Integration of sustainability aspects in the supplier selection process: a case study from a German electronics firm

Rubén Medina Serrano,José Luis Gascó,Wanja Wellbrock,María Reyes González Ramirez

doi:10.33422/ijarme.v3i2.170

Abstract

The supplier selection process has become an important area of research and professional activity, and it is fundamental to understand the types and trends of research in this field. The appropriate supplier selection decision is a fundamental strategic process and plays an important role in supply chain management. In the last decade, academic research on sustainability has evolved rapidly in the supply chain literature. However, there has been scant opportunity for the research community to complete a global assessment of sustainable supplier selection activities to date. This paper seeks to address this need by exploring sustainability in supply chain management, developing a sustainable supplier selection framework with a tool for its operationalization to help managers evaluate supplier selection decisions. Our proposed model is based on the TOPSIS concept as a multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) model and is validated through a case study. This research work follows the best-in-class approach to comply with all applicable environmental regulations and laws in the supplier selection process.

Highlights

Today European and U.S manufacturers spend an important amount of their revenue to purchase goods and services
This paper aims to contribute to the study of sustainable supplier selection in supply chain management through the graphical representation of why and how supplier selections are made
The sustainable supplier selection framework presented in this paper deals with the trends identified in the literature by capturing relevant approaches considered in supplier selection decisions

Summary

Introduction

Today European and U.S manufacturers spend an important amount of their revenue to purchase goods and services. While the traditional external provider selection focuses mainly on criteria such as price, quality, flexibility or delivery performance (Öztürk and Özçelik, 2014), the goal of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is to ensure a sustainable development of the supply chain by increased resource efficiency. In order to implement social responsibility requirements throughout the supply chain process, this paper introduces the CSR sustainable criteria for the evaluation of external providers. The consideration of the sustainability criteria in the selection of suppliers is presented based on a specially developed decision matrix. Sustainable supplier selection process at the electronics firm Based on the general supplier selection phase model from Section 3, the process is validated, standardized and further specified in the case study (see Figure 3). The following defined requirements for suppliers have been agreed internally and are requested and evaluated through the supplier self-assessment’ questionnaire for each supplier: 1. Does the firm have a certified environmental / occupational health and safety / energy management system according to the standards in table 1?

Is the creditworthiness of the supplier confirmed?

Findings

Conclusions