Use of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) for selection of 3PL providers

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present a decision model for selecting a third party logistics (3PL) provider, because international business can be a complex undertaking. It is a multi-criteria problem, with alternative ways to weigh the importance of the chosen criteria. Design/methodology/approach - The paper used analytic hierarchy process and hierarchical decision model approaches. Findings - Given the criteria, weights and attribute scores, it was found that two 3PLs ranked very closely in the top position. It was also found that a simple ranking of the criteria can produce very similar aggregate weights, provided the number of experts is high enough. The paper contains an extensive literature review on the usage of AHP and related methods in a logistics context. Originality/value - This study applies AHP in a 3PL provider for international business, for the first time in the literature.