A Solution Approach for Agricultural Service Center Location Problem Using TOPSIS, DEA and SAW Techniques - Technology Management for Sustainable Production and Logistics - page 24

(maxi-min and maxi-max) for each candidate location is computed and non-
dominated solutions are identified. To prove the capability of the selected attributes
one case study is addressed. The results reveal that the chosen attributes to a very
large degree can lead to the non-dominated solutions.
Keywords Supply chain · Agriculture · Service · Location · Decision making
1 Introduction
Agriculture is the only main sector which uses the land surface as an essential
input into its production function. This wide geographical dispersion of agri-
cultural commodities has an important economic consequence; transportation
becomes essential to leave the outputs from the farm for consumption by others or
if inputs are to be used on the farm to increase output (Timmer et al. 1983 ).
In supply chain design, locating and sizing facilities to serve customers is a
critical part which presents a number of challenges. Customers are sensitive to
the total cost of interacting with a firm's service, including time and access cost,
in addition to price (Pangburn and Stavrulaki 2005 ). Lucas and Chhajed ( 2004 )
use a number of distinguishing features to identify location problems in agricul-
ture. They believe that many agricultural location studies took place in developing
countries, and most of these studies were initiated upon request of a government
agency, because in developing areas, agriculture is a key sector: it provides food,
stimulates foreign exchange earnings, and generates a large share of a country's
total employment. The location problems in agriculture exhibit several features,
such as their large scope and size, variation in time of different operations in agri-
culture in different areas, yield and quality variation of a given commodity due
to inter-regional disparities in climate, or the consideration of multiple and often
conflicting objectives such as: maximize a profit function, minimize cost; distance
or time; number of facilities, government expectations from agricultural sector
and its policies and, thus, demonstrate increased levels of complexity (Lucas and
Chhajed 2004 ).
1.1 Agricultural Services
Several services can be given to the whole of agricultural supply chain. Some services
are for farms, specifically. In the following section four types including: input supply,
mechanization services, advisory services and financial services are discussed.
The majority of farm input supply companies are concentrated in urban areas
or rural zones with large concentrations of commercial farmers. Therefore mil-
lions of poor farmers in rural areas without large commercial farmers do not have
access to affordable agricultural inputs such as improved seeds, chemical fertiliz-
ers and other agro chemicals needed to help them raise their farm productivity