Title: Logistics service provider performance evaluation based on different perceptions in the reverse supply chain

Authors: Tarsila Rani Soares de Vasconcelos; Marcele Elisa Fontana

Addresses: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Agreste Academic Center, Caruaru (PE), Brazil ' Technology Department, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE), Agreste Academic Center (CAA), Caruaru (PE), Brazil

Abstract: This work developed a new methodology to measure the performance of reverse logistics service providers (RLSPs), considering different points of view in the reverse supply chain. This proposal is an adaptation of SERVQUAL in the outsourced reverse logistics context, adding fuzzy logic, through the fuzzy reverse logistics index (FRLI) and fuzzy performance-importance index (FPII), which was named here as fuzzy SERVQUAL-RL. This approach considers more than one agent in the reverse supply chain to assess the outsourced company. A case study was conducted to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methodology. This methodology is able to identify critical attributes, i.e., those that need urgent improvement in order to increase customer satisfaction. Thus, the necessary investments are justified, consolidating and strengthening partnerships and, consequently, generating long-term synergy gains in the supply chain.

Keywords: third party logistics provider; service performance; perception; fuzzy SERVQUAL-RL.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2023.130968

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 2023 Vol.45 No.1, pp.67 - 87

Received: 30 May 2020
Accepted: 14 Feb 2021
Published online: 17 May 2023 *

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