A new fuzzy BWM approach for evaluating and selecting a sustainable supplier in supply chain management

Sustainability has become one of the most important issues in the field of supply chain management (SCM). In recent years, many studies have been conducted about how to select a sustainable supplier and different methods have been proposed for this purpose in fuzzy and deterministic environments. A review of the research literature reveals that decision-makers have paid more attention to the results of fuzzy-based studies because they are more accurate and precise in collecting data. The purpose of this paper is to present a new model with a triangular fuzzy approach for sustainable supplier selection (SSS) in the supply chain. The proposed fuzzy model is based on the best-worst method (BWM) and alpha-cut analysis in which the decision-maker (DM) can determine the alpha value between 0.1 and 0.9, depending on the level of uncertainty. A high value of alpha indicates low uncertainty and its low value indicates a high uncertainty in decision-making. To illustrate the model and demonstrate its capability, a real SSS case in Iran Khodro Company (IKCO), was examined by three experts in the automotive industry and the decision criteria were selected based on the literature review and expert opinions. The results show that the first supplier (ISACO Parts Supply Company) is the most sustainable supplier.

Automated summary

Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in supply chain management, with fuzzy methods being more accurate and precise. A new model based on triangular fuzzy approach for sustainable supplier selection has been proposed in this study. The research shows that the most sustainable supplier identified through a real case study is ISACO Parts Supply Company.