TOPSIS Method for Supplier Selection Problem

Supplier selection, in real situation, is affected by several qualitative and quantitative factors and is one of the most important activities of purchasing department. Since at the time of evaluating suppliers against the criteria or factors, decision makers (DMS) do not have precise, exact and complete information, supplier selection becomes more difficult. In this case, Grey theory helps us to deal with this problem of uncertainty. Here, we apply Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method to evaluate and select the best supplier by using interval fuzzy numbers. Through this article, we compare TOPSIS with some other approaches and afterward demonstrate that the concept of TOPSIS is very important for ranking and selecting right supplier.




References:
[1] A, Amid, S.H. Ghodsypour, C. OBrien, A weighted additive fuzzy
multi-objective model for the supplier selection problem under price
breaks in a supply Chain, Int. J. of Prod. Econ.. 121 (2009) 323-332.
[2] G. Barbarosoglu and T. Yazgac, "An application of the analytic
hierarchy process to the supplier selection problem," Production and
Inventory Management Journal 1st quarter (1997), pp. 14-21.
[3] R. Narasimhan, "An analytic approach to supplier selection," Journal of
Purchasing and Supply Management 1 (1983), pp. 27-32.
[4] J. Sarkis, S. Talluri, "A model for strategic supplier selection,"
Proceedings of Ninth Int Conf on IPSERA, 2000, pp. 652-661.
[5] K.N. Thompson, "Vendor profile analysis," Journal of Purchasing and
Materials Management 26 (1990) (1), pp. 11-18.
[6] E. Timmerman, "An approach to vendor performance evaluation,"
Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management 1 (1986), pp. 27-32.
[7] R.M. Monezka and S.J. Trecha, "Cost-based supplier performance
evaluation," Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management 24
(1998) (2), pp. 2-7.
[8] D.L. Smytka and M.W. Clemens, "Total cost supplier selection model: A
case study," International Journal of Purchasing and Materials
Management 29 (1993) (1), pp. 42-49.
[9] F.P. Buffa and W.M. Jackson, "A goal programming model for purchase
planning," Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management 19 (1983)
(3), pp. 27-34.
[10] S.S. Chaudhry, F.G. Forst and J.L. Zydiak, Vendor selection with price
breaks, European Journal of Operational Research 70 (1993), pp. 52-
66.
[11] G.D. Li, D. Yamaguchi, M. Nagai, "A grey based decision making
approach to the supplier selection problem," Mathematical and
Computer Modelling 36 (2007), pp. 573-581.
[12] J.L, Deng, "The introduction of grey system", The Journal of Grey
System. 1 (1989), pp. 1-24.
[13] LA, Zadeh, "Fuzzy sets", Information and Control. 8 (1965), pp 338-
353.
[14] R.E, Bellman, and L.A, Zadeh, "Decision making in a fuzzy
environment", Management Science. 17 (1970), pp. 141-164.
[15] J.J, Zhang, D.S, Wu, and D.L, Olson, "The method of grey related
analysis to multiple attribute decision making problems with interval
numbers", Mathematical and Computer Modelling. 42 (2005), pp. 991-
998.
[16] C.L. Hwang and K. P.Yoon, Multiple attribute decision making methods
and applications, Springer, New York (1981).
[17] A, Shaniana, and O, Savadogo, "TOPSIS multiple-criteria decision
support analysis for material selection of metallic bipolar plates for
polymer electrolyte fuel cell", Journal of Power Sources. 159 (2006), pp.
1095-1104.
[18] Jadidi O., Tang S. H., Firouzi F., Rosnah M. Y., "An optimal grey based
approach based on TOPSIS concepts for supplier selection problem",
International Journal of Management Science and Engineering
Management. Vol. 4 (2009) No. 2, pp. 104-117.