Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methods in Fuzzy Decision Problems: A Case Study in the Frozen Shrimp Industry

Chia-Nan Wang,Viet Tinh Nguyen,Van Thanh Nguyen,Jui-Chung Kao,Chih-Cheng Chen

doi:10.3390/sym13030370

Abstract

The European Union (EU) is the largest shrimp consumer market in the world in terms of requirements for shrimp product imports. Therefore, other enterprises that export frozen shrimp to the EU must consider many criteria when choosing suppliers of raw shrimp. The difficulty of choosing suppliers of raw shrimp makes selecting raw material suppliers in the fisheries sector a multi-criteria decision-making problem. In such problems, the decision makers must review and evaluate many criteria—including qualitative and quantitative factors—to achieve an optimal result. While there have been multiple multi-criteria decision making models developed to support supplier selection processes in different industries, none of these have been developed to solve the particular problems facing the shrimp industry, especially as it concerns a fuzzy decision-making environment. In this research, the authors propose a Multi-Criteria Decision Making model (MCDM) including the Fuzzy Analytical Network Process (FANP) and Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) for the evaluation and selection process of shrimp suppliers in the fisheries industry. The model is applied to a real-world case study and the results show that Supplier 3 (SA3) is the most optimal supplier of raw shrimp. The contribