Supplier selection by integrated IFDEMATEL-IFTOPSIS Method: A case study of automotive supply industry

Abstract

Selecting the best supplier emerges as a crucial subject for all sectors to achieve long term collaborations in supply chains. This study object to select the most suitable supplier for a company engage in activities in the automotive supply industry. For this purpose, a five-stage Intuitionistic Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making (IFMCDM) model is conducted. Firstly, decision criteria are defined by literature research and expert group opinions. Secondly, the importance weights of these criteria are obtained by IF Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (IFDEMATEL). Followingly, the most suitable supplier is assessed by IF Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (IFTOPSIS). In the fourth stage, Sensitivity Analysis is utilized to analyze the effect of differentiation in criterion. Lastly, a comparative analysis is carried out. The results of the study has pointed that “Price” is the most important criterion in supplier selection and “Supplier 4” is the best alternative for this case. Main contribution of this study is to integrate IFDEMATEL-IFTOPSIS method for the first time in automotive supplier selection literature and propose a specific decision framework. In addition, proposed model is found robust and valid.