Supplier performance evaluation for making purchasing decisions : fuzzy-based decision support system

The objective of this study is to apply a decision support system for evaluating overall supplier performance under fuzziness of key measures. Three multi-input single-output Mamdani operator is proposed for supplier evaluation. The proposed model is numerically evaluated using a case study of automotive industry scenario. The results show that overall supplier performance is different from individual levels of performance. This suggests that the performance, based on a combination of key measures is a better representation for evaluation of supplier performance under supply chain uncertainty, in particular changing external and environmental conditions. Implication of this approach is that purchasing decisions can be simplified using regular evaluation of supplier performance, based on criteria commonly used in the selected industry. The proposed approach can accommodate fuzziness of key decision variables and provide with a quantitative assessment on level of supplier performance, on a regular basis as required for the selected organization, subject to supply chain uncertainties