PRIORITIZING MARITIME BOOKING CONFIRMATION USING MULTICRITERIA

Abstract

The aims of this article is to present the group decision-making process carried out with executives from a shipping agency operating in the south of Brazil, in which the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique was used as support. The decision involved the prioritization of booking confirmations for the shipment of cargos for export at a particular moment in time, in a situation of scarcity - a lack of empty containers or space on the available vessels. The study context was the harbor of Rio Grande, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The choice of the organization and the harbor was done by convenience. It was used the methodology of problem solution of the operating research (problem formulation, model design, model solution, model testing and solution evaluation, and final evaluation) to generate a mathematical model for supporting decision makers on prioritizing booking confirmations for shipment of cargos. Secondary data were collected from the studied company. It was done meetings for generating the model with the commercial team of the company, composed by four employees and one manager. The method proved appropriate for broadening the mind of the decision makers as it facilitated the incorporation within the decision making process of other factors rather than the purely financial view, by taking into consideration managerial and organizational factors. The validation of the process by the group of executives included an assessment of the quality of the decision taken. The executives involved were unanimous in stating their satisfaction with the results obtained with the use of the technique.