Title: Evaluating supplier competitiveness: a multi criteria decision making approach

Authors: Aber Elsaleiby; Raida Abuizam

Addresses: College of Business, Purdue University Northwest, 2200 169th Street, Hammond, Indiana, USA ' College of Business, Purdue University Northwest, 2200 169th Street, Hammond, Indiana, USA

Abstract: Although the buyer-supplier relationship has long been investigated both theoretically and empirically, there is a scarcity of research that helps evaluate and select the best supplier by the buying firms. This is notably due to the trade-offs among the different criteria the buying firms aim to satisfy. The objective of this study is to develop a decision making tool that helps firms evaluate and select suppliers based on multiple successful criteria such as quality, on time delivery, cost, service, range of product flexibility, innovation, and greenness. The model developed in this paper will use a decisions making tool that utilises Taguchi loss function along with the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to select an optimal supplier. Our proposed model contributes to the literature by developing a model that can be practically used by decision makers to evaluate suppliers along multiple criteria. The model can help the buying firms select the best supplier(s) in a way that objectively considers pros and cons associated with selecting each supplier. Our model provides a systematic approach to quantifying the differences among quality criteria of multiple suppliers such that managers can make more informed decision.

Keywords: supplier competitiveness; multicriteria decision making; MCMD; Taguchi methods; loss function; analytical hierarchy process; AHP; supplier selection.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSCOR.2016.082017

International Journal of Supply Chain and Operations Resilience, 2016 Vol.2 No.3, pp.193 - 207

Received: 23 Feb 2016
Accepted: 11 Jun 2016

Published online: 01 Feb 2017 *

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