MULTI-CRITERIA SUPPLIER SELECTION: AN APPLICATION IN THE CERAMIC INDUSTRY

Abstract

The supplier selection process has an important place for both product and service producing enterprises. Because the supplier selection process directly affects the quality of products and services, as well as the profitability and competitive advantage of enterprises. The selection of suppliers has a significant impact on various topics, including reducing costs, improving the quality of products and services, optimizing processes other than supply chain management processes, and even the reputation of the enterprise.

The main purpose of this study is to select a supplier for the basic raw material (Item A) used by a production enterprise that ranks first among the leading ceramic companies of Turkey operating in the Dec Organized Industrial Zone with the status of manufacturer-exporter-importer. Seven supplier selection criteria are used in the study within the framework of the relevant literature. These are the company's competence, quality, delivery, price, past performance, complaint management policy and green practices. In the study, the weight values of the supplier selection criteria are sorted using the SWARA method. By analyzing that the sum of the weights of the company competence and quality criteria has a 62% share in the sum of the weights of the seven criteria, supplier selection is made using the ELECTRE-I method from among the four suppliers. As a result, the supplier that dominates all other suppliers is placed in the first place and a recommendation is made to be preferred. The study consists of five main sections: introduction, literature review, research methodology, application and findings, discussion and conclusion.