A Fuzzy Linguistic Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach to Assess Emergency Suppliers

Abstract

Under the influence of COVID-19, various emergency supplies have repeatedly broken links, seriously affecting normal life and hindering the sustainable development of enterprises and society. Therefore, suitable emergency suppliers are crucial. To prioritize and select suitable emergency suppliers, key indicators were determined, and evaluation models were established based on the characteristics of epidemic situations and epidemic prevention materials. The application of the MCDM (multi-criteria decision-making) issue combining fuzzy SWARA (the stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis) and the actor analysis method to emergency supplier selection studies, called the fuzzy SWARA-based actor analysis method, is used to identify appropriate suppliers for optimizing pre-preparation. Results of evaluation system weight computations by the Fuzzy SWARA-based actor analysis method show that the overall prioritization of four non-economic factors in ranking orders are “Delivery Capacity”, “Flexible Supply Capacity”, “Quality”, and “Social Evaluation and Reputation”. For the inclusion of conflicting standards and the unquantifiable feature, economic and non-economic factors were discussed separately and evaluated by language variables. Additionally, the fuzzy actor analysis indicated that economic factors and non-economic factors need to be considered comprehensively for emergency supplier selection. This method has good operability and reference value, convenient for the final choice making according to actual situation.