Logistics resources in seaport performance: multi-criteria analysis

Studying the logistics resource relationship within the framework of the overall performance of the main Iberian seaports performance, this article discusses how to apply the linear additive multi-criteria analysis (MCA) model and principal component analysis (PCA) to such an industry. The model incorporates the contribution of two different performance indicators—operational performance and physical capacity—measured by several indicators. First, we gather the 2009 annual data on the total cargo throughput of 16 seaport container terminals. The PCA method is then applied to attain the loading factor of each indicator and to normalize the redundancy in indicators and thereby generate meaningful results. We correspondingly find (a) operational performance contributed 48.77% while the physical capacity contributed 51.23% to overall performance; (b) the majority of seaports reveal a direct proportionality between their positioning in terms of physical capacity and their overall performance positioning; (c) this relationship changes whenever the difference in indicator value proves significant; and hence (d) this model demonstrates both its applicability and reliability in the case of the Iberian seaport industry and the relevance of encouraging multiple decision-makers to carefully consider identifying key criteria out of a given set of alternatives.