Discussion of “Green vendor evaluation and selection using AHP and Taguchi loss functions in production outsourcing in mining industry” by Sivakumar, R., Kannan, D., Murugesan, P. [Resour. Policy 46 (2015) (1) 64–75

Abstract

The discussers appreciate application of a multi criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique for green vendor evaluation and selection. The original paper properly applied analytic hierarchy process (AHP) technique to provide a robust and consistent assessment mechanism on the basis of pairwise comparisons. The authors also designed a framework to perform sensitivity analysis which was an effective measure to alleviate subjectivity of the judgments. However, an important point regarding the concept of uncertainty was neglected by the authors. Throughout the current text, the discussers would like to draw attention of readers to a crucial point that can alleviate the uncertainty in the current MCDM process. Focus of the present discussion is on integration of fuzzy set numbers with AHP which can help the analysts to provide more viable outcomes.