(Strategic Management of Warehouse Activities in the Third Party Logistics Sector: Comparison of AHS/QFD methods in terms of Classical and Fuzzy Approaches)

Abstract

Purpose – Due to the widespread use of 3PL services, firms operating in the sector have increased significantly and a fierce competition has begun. At this point, it has become an important competitive factor for 3PL companies to satisfy the customer demands with reasonable prices. In this study, it is aimed to provide some suggestions to a 3PL company. Design/methodology/approach – Quality Function Deployment method, which is integrated with AHP, which provides a systematic point of view, has been proposed in order to improve their competitiveness by providing customer satisfaction. The method is applied in a 3PL company which serves its logistic services to a retail sector. In the study, fuzzy AHP and QFD methods were applied in the context of fuzzy logic of subjective judgments. Findings – The results obtained from both applications were compared and no significant difference was found in the alignment of the technical requirements. 3PL company was determined to establish the project team, increase the number of qualified employees and give importance to regular personnel training in order to ensure customer satisfaction. Discussion – An overall evaluation was made in consideration of different methods and suggestions were made for the 3PL company in order to increase their service quality.