MULTICRITERIA OPTIMISATION METHODS IN LOGISTICS ON THE EXAMPLE OF WAREHOUSE LOCATION

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to present the warehouse location as one of the key decision problems in logistics, a critical analysis of the centre of gravity method (commonly known and widely used) and to propose the more advanced methods to support the decision process in this area described in the contemporary publications on operational research, such as: AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process), Simos’ method and entropy method. Methodology: The above purpose was realised by analysing the literature both from the logistics area, especially from one of its areas of activity which is warehousing and from operational research on the use of methods to support the warehouse location decision-making processes was made. Findings: The article outlines the warehouse location as one of the key decision problems in the area of logistics. It presents centre of gravity approach described in the literature of logistics and shows its advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, because the warehouse location is multicriteria decision problem, the more advanced methods from the area of operational research were suggested, such as: AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process), Simos’ method and entropy method. Implications: The methods proposed in the article allow to take many criteria into consideration in the warehouse location process and also make it more objective.