Design and implementation of a performance-based system for Transit Time Accuracy and Freight Forwarder Evaluation: a case study on Carel Industries

CAREL Industries S.p.A. is a multinational company, leader in control solutions for air conditioning, refrigeration and heating, as well as systems for humidification and adiabatic cooling. It relies on third parties for freight transportation and delivery time estimation is mostly based on historical events averages or manual calculations. This thesis focuses on the design, development and implementation of a system capable of giving a precise delivery date to the customers at the time of the insertion of the order, while simultaneously providing the company with an automatic mechanism useful to manage the service level of forwarders and support the decision-making process of forwarder evaluation. This approach is designed to be replicable and adaptable to other contexts, bringing several advantages such as an increase in visibility, accuracy, reliability, control over forwarders and customer service. The ultimate objective of finding the optimal trade-off between service level and cost is pursued through the development of two projects. The Transit Time Accuracy Project is based on the collection and monitoring of real operational data and the definition of performance indicators supported by dedicated dashboards. Building on the outcomes of the transit time analysis, the study further develops the Forwarder Evaluation Project aimed at comparing logistics service providers using Cost Simulation and a multi-criteria approach that integrates cost, service level and reliability dimensions. The results demonstrate how systematic performance monitoring and structured evaluation can support more informed logistics decisions, improve delivery date accuracy, reduce inefficiencies and strengthen collaborations with freight forwarders. In conclusion, this work links theoretical Supply Chain Management principles with practical industrial application, providing a replicable framework for enhancing logistics performance, supporting continuous improvement initiatives and decision-making processes.