Abstract:
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. In order to retain the effectiveness and efficiency
of a Supply Chain (SC), each segment or the link of the SC require to perform their portion,
effectively and efficiently. Modern organisations are in a process of creating innovative
concepts and practices in order to obtain the competitive edge among the competitors.
Warehouse Management (WM) is one such concept that has been introduced to improve the
performance of SC. It plays a major role as the most commonly procured business function
over the years, whereas world class companies has identified it as an enabler for improving
logistics. However irrespective of the worldwide revolutionary achievements gained by SC
and WM, procurement of WM within the Sri Lankan context is still lagging behind. Therefore
this research is mainly intended to develop framework which enable evaluating procurement
options of WM within the Sri Lankan context.
To achieve the aforementioned aim literature survey and questionnaires survey were used
as main data collection tools while Relative Importance Index (RII) method and Analytic
Hierarchy Process (AHP) multi-criterion decision making tool were used to analyse data.
The scope of the framework extends to both micro and macro environments of the related
industry. Thus it comprises the criteria of economic, geographical, technological, quality
related, service level, legal and social environment. The findings revealed that there are
mainly three procurement methods presence in Sri Lankan WM industry namely in house
option, outsource option and semi outsource option out of which outsourcing been the widely
accepted method. Economic and geographical criteria became the mainly considered
criteria when selecting a WM. the developed framework can be used as a guideline for
decision making when procuring WM services for an orgnisation within the Sri Lankan
context.
