Implementation of a decision support system heuristic for selecting suppliers in the hospital sector

Abstract

The purchasing function is the strongest link in the hospital supply chain. The stakes which are related to it are often complex and difficult to define. Public institutions and hospitals are all invited to master these link operations, with a particular focus on the hospital-supplier relationship. One of the most crucial is the selection of the right supplier, which is based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria. However, few methods and tools are available to guide the decision-maker to make optimal choices based on different types of criteria. Therefore, we propose in this paper a new heuristic for a common optimum work between hospitals and suppliers, in order create a value control in costs, deadlines and quality. Our paper is composed of five parts. The first shows the interest of the study. The second presents the literature review. The third explains the problematic situation. The fourth sets out our work methodology and the proposed model. In the fifth part, we illustrate the proposed methodology through a case study. And we finish our paper with a conclusion and work prospects.