Title: A novel hybrid model based on DEMATEL, ANP and TOPSIS for supplier selection in agile supply chains

Authors: Maryam Alimardani; Masoud Rabbani; Hamed Rafiei

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 11155-4563, Tehran, Iran ' Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 11155-4563, Tehran, Iran ' Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 11155-4563, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: The concept of the agile supply chain has been considered as means of achieving a high competitive edge in rapidly changing business environments. Among the involved decisions, supply partner selection process is a complex multi-criteria problem which has recently been studied by academicians and practitioners. This paper examines both quantitative and qualitative factors to propose a robust multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method which leads to consider the interactions among criteria for agile supply chains. In this regard, a novel hybrid MCDM model including DEMATEL, ANP, and TOPSIS is developed in which DEMATEL is adopted to visualise influenced framework between the elements, and influence degree of the criteria, then these influence degrees are embedded into ANP to compute relevant weights of criteria to obtain their relative importance; next, TOPSIS is dedicated to rank priorities of the alternatives of agile suppliers. Additionally, a case study is presented to validate the developed framework.

Keywords: agile supply chains; ASC; supplier selection; decision making trial and evaluation laboratory model; DEMATEL; analytical network process; ANP; TOPSIS; multicriteria decision making; MCDM; hybrid modelling; supply chain agility; supply chain management; SCM; supplier ranking.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2014.062000

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2014 Vol.18 No.2, pp.179 - 211

Published online: 17 Jun 2014 *

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