Evaluation of supplier performance of high-speed train based on multi-stage multi-criteria decision-making method

•A multi-stage evidential reasoning approach is proposed to solve the SPE problem.•The criteria framework of SPE in HSTM industry is constructed.•The quantitative data and qualitative information for SPE are unified.•Stage weights are determined objectively and used for SPE. In the process of developing the industry of high-speed train manufacturing (HSTM), a key problem is to evaluate the performance of suppliers by considering the special characteristics of suppliers. To address this problem, a multi-stage multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method is proposed based on the evidential reasoning approach. A criteria framework of the supplier performance evaluation (SPE) problem is constructed first. To describe quantitative and qualitative assessments with uncertainty, belief distributions are adopted to model the problem. Then, the rule-based information transformation technique is introduced to unify quantitative data and qualitative information. Suppose that SPE is performed at multiple stages and a decision maker may prefer the suppliers with the performance that is continuously increasing at these stages. On this assumption, stage weights are determined objectively by considering the dynamic nature of SPE at multiple stages. A real SPE problem in the HSTM enterprise located in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China is investigated to verify the validity and applicability of the proposed multi-stage MCDM method.