Supply chain management: a modular Fuzzy Inference System approach in supplier selection for new product development

The critical objectives of purchasing departments include obtaining the product requested, at the right cost, in the right quantity, with the best quality, at the right time, from the right supplier. These goals require effective decisions concerning supplier selection at the early stage of product development. This work provides an application of fuzzy set theory in supply chain management, specifically in supplier selection for new product development. Here, a Fuzzy Inference System is proposed as an alternative approach to handle effectively the impreciseness and uncertainty that are normally found in supplier selection processes. This paper also shows that the proposed decision-making model is applicable to any supply chain system.