A Fuzzy BWM Method for Evaluating Supplier Selection Factors in a SME Paper Manufacturer

In today’s competitive world, companies are required to increase productivity and produce high-quality products while managing their operational efficiency. This leads a firm to involve its performing suppliers by taking into account multiple factors. For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), despite its importance, supplier selection is less considered. In this study, a case study for evaluating supplier selection factors in a small-medium scale paper manufacturer in Indonesia is demonstrated using the fuzzy best-worst method (fuzzy BWM). The BWM method that provides a structurally consistent factors comparison through the best and the worst criteria is extended using a fuzzy set to address the ambiguity from decision-makers’ judgement. The evaluation includes five supplier criteria: service, flexibility and delivery, reputation, quality, and purchasing cost. To determine the fuzzy criteria’ weights, the nonlinearly constrained optimization problem was introduced. The result indicated that the best and the worst criteria were respectively service and purchasing cost, while the service criterion was weakly crucial than quality. Besides, the Fuzzy BWM has also provided high consistency in the comparison. The optimal weights determined in this study can be applied for ranking suppliers for further attempts.