Supplier Selection by Coupling-Attribute Combinatorial Analysis

Abstract EN

Increasing reliance on outsourcing has made supplier selection a critical success factor for a supply chain/network.

In addition to cost, the synergy among product components and supplier selection criteria should be considered holistically during the supplier selection process.

This paper shows this synergy using coupled-attribute analysis.

The key coupling attributes, including total cost, quality, delivery reliability, and delivery lead time of the final product, are identified and formulated.

A max-max model is designed to assist the selection of the optional combination of suppliers.

The results are compared with the individual supplier selection.

Management insights are also discussed.