Abstract
With the globalization of online shopping, deterioration of the ecological environment and the increasing pressure of urban transportation, a novel logistics service mode—joint distribution (JD)—was developed. Selecting the optimal partner combination is important to ensure the joint distribution alliance (JDA) is sustainable and stable, taking into consideration conflicting criteria. In this paper, we present an integrated fuzzy entropy weight, fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (fuzzy EW-AHP) and fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) approach to select the optimal partner combination of JDA. A three-phase approach is proposed. In the first phase, we identify partner combination evaluation criteria using an economy-society-environment-flexibility (ESEF) framework from a perspective that considers sustainability. In the second phase, the criteria weights and criteria combination performance of different partner combinations were calculated by using an integrated fuzzy EW-AHP approach considering the objective and subjective factors of experts. In the third phase, the JDA partner combinations are ranked by employing fuzzy TOPSIS approach. The sensitivity analysis is considered for the optimal partner combination. Taking JDA in Chongqing for example, the results indicate the alternative partner combination 3 (PC3) is always ranked first no matter how the criteria weights change. It is effective and robust to apply the integrated fuzzy EW-AHP and TOPSIS approach to the partner selection of JDA.
Highlights
With the rapid development of China’s economy and the internet’s rapid popularization, online shopping has become one of the most important online behaviors
In 2013, to cope with the online shopping logistics problem, the National Urban Distribution Development Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Commerce of China promoted urban synergetic distribution to deal with the challenges posed by online shopping [7]
We address the problem of joint distribution (JD) among online shopping logistics enterprises to build a high-performance joint distribution alliance (JDA)
Summary
With the rapid development of China’s economy and the internet’s rapid popularization, online shopping has become one of the most important online behaviors. General logistics service providers strongly believe in the potential benefits of cooperation to increase their profitability or to improve the quality of their services [19] This makes it imperative to assess alternatives to build a joint distribution alliance (JDA) among logistics enterprises and identify right technology for partner selection that can assist them to achieve operational efficiency for online shopping logistics distribution. Niu et al [39] evaluate the candidate partners by investigating five attributes including cost, time, quality, reputation and risk in virtual enterprises and develop an enhanced ant colony optimizer (ACO) to address the partner selection problem. Erkayman et al [42] evaluate the third-party logistics (3PL) provider by using the integrated fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS methods which considered price, general reputation, customer services, on-time delivery, information technologies and flexibility as evaluation criteria.
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