Geographic Information Systems In Strategic Decision Making In Logistics Companies

Abstract

The developments in information technologies and the production processes of globalizing companies made the logistic activities very important. However, because of the same changes and developments the information at the decision phase that needs to be analyzed and evaluated became huge. The more a strategy-oriented enterprise uses an information system to process these data and information, the more it is coming up to its goals. If it is assumed that approximately 80% percent of data in enterprises have geographical features, then one could possibly say that it is quite important for companies to have geography-based information systems as part of their strategic management activities. Because of the geographical feature of the data used for decisions in logistics activities which increasingly become important in the global economy, it is almost a requirement for logistic companies to have geographic information systems which can collect, save, interpret, and show graphical and non-graphical data/information acquired by location-based observations. Geographic information systems can make important contributions to logistic companies in the following areas: Routing, Optimization and Scheduling, Asset Tracking, Dispatching/Mobile, Territory Optimization and Planning, Site Selection and Optimization, Supply Chain Management, and Selecting the Supplier.