Digital supplier selection reinforcing supply chain quality management systems to enhance firm's performance

PurposeThe geographical scattering of physical facilities in conventional supply chains enforces firms to shift toward digital supply chains (DSCs). While switching to DSCs, the decision-making becomes more complex with an upsurge in the size of the manufacturing firms. The manufacturing firms need to develop supply chain quality management (SCQM) systems to improvise their processes for delivering advance products and services. For developing SCQM, the role of the digital supplier is significant, as they may recuperate the quality management systems (QMS) for enhancing the firm's performance. The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that affect the selection of digital suppliers. The other purpose is to evaluate the alternatives for identifying the best supplier that enhances the QMS for DSCs.Design/methodology/approachThe decision-making is complex for digital supplier selection (DSS) and thus, the study has utilized integrated SWARA-WASPAS methods for their critical evaluation. The stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) method has been utilized for identifying the weightage of factors and weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS) for assessing the digital suppliers to explore the best alternative. The integrated SWARA-WASPAS method is the most advance approach in multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) for the evaluation of the factors.FindingsThe study reveals that supplier competency is the most significant factor in selecting digital supplier in DSC that may improve the product and service quality. The study also explores that manufacturing firms needs an efficient system for developing value for the internal and external partners that help them to cope up with the dynamic world. On the basis of the WASPAS results, supplier S-8 has been ranked as the best supplier who has highest competency in the form of responsiveness, resilience, sustainable practices and digital innovation.Research limitations/implicationsThe factors are assessed on the decision team of experts that may be biased and thus, the research may further be validated through empirical studies. The research has to be extended in other nations for exploring how organizations and customers are responding to the DSCs.Practical implicationsThe study has given insights to the manufacturing firms to consider the crucial factors for DSS, as it affects the overall performance of the organizations. The decision makers of manufacturing organizations should consider the factors such as supplier competency, digital innovation and information sharing for value creation that may provide them better opportunities for developing their DSCs along with their digital suppliers to connect with stakeholders appropriately.Social implicationsThe improved SCQM aligned with DSS will offer quality products that are sustainable and provide social and economic benefits to the society. The DSS will be able to provide improvisation of the existing products and services for developing a sustainable value chains for the manufacturing organizations. This process will bring more transparency, viability and sustainability in the product and services. As a result, the DSC partners will be more transparent, viable and resilient.Originality/valueThe research on DSS and its importance in enhancing QMS is limited. This research is the novel approach to understand the criteria behind the selection of the digital suppliers' role and their presence in enhancing the quality of products and services.