An Integrated Fuzzy DEMATEL-ANP-TOPSIS Methodology for Supplier Selection Problem

Abstract

In recent changing and dynamic environment because existing competition and need for cooperation among companies, supplier selection has become as a critical strategic factor for most company. The supplier selection is a complex multi-criteria problem containing both quantitative and qualitative criteria with complex relationships which may have trade-offs and interaction than each other. Read about these nuances in the works of mba essay writers who will prepare for you answers to the most common questions. In the paper, a novel hybrid multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methodology is proposed to encompass the complex relationships and cope with the trade-offs among criteria. Given those ambiguous or uncertain criteria, it is essential that fuzzy approach is employed for handling the uncertainty and achieving more accurate results. The ANP method used for determining the appropriate weightings to each sub-criterion was developed to overcome the problems of dependence and feedback among criteria. For identifying relationship network among criteria, DEMATEL method is employed as a supportive tool for ANP. Then TOPSIS is used to rank all competing alternatives according their performance. In MCDM studies, applying TOPSIS in ranking alternatives has recently been customary because of its advantages in solving problems with trade-offs-including criteria. In the end, a numerical example is demonstrated to show the proposed model can improve solving of supplier selection problem.