An multi criteria decision making application for port selection in automotive industry

Nowadays economic conditions ans economic life are changing and developing very rapidly. Automotive industry which is the main item of the foreign trade in Turkey, take into consideration the great importance of the desicion making techniques in order to advance the competitiveness level both in the local and global area. Automotive finished product logistic systems are the most important element in the feasibility reports, which are put forward for the most effective use of sources in competitive environment. Moreover, the proper desicions of the transportation of the finished vehicles from the production line to the ports are vital for companies. This study was performed in Marmara Region which is the pioneer in automotive industry in Turkey. Port selection criterias of 5 automotive manufacturer brand in region were questioned. Three ports, where the logistic operations occur intensively, was choosen as sample and it was investigated why the automotive manufacturers are prefered these port and what is the main criterias and main factors to choose them. Main purpose of the study is to find out the main intention and main factor to determine the port selection and evaluate them in automotive industry in automotive logistics. Each port terminal was evaluated and scored under five criteria determined by ten logistics systems purchasing engineers. There are ten survey questions in order to evaluate the importance of the five different criteria and the relevants of the port terminals. As a result, the criterias were weighted regarding to SWARA criterion weighting techniques. According to these results, the ELECTRE methods was performed as a decision making technique. In order to define the optimal decision results of ELECTRE has been interpreted and the port terminal selection problem has been solved.