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Keywords
Supplier evaluation, Fuzzy logic, Analytic hierarchy process, Group decision support systems, Decision making, Turkey
Abstract
A supplier selection decision inherently is a multi-criterion problem. It is a decision of strategic importance to companies. The nature of this decision usually is complex and unstructured. Management science techniques might be helpful tools for these kinds of decision-making problems. The aim of this paper is to use fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to select the best supplier firm providing the most satisfaction for the criteria determined. The purchasing managers of a white good manufacturer established in Turkey were interviewed and the most important criteria taken into account by the managers while they were selecting their supplier firms were determined by a questionnaire. The fuzzy AHP was used to compare these supplier firms.
Introduction
The objective of supplier selection is to identify suppliers with the highest potential for meeting a firm's needs consistently and at an acceptable cost. Selection is a broad comparison of suppliers using a common set of criteria and measures. However, the level of detail used for examining potential suppliers may vary depending on a firm's needs. The overall goal of selection is to identify high-- potential suppliers.
To select prospective suppliers, the firm judges each supplier's ability to meet consistently and cost-effectively its needs using selection criteria and appropriate measures. Criteria and measures are developed to be applicable to all the suppliers being considered and to reflect the firm's needs and its supply and technology strategy. It may not be easy to convert its needs into useful criteria, because needs are often expressed as general qualitative concepts while criteria should be specific requirements that can be quantitatively evaluated. The firm can set measures while it is developing selection criteria to ensure that the criteria will be practical to use. Often, developing criteria and measures overlaps with the next step, gathering information. Gathering information may offer insight into the number and type of criteria that will be required for the evaluation and the type of data that is available. However, gathering information without specific criteria and measures in place can lead to extraneous effort. Selection criteria typically fall into one of four categories: supplier criteria, product performance criteria, service performance criteria,...