Identifying and Ranking Hospital Suppliers and Choosing the Right Supplier in Supply Chain Management

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Identifying and classifying hospital suppliers and choosing the right hospital supplier are based on some criteria, such as price, quality, timely product delivery, and after-sales service. METHODS: The research method was to select a suitable supplier through multi-criteria decision-making methods, including fuzzy TOPSIS and fuzzy Delphi. This research analyzed the selection criteria of hospital suppliers using fuzzy TOPSIS and fuzzy Delphi methods. The weight of the selected criteria and their importance were determined by holding interviews with hospital experts. In the next stage, the suppliers were evaluated, and finally, they were ranked using the TOPSIS fuzzy method. FINDINGS: In this research, the criteria for selecting suppliers were based on the criteria determined by Dickson. According to the fuzzy Delphi method, 7 criteria of product quality, timely delivery, final product price, after-sales service, technical ability, product position among competitors, and easy-to-use product were selected for supplier evaluation. CONCLUSION: The selection of a reliable supplier is becoming increasingly crucial given the critical role played by the healthcare sector, which includes hospitals and the Red Crescent as its constituents, the expanding development of technology, and the growing variety of medical equipment. According to the results obtained by the fuzzy Delphi method, the criterion of product quality with a score of 0.88 was chosen as the most important criterion, while the ease-to-use product index with a score of 0.7 was chosen as the least important criterion. The selection and evaluation of suppliers were accomplished through several different quantitative and qualitative indicators, such as cost, quality, timely delivery, and after-sales service. As a result, companies must choose key indicators and suitable suppliers because the right supplier leads to a reduction in purchase costs, as well as an increase in the quality of the products and ultimately the success of the organization in reaching its goals.