Carrier selection: The Analytic Hierarchy Process

Carrier selection has assumed increased importance principally due to increased introduction of Just-in-Time (JIT) inventory principles and relaxation of economic regulations in the transportation industry. One problem with a judicious selection of a carrier from a large pool is that all the criteria variables cannot be easily quantified. Thus ranking models do not work well. This study demonstrates the use of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in carrier selection. In the AHP, one obtains relative priorities of alternative choices. The process is shown with a carrier selection example.