SUPPLIER EVALUATION AND SELECTION: A FUZZY NOVEL MULTI-CRITERIA GROUP DECISION-MAKING APPROACH

Supplier selection problem is a multi-criteria decision-making problem that involves both quantitative and qualitative criteria. Typically, supplier selection decisions require a preliminary stage where pool of suppliers are initially screened to select potential set of suppliers for further evaluation and select the optimal supplier. This preliminary stage is heavily dependent on non-scientific approaches and do not consider any criteria during the screening process. Furthermore, quantifying the qualitative criteria has always relied quite considerably on subjective judgments, which render the supplier selection process ineffective. Therefore, this paper addresses these problems by proposing an easy going two-phase supplier selection decision model, based on fuzzy set theory that uses a scientific approach and incorporates performance criteria in screening and selecting the potential suppliers for further optimal supplier selection. To illustrate the applicability and validate the proposed model, a case study of a beverage producing company located in Ghana, the Sub-Saharan Africa is proposed.