DEMATEL AAS VIKOR and methods with food distribution center site selection: Example of Georgia

Distribution, even in primitive conditions, is a phenomenon that exists in human life and must be for the sustainability of life. Since the systematic organization of distribution has entered the human life, a considerable improvement has been achieved in the standard of living of mankind. So it can be said that logistics and distribution have an indispensable prescription in human life. The effective implementation of logistics and distribution requires many influences. It is important for the distribution to be able to proceed in a healthy way with a proper logistics system. For this it is of great importance that the appropriate distribution center is in the proper position. Accordingly, good selection of distribution center location is the most fundamental element of healthy distribution. In Georgia, which is the subject of the study, there is a need for a distribution center in and around the city of Tbilisi, which has the largest population of the country and the busiest trade network. Thus, the establishment of a distribution center on food for Tbilisi and its surroundings will enable the systematic and complex distribution of the city to be realized in a systematic manner, as well as allowing time and fuel savings to be realized without involving the vehicles from outside the city. Therefore, for this and many other reasons, Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, has been preferred to decide the location of distribution centers in this work. When choosing the location of the food distribution center, the general economic and needs level of the country is taken into consideration. In the import and export trade, especially in Tbilisi and its environs, under the primitive conditions, I would say unsystematic distribution instead of systemless distribution has increased the importance of the Food Distribution Center for this. The aim of studying this direction is to determine the location of the most suitable food distribution center for Georgia Tbilisi Region. For this purpose, the solution of the problem was realized in 3 stages. Firstly, the relations between the criteria that are considered to be effective in selecting food distribution center location were determined by DEMATEL method and then the importance level of the criteria was determined by Analytical Network Process (AAS) Technique. At the last stage, food distribution center alternatives are evaluated by VIKOR method. According to the study results, it is determined that the main and sub criteria with the highest importance level are Cost and Transportation Cost, and the most appropriate food distribution center is Gori Region. The Gori region is designated as an appropriate Food Distribution Center.