Supplier selection problem for multiple items: An MCDM approach

Many studies on supplier selection decision-making have been carried out with various multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approaches as the decision influences a company's overall performance. However, an organization is still facing difficulty to find the right solution concerning supplier selection problems (SSP) with multiple items due to fewer studies. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to evaluate suppliers under a multi-item environment using the AHP method. The decision-making model is demonstrated in the Indonesian garment industry. There are six experts invited in this study to define 21 factors for selecting the best supplier for four items as parts of printing accessories materials. The factors are broken down into six criteria namely quality, price, delivery, flexibility, document, and relation. The result indicates that the second supplier is the most performing supplier to serve all items, while only one supplier (the first supplier) has the closest production capability as the second supplier. This study brings some recommendations based on the suppliers’ scores obtained to apply a more effective improvement. Besides, this paper has also provided an initial model for further modified SSP cases.