Assessment of distribution center locations using a multi-expert subjective–objective decision-making approach

Abstract

Distribution is a strategic function of logistics in different companies. Establishing distribution centers (DCs) in appropriate locations helps companies to reach long-term goals and have better relations with their customers. Assessment of possible locations for opening new DCs can be considered as an MCDM (Multi-Criteria Decision-Making) problem. In this study, a decision-making approach is proposed to assess DC locations. The proposed approach is based on Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis II (SWARA II), Method based on the Removal Effects of Criteria (MEREC), Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS), simulation, and the assignment model. The assessment process is performed using the subjective and objective criteria weights determined based on multiple experts’ judgments. The decision matrix, subjective weights and objective weights are modeled based on the triangular probability distribution to assess the possible alternatives. Then, using simulation and the assignment model, the final aggregated results are determined. A case of DC locations assessment is addressed to show the applicability of the proposed approach. A comparative analysis is also made to verify the results. The analyses of this study show that the proposed approach is efficient in dealing with the assessment of DC locations, and the final results are congruent with those of existing MCDM methods.

Analysis of Efficiency and Productivity of Commercial Banks in Turkey Pre- and during COVID-19 with an Integrated MCDM Approach

“…This method differs from other methods in that it uses the removal effects of each criterion on the overall performance of the alternatives while calculating criteria weights. Since MEREC is a fairly new method, there are few studies using this method in the literature [50,77]. Therefore, the MEREC method was utilized to obtain the objective weights of bank efficiency and productivity criteria pre-and during COVID-19 in this study.…”

“…Another contribution of this study is to apply a novel integrated MCDM approach including SWARA II as a subjective weighting method, MEREC as an objective weighting method, and MARCOS as a ranking method to evaluate the efficiency and productivity of the commercial banks operating in Turkey. The SWARA II method was very recently developed by Keshavarz Ghorabaee [50] to obtain objective weights of criteria. The MEREC method proposed by Keshavarz-Ghorabaee et al [51] is also a new objective criteria weighting method.…”

Appliance to Predict the Quality of Hypothetically Modified Products

“…The appliance was developed by combined techniques, that is, survey research with the Likert scale [8], the AHP method (analytic hierarchy process) [10], Pareto rule (20/80) [26], the WSM method (Weighted Sum Model) [27][28][29], and Naïve Classifier Bayes [15][16][17][18]. The procedure of predicting product quality includes obtaining customers' expectations by using survey research.…”

“…In turn, the Pareto rule (20/80) was used with the possibility of grouping product attributes into important, or less important where the purpose was to determine important attributes (i.e., 20%) from which it is necessary to start improvement actions [26]. The next method, that is, the WSM method (Weighted Sum Model), was used in turn for its simplicity and the need to estimate the quality level of the product based on customer assessment and weights (importance) of the attributes of the product [27][28][29]. However, the Naive Bayes Classifier was used because it is not a complicated method, is effective in analyzing qualitative and quantitative data, and also applied to predict [16,18].…”

“… B2B -business-to-business [21],  B2C -business to customer [22],  Brainstorming (BM) [5],  CI -comparison matrix (CI) [10],  CR -concordance ratio [6],  medium-sized companies (SMEs) [23],  QFD -Quality Function Deployment [11,12],  S = (S ij ) -square matrix (dominance) [6],  SMARTER (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-Based, Exciting, Recorded) [30],  W i w -weights of criteria [10,6],  WSM -Weighted Sum Model [27,28].…”