Cold Chain Logistics Management of Medicine with an Integrated Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Method

Zhi Wen, Huchang Liao, Ruxue Ren, Chunguang Bai, Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas, Jurgita Antucheviciene and Abdullah Al-Barakati
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Zhi Wen: Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
Huchang Liao: Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
Ruxue Ren: Business School, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064, China
Chunguang Bai: School of Management and Economics, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China
Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas: Institute of Sustainable Construction, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
Jurgita Antucheviciene: Department of Construction Management and Real Estate, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
Abdullah Al-Barakati: Faculty of Computing and Information Technology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-21

Abstract: Medicine is the main means to reduce cancer mortality. However, some medicines face various risks during transportation and storage due to the particularity of medicines, which must be kept at a low temperature to ensure their quality. In this regard, it is of great significance to evaluate and select drug cold chain logistics suppliers from different perspectives to ensure the quality of medicines and reduce the risks of transportation and storage. To solve such a multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem, this paper proposes an integrated model based on the combination of the SWARA (stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis) and CoCoSo (combined compromise solution) methods under the probabilistic linguistic environment. An adjustment coefficient is introduced to the SWARA method to derive criteria weights, and an improved CoCoSo method is proposed to determine the ranking of alternatives. The two methods are extended to the probabilistic linguistic environment to enhance the applicability of the two methods. A case study on the selection of drug cold chain logistics suppliers is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed integrated MCDM model. The advantages of the proposed methods are highlighted through comparative analyses.

Keywords: clinical decision-support systems; multiple criteria decision-making; probabilistic linguistic term set; stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA); combined compromise solution (CoCoSo); drug cold chain logistics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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