The article represents an overview of other literature on methodologies and criteria used in supplier evaluation and selection process, which is believed to be one of the vital components of a successful operation of a manufacturing company. In particular, the paper emphasized the industry’s change in this field – from focusing primarily on operational efficiency to embracing the potential of strategic partnerships. The article claims that the right approach to supplier assessment, thus, is the key to a company’s development and progress.
The paper starts with various ways to address the issues related to MCDM of suppliers’ selection. The most common ones are stated to be mathematical models, Simple multi-attribute rating technique (SMART), analytic network process (ANP), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), data envelopment analysis (DEA), linear programming, and some others. For example, DEA is a methodology focused on a supplier system and classifies it either as efficient or inefficient based on selecting particular criteria. Mathematical programming models usually incorporate complex evaluations between suppliers, allowing one to compare them and identify the most optimal in terms of cost and other criteria.
The article further compares all methodologies by their popularity expressed in the frequency of mentions in the literature. Thus, DEA is the most common approach with 30% mentions, whereas mathematical programming (17%), AHP (15%), and case-based reasoning account for fewer mentions. However, those methodologies represent the largest share of all MCDM approaches.
The article highlights the significance of knowing this distribution, which can build an idea of the most prominent ways to address the issues with suppliers’ assessment and selection. It is also stated that suppliers should be evaluated based on “the inputs of the strategic, functional and operational levels” (Agarwal et al., 2011). Methodologies such as DEA, mathematical programming, or AHP are advised to be used for identifying the most optimal suppliers, whereas AHP is noted to be effective in providing consistency.