Supplier selection and performance evaluation in just-in-time production environments

The purpose of this paper is to aid just-in-time (JIT) manufacturers in selecting the most appropriate suppliers and in evaluating supplier performance. Many manufacturers employ the JIT philosophy in order to be more competitive in today's global market. The success of JIT on the production floor has led many firms to expand the JIT philosophy to the entire supply chain. The procurement of parts and materials is a very important issue in the successful and effective implementation of JIT; thus, supplier selection and performance evaluation in long-term relationships have became more critical in JIT production environments. The proposed systems can assist manufacturers in handling these issues. In this research, neural network based supplier selection and supplier performance evaluation systems are presented. The proposed approach is not limited to JIT supply. It can assist manufacturers in selecting the most appropriate suppliers and in evaluating supplier performance. The proposed neural network based systems are tested with data taken from an automotive factory, and the results show that the proposed systems can be used effectively. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.