND INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION CENTERS , 2003 .

[5]  K. Lai.  Service capability and performance of logistics service providers , 2004 .

[6]  Hong-Fwu Yu,et al.  Evaluating the service requirements of dedicated container terminals: a revised IPA model with fuzzy AHP , 2015 .

[7]  J. Mentzer,et al.  LOGISTICS SERVICE DRIVEN LOYALTY: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY , 2006 .

[8]  M. Bohanec,et al.  The Analytic Hierarchy Process , 2004 .

[9]  Mary R. Brooks,et al.  Improving port effectiveness through determinance/performance gap analysis , 2014 .

[10]  Yung-Hsiang Cheng,et al.  Factors influencing shippers to use multiple country consolidation services in international distribution centers , 2009 .

[11]  J. Buckley,et al.  Fuzzy hierarchical analysis , 1999, FUZZ-IEEE'99. 1999 IEEE International Fuzzy Systems. Conference Proceedings (Cat. No.99CH36315).

[12]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. , 1988 .

[13]  San Myint.  A framework of an intelligent quality function deployment (IQFD) for discrete assembly environment , 2003, Comput. Ind. Eng..

[14]  M. Bevilacquaa,et al.  A fuzzy-QFD approach to supplier selection , 2015 .

[15]  Ronald R. Yager,et al.  A procedure for ordering fuzzy subsets of the unit interval , 1981, Inf. Sci..

[16]  Richard Y. K. Fung,et al.  A new approach to quality function deployment planning with financial consideration , 2002, Comput. Oper. Res..

[17]  F. Buttle.  SERVQUAL: review, critique, research agenda , 1996 .

[18]  Vinh V. Thai,et al.  Logistics service quality: conceptual model and empirical evidence , 2013 .

[19]  Wen-Kai Kevin Hsu,et al.  Assessing the Safety Factors of Ship Berthing Operations , 2015 .

[20]  Susan Carlson Skalak.  House of Quality , 2002 .

[21]  Gin-Shuh Liang,et al.  Applying fuzzy quality function deployment to identify service management requirements for an ocean freight forwarder , 2006 .

[22]  S. Durvasula,et al.  Testing the SERVQUAL scale in the business‐to‐business sector: The case of ocean freight shipping service , 1999 .

[23]  Eleonora Bottani,et al.  Strategic management of logistics service: A fuzzy QFD approach , 2006 .

[24]  Paulo Augusto Cauchick Miguel,et al.  Review, analysis and classification of the literature on QFD—Types of research, difficulties and benefits , 2008 .

[25]  Wen Kai K. Hsu,et al.  Evaluating the service requirements of Taiwanese international port distribution centres using IPA model based on fuzzy AHP , 2014 .

[26]  Dinesh Sharma,et al.  Modelling distributor performance index using system dynamics approach , 2004 .

[27]  I. C. Ogwude,et al.  Service quality and satisfaction measurements in Nigerian ports: an exploration , 2007 .

[28]  Wen-Kai Hsu,et al.  Improving the service operations of container terminals , 2013 .

[29]  H. Brian Hwarng,et al.  Translating customers’ voices into operations requirements ‐ A QFD application in higher education , 2001 .