Improving Physical Distribution Service Decisions with Trade‐off Analysis

The purpose of this paper is to discuss some recent developments in trade‐off analysis which may provide distribution managers some guidance in (1) evaluating the physical distribution service (PDS) mix, (2) setting service levels, and (3) determining which elements of the mix warrant the greatest attention. This article proceeds by briefly discussing the new approach, and then illustrating how it might be used; the paper ends with some suggestions concerning the future use of these methods.