Research on selection of the third-party logistics service providers

At present, the supply chain is the last field, which can make enterprise reducing cost and improving flexibility. How to construct the supply chain successfully has received much attention and logistics outsourcing has become common among large manufacturers. The information age and globalization are forcing companies to place a premium upon collaboration as a new source of competitive advantage, so companies are facing significant challenges to evaluate and select appropriate third-party logistics (3PL) providers. This paper will choose a set of indicators, construct a framework for performance measures and introduce an evaluation method which proceeds as follow: (1) choosing principal components applying principal components analysis; (2) ranking the 3PL providers applying grey relational analysis.