Title: Strategy selection for the Indian LPG distribution industry using hybrid-MCDM techniques

Authors: R. Rajesh; R. Jeyapaul

Addresses: Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India ' Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract: The market size and demand for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in India for domestic, commercial and industrial applications are huge. Nearly 31.8 domestic consumers as of the year 2023. The main task of LPG distributors is to deliver the cylinders to the customer locations. Last-mile delivery is the most expensive and inefficient part of the supply chain. It is critical to manage the distribution of huge demand and needs special attention to perform the distribution effectively. Strategies are developed to improve the organisation's service quality, considering the customer requirements and effective utilisation of resources. Strategies are developed by analysing the various factors using SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis combined with Porter's Five Forces analysis and TOWS analysis. Hybrid-Multi Criteria Decision-Making methods are used to prioritise the strategies. The analysis concludes that market expansion and customer satisfaction-based strategies are the topmost priority and are proposed to improve service quality.

Keywords: last-mile delivery; MCDM; Porter's Five Force analysis; strategic planning; SWOT analysis; TOWS analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAMS.2025.147278

International Journal of Applied Management Science, 2025 Vol.17 No.2, pp.184 - 214

Received: 01 Mar 2024
Accepted: 05 Jul 2024
Published online: 14 Jul 2025 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article