A new hybrid MCDM framework for third-party logistics provider selection under sustainability perspectives

According to research, the Supply Chain Management (SCM) accounts for most of a company's environmental effects. When goods are manufactured and transported worldwide, supply chains frequently include energyintensive manufacturing and transportation. As a result, sustainability is crucial throughout the supply chain. Putting economic operations in line with environmental preservation and social welfare standards has become important globally. In order to improve the overall performance of the supply chain, the industries are thus looking into their SCM structures in collaboration with a third-party logistics (3PL) service provider. Consequently, for a broader view of increased company value, choosing the correct 3PL supplier for a lasting partnership is of the utmost importance. The fundamental motive of this research is to pick the most suitable 3PL provider for a food manufacturing company (FMC) following a comprehensive review of six distinct viable logistic providers working in India for over a decade. Choosing the best 3PL provider is incredibly difficult and demanding due to the inherent uncertainty related to subjectivity and the qualitative review of the performances of service provider. In this article, we propose a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) model based on triangular fuzzy numbers (TFN) that combines the LOgarithmic Percentage Changedriven Objective Weighting (LOPCOW), Full Consistency Method (FUCOM), and DOmbi Bonferroni (DOBI) methods for evaluating criteria and ranking alternatives. The proposed method is tested and verified on a case study of an Indian FMC's optimal selection of 3PL providers. On the basis of the sensitivity analysis findings, it was established that the presented TFN-based LOPCOW-FUCOM-DOBI model delivers stable or consistent solutions. It is demonstrated in this work that the novel hybrid MCDM approach is an effective and trustworthy technique for rational decision-making.