Evaluating key factors influencing the development of multi-country consolidation for ocean freight forwarders in Taiwan

Abstract

The development of multi-country consolidation services has become a major feasible direction for major ocean freight forwarding firms in Taiwan. However, ocean freight forwarding firms must ponder which factors are most important when considering with the development of multi-country consolidation services. Therefore, the main purpose of this article was to apply the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process method to evaluate the key factors influencing the development of multi-country consolidation services for ocean freight forwarding firms in Taiwan. Based on the literature and experts’ opinions, a hierarchical structure with 4 assessment aspects and 16 assessment factors was first constructed, and the steps of fuzzy analytic hierarchy process method then proposed. Finally, based on the analytic hierarchy process experts’ questionnaires, we used the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process method to evaluate the key factors. The results showed that (1) “cost” is the most important aspect influencing the development of multi-country consolidation services for ocean freight forwarding firms in Taiwan; (2) in order of relative importance, the top eight key factors influencing the development of multi-country consolidation services for ocean freight forwarding firms in Taiwan are “cargo accuracy and tracking management,”“consolidation cost,”“deregulation of operations,”“transport cost,”“integrated logistics information management,”“high frequency of ship sailings,”“logistics-related operating costs,” and “convenience of customs clearance,” respectively. Furthermore, some discussions and recommendations concerning practical implications are provided for ocean freight forwarding firms operating in the multi-country consolidation market.