A fuzzy extent analysis method for vendor selection in supply chain: A case study from the automotive industry

The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) of Saaty (1980) is a popular method for solving multi-criteria decision problems involving qualitative data, and has been applied to the vendor selection process (Nydick and Hill, 1992; Barbarosoglu and Yazgac, 1997; Narasimhan, 1983; and Masella and Rangone, 2000). AHP is often criticized for its inability to handle the inherent uncertainty and imprecision of the pairwise comparison process. This paper focuses on addressing uncertainty issues in the process of vendor selection by using a Fuzzy Extent Analysis method. The applicability of the proposed Fuzzy Extent Analysis method for vendor selection is tested in Auto Exhaust System Ltd, Gurgaon, India. A study of the Fuzzy Extent Analysis Method is also provided in this paper by experimenting with sensitivity analysis. The result shows that the Fuzzy Extent Analysis Method for vendor selection is simple and comprehensive in concept, efficient in computation, and robust in modeling human evaluation processes for vendor selection.