Development and research of a model for optimizing the composition of a project-oriented forwarding company’ suppliers

Abstract

The object of this research is the composition of the suppliers of a project-oriented transport and forwarding company. The work is aimed at determining the composition of the suppliers of a project-oriented transport and forwarding company, the purpose of which is to obtain a synergistic effect, which manifests itself in reducing the costs of performing individual operations of the transport process while meeting local requirements for each project. This study proposes an optimization model that allows to determine the composition of suppliers of a project-oriented organization in order to obtain the maximum systemic effect – a synergistic effect. The proposed approach is based on the creation of a virtual project management office, the work of which is based on the corresponding information system. The proposed model is a flexible tool that allows to quickly form the composition of suppliers of a project-oriented company. The model is developed for the service sector and, in particular, for the transport industry, where suppliers are not responsible for material objects, resources, but for services, the set of which forms the essence of the project. Thus, the product of the project and its parameters in such a situation are directly formed due to the specifics of suppliers and the parameters of their services. For the transport industry, this approach has not been used before and can serve as a theoretical basis for building a project-oriented management system in the transport sector. The synergistic effect taken as a basis in this model provides the greatest difference between the «declared» delivery costs and the «actual» ones, which are formed taking into account the amount of work for all projects. Since the freight forwarding company is the «holder» of the portfolio of all deliveries/projects, a certain part of the synergy effect can be used to reduce delivery costs for customers in order to increase competitiveness and attractiveness. Experimental studies have substantiated the reliability of the results of the developed model and confirmed its practical applicability. This model is quite universal and can be supplemented with restrictions that take into account the specifics of a project-oriented organization, its projects and requirements for suppliers.