Sustainable Supplier Selection Based on Grey Theory: Case Study in Steel Industry

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Industrial Group, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Shahid Behehshti University

2 Industrial Group, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Shahid Beheshti University

Abstract

Supplier Selection plays an important role in supply chain management. Attention to sustainability in supply chain makes supplier selection more controversial. Current studies have concentrated on economic factors for selection and evaluation of suppliers and there are few emphasis on triple factors including economic, environmental and social elements as the sustainability factors. Also, the methods that are used for supplier evaluation is almost based on linear programming, multi-objective programming, goal programming, integer programming, and the other exact methods. But in real situation, the evaluation criteria are ambiguous, qualitative and verbal. So, in this study, a new technique based on Grey theory is proposed for supplier evaluation that can be used in ambiguous situations. This technique helps managers to decide on supplier selection problems in real scenarios. In this study, the economic, environmental and social indices for suppliers' evaluation are identified based on experts' opinion and by applying Grey theory a technique is developed for suppliers' evaluation.  The novelty of this research is to develop a new technique with more levels of analysis in ambiguity, considering sustainability factors. The case study of this research is steel industry.

Keywords

Main Subjects


[1]    Kannan, V.R., Tan, K.C., (2005). “Just in time, total quality management, and supply chain management: understanding their linkages and impact on business performance”, Omega, 33(2): 153-162.
[2]    Tan, K., Lee, L., Zhu, Q., Ou, K., (2001). “Heuristic methods for vehicle routing problem with time windows”, Artificial Intelligence in Engineering, 15(3): 281-295.
[3]    Childerhouse, P., Towill, D.R., (2003). “Simplified material flow holds the key to supply chain integration”, Omega, 31(1): 17-27.
[4]    Bruntland, G., (1987). “Our common future: the world commission on environment and development”, Oxford University Press.
[5]    Pati, R.K., Vrat, P., Kumar, P., (2008). “A goal programming model for paper recycling system”, Omega, 36(3): 405-417.
[6]    Badurdeen, F., Iyengar, D., Goldsby, T.J., Metta, H., Gupta, S., Jawahir, I., (2009). “Extending total life-cycle thinking to sustainable supply chain design”, International Journal of Product Lifecycle Management, 4(1-3): 49-67.
[7]    Neto, J.Q.F., Bloemhof-Ruwaard, J.M., Van Nunen, J., Van Heck, E., (2008). “Designing and evaluating sustainable logistics networks”, International Journal of Production Economics, 111(2): 195-208.
[8]    Sarkis, J.T., (2002). “A model for strategic supplier selection”, Journal of Supply Chain Management, 38(1): 18-28.
[9]    Farahani, R.Z., Asgari, N., Davarzani, H., (2009). “Supply Chain and Logistics in National”, International and Governmental Environment, Springer.
[10] Linton, J.K., (2007). “Sustainable supply chains: An introduction”, Journal of Operations Management,  25(6): 1075-1082.
[11] Tang, C.S., Zhou, S., (2012). “Research advances in environmentally and socially sustainable operations”, European Journal of Operational Research, 223(3): 585-594.
[12] Chaabane, A., Ramudhin, A., Paquet, M., (2012). “Design of sustainable supply chains under the emission trading scheme”, International Journal of Production Economics, 135(1): 37-49.
[13] Al-Anzi, F.S., Allahverdi, A., (2007). “A self-adaptive differential evolution heuristic for two-stage assembly scheduling problem to minimize maximum lateness with setup times”, European Journal of Operational Research, 182(1): 80-94.
[14] Mozdgir, A., Fatemi Ghomi, S.M.T., Jolai, F., Navaei, J., (2013). “Two-stage assembly flow-shop scheduling problem with non-identical assembly machines considering setup times”, International Journal of Production Research, 51(12): 3625-42.
[15] Tozkapan, A., Kirca, O., Chung, C.S., (2003). “A branch and bound algorithm to minimize the total weighted flow time for the two-stage assembly scheduling problem”, Computers and Operations Research, 30(2): 309-20.
[16] Holland, J.H., (1975). “Adaptation in natural and artificial systems”, Ann Arbor, Michigen: University of Michigan Press; 1992 (re-issured by MIT Press).
[17] Lee, E.K., (2001). “Supplier selection and management system considering relationships in supply chain management”, Engineering Management, 48(3): 307-318.
[18] Awasthi, A.C., (2009). “Supplier selection problem for a single manufacturing unit under stochastic demand”, International Journal of Production Economics, 117(1): 229-233.
[19] Ghodsypour, S.H., (2001). “The total cost of logistics in supplier selection, under conditions of multiple sourcing, multiple criteria and capacity constraint”, International Journal of Production Economics, 73(1): 15-27.
