MCDM approach to select IoT devices for the reverse logistics process in the Clinical Trials supply chain

Abstract

Clinical trials companies are increasingly digitalising their reverse logistics flow supply chains to increase visibility and monitoring of their specimens using Internet of Things (IoT) devices, however the large number and diverse range of IoT solutions make it difficult to select the most appropriate one for the closed-loop supply chain of clinical trials which operates in reverse logistics flow. This paper identifies the criteria with which to evaluate IoT devices for the reverse logistics flow of clinical trials supply chains and proposes Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) combined with Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach for the evaluation and selection of the best alternative. The approach is demonstrated on a real case and a sensitivity analysis and comparison to the AHP method validates the robustness of the solution.