Multi-criteria decision making methods for Third-Party Logistics evaluation

Much has been written in recent year about the outsourcing logistics. This phenomenon can be defined as an activity entrusted to a Third-Party Logistics provider (3PL) instead of being achieved internally. The studies on this field are mostly of empirical type and focused on reasons, benefits, and risks of working with 3PL as well as the role of those on supply chain management. This paper focuses on 3PL selection and evaluation problem and presents a literature analysis of multi-criteria decision making approaches for solving this problem. Related articles published during 1993-2010 period in reputable international journals are studied to identify the mainly approaches applied and their evaluating criteria in measuring the performance of 3PL.