[20] Walton, S.V., Handfield, R.B., Melnyk, S.A. (1998). “The green supply chain: integrating suppliers into environmental management processes”, Journal of Supply Chain Management, 34(2): 2-11.
[21] Govindan, K., Khodaverdi, R., Jafarian, A., (2013). “A Fuzzy Multi criteria approach for measuring sustainability performance of a Supplier based on triple bottom line approach”, Journal of Cleaner Production, 47: 345-354.
[22] Sarkis, J., (2006). “Greening the Supply Chain”, Berlin: Springer.
[23] Wang, Y.M., Chin, K.S., Leung, J.P.F., (2009). “A note on the application of the data envelopment analytic hierarchy process for supplier selection”, International Journal of Production Research, 47(11): 3121-3138.
[24] Rao, P., (2002). “Greening the supply chain: a new initiative in South East Asia”, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 22(6): 632-655.
[25]  Handfield, R.B., Nichols, E.L., Ernest, L., (2002). “Introduction to supply chain management: Prentice Hall Englewood Cliffs”, NJ.
[26] Gauthier, C., (2005). “Measuring corporate social and environmental performance: the extended life-cycle assessment”, Journal of Business Ethics, 59(1): 199-206.
[27] Boukherroub, T., Ruiz, A., Guinet, A., & Fondrevelle, J., (2015). “An integrated approach for sustainable supply chain planning. Computers & operations research”, 54: 180-194.
[28] Banaeian, N., Mobli, H., Fahimnia, B., Nielsen, I.E., Omid, M., (2018). “Green supplier selection using fuzzy group decision making methods: A case study from the agri-food industry”, Computers & Operations Research, 89: 337-347.
[29]  Awasthi, A., Govindan, K., Gold, S., (2018). “Multi-tier sustainable global supplier selection using a fuzzy AHP-VIKOR based approach. International”, Journal of Production Economics 195: 106-117.
[30] Govindan, K., Sivakumar, R., (2016). “Green supplier selection and order allocation in a low-carbon paper industry: integrated multi-criteria heterogeneous decision-making and multi-objective linear programming approaches”, Annals of Operations Research, 238: 243-276.
[31] Dweiri, F., Kumar, S., Khan, S.A., Jain, V., (2016). “Designing an integrated AHP based decision support system for supplier selection in automotive industry”, Expert Systems with Applications, 62: 273-283.
[32] Orji, I.J., Wei, S., (2015). “An innovative integration of fuzzy-logic and systems dynamics in sustainable supplier selection: A case on manufacturing industry”, Computers & Industrial Engineering, 88: 1-12.
[33] Huai-Wei, L., James J.H., Her-Shing, W., Yi-Song, T., (2018). “An integrated model for solving problems in green supplier selection and order allocation, Journal of Cleaner Production, 90: 339-352.
[34] Luthra, S., Govindan, K., Kannan, D., Mangla, S.K., Garg, C.P., (2016). “An integrated framework for sustainable supplier selection and evaluation in supply chains”, Journal of Cleaner Production, 140(3): 1686-1698.
[35] Tavana, M., Fallahpour, A., Di Caprio, D., Santos-Arteaga, F.J., (2016). “A Hybrid Intelligent Fuzzy Predictive Model with Simulation for Supplier Evaluation and Selection”, Expert Systems With Applications, 61: 129-144.
[36] Arabsheybani A., Paydar M.M., Safaei A.S., (2018). “An integrated fuzzy MOORA method and FMEA technique for sustainable supplier selection considering quantity discounts and supplier’s risk”, Journal of Cleaner Production, 190: 577-591.
[37] Soleimani, H., Govindan, K., Saghafi, H., Jafari, H. (2017). “Fuzzy Multi-Objective Sustainable and Green Closed-Loop Supply Chain Network Design”, Computers and Industrial Engineering, 109: 191-203.
[38] Fetio-Cespon, M., Sarache, W., Piedra-Jimenez, F., (2017). “Redesign of a sustainable reverse supply chain under uncertainity: A case study”, Journal of Cleaner Production, 151: 206-217.
[39] Deng, J.L., (1982). “The introduction of grey system”, The Journal of Grey System, 1(1): 1-24.
[40] Chen, M.T., (2004). “Combining grey relation and TOPSIS concepts for seleting an axpatriate host country”, Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 40(13): 1473-1490.
[41] Zhang, J.W., (2005). “The method of grey related analysis to multiple attribute decision making problems with internal numbers”, Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 42(9-10): 991-998.
[42] Ardavan, A., (2013). “Optimal Selection of Alternatives: Application of Grey Theory to Value Engineering”, International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Computational and Applied Sciences, 5(1): 42-46.
[43] Wu, Q.Z., (2005). “Application of grey numerical model to groundwater resource evaluation”, Environmental Geology, 47: 991- 999.
[44] Shi, J.L., (2005). “A new solution for interval number linear programming. Journal of Systems Engineering Theory and Practice, 2: 101-106.
[45] Li, G.Y., (2007). “A grey-based decision-making approch to the supplier selection problem”, Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 573-581.