A decision support tool for sustainable supplier selection in manufacturing firms
Abstract: Most original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are strategically involved in supplier base
rationalization and increased consciousness of sustainable development thus,
reinforcing need for accurately considering sustainability in supplier
selection to improve organizational performance. In real industrial case,
imprecise data, ambiguity of human judgment, uncertainty among sustainability
factors and the need to capture all subjective and objective criteria are
unavoidable and pose huge challenge to accurately incorporate sustainability
factors into supplier selection.
Methodology: This study develops a model based on integrated multi-
criteria decision making (MCDM) methods to solve such problems. The developed
model applies Fuzzy logic, DEMATEL and TOPSIS to effectively analyze the
interdependencies between sustainability criteria and to select the best
sustainable supplier in fuzzy environment while capturing all subjective and
objective criteria. A case study is illustrated to test the proposed model in a
gear manufacturing company, an OEM to provide insights and for practical
applications.
Findings: Results show that social factors of sustainability ranks as the
most important in supplier selection. However, the most influential
sustainability sub- criteria are work safety (WS) and quality.
Originality/Value: The model is capable of capturing all subjective and
objective criteria in fuzzy environment to accurately incorporate
sustainability factors in supplier selection. It is decision support tool relevant
for providing insights to managers while implementing sustainable supplier
selection.
Author: Ifeyinwa Orji, Sun Wei
Journal Code: jptindustrigg140090
