A conceptual model proposal to decision making about centralization or decentralization of storehouses

Abstract

The present study has as its main objective a conceptual model proposal to locate one or multiple DC’s (Distribution Centers), considering the aspects of influence on logistics performance (operational and financial ones), aiming to aid the decision maker about the best distribution planning for the specific purposes of his marketplace. The subsidiary objective is an assessment of the implications which surround those decisions. This is an inductive and explanatory research which searches for relevant information to determine the location of goods inventories, based on literature review, producing decision criteria to be used in multi-criteria analysis method known as AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process). Then a simulation of a practical usage of the conceptual model in a hypothetical footwear distribution in national level is given, through an unsystematic weight establishment for each criteria, as well as the respective calculation and assessment of the consistency level using the software PriEst, as an applicability test. For its intended purposes, this study is important to logically group the several criteria, willing to provide an application tool for companies’ strategic distribution planning, in face of similar problems to presented here. Finally it attempts to be a starting point for possible future case studies and adaptations.