Evaluating and Ranking Supply Chain Distributors Using FAHP and FANP Methods

Abstract

The current trend of the global market highlights the necessity of establishing long-term relationships between organizations and global distributors worldwide. The selection of unknown international distributors represents a highly critical multi-criteria decision-making problem for organizations. With the increasing importance of purchasing and procurement activities, purchasing decisions have become more crucial. Moreover, as organizations have become increasingly dependent on distributors, the direct and indirect consequences of poor decision-making have become more severe. In most industries, the cost of raw materials and product components constitutes a major portion of the total product cost. In this study, after reviewing previous research in the field of supply chain management, the selection of a distribution network from among available distributor alternatives is addressed. To this end, relevant scientific articles and books were first reviewed, and based on the research literature, critical and influential factors for achieving effective supply chain management were identified. Subsequently, by consulting experts from the relevant company, the desired and important factors specific to the company were determined. The identified criteria were then weighted using the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and the Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP). Finally, using these methods, the best distribution network was selected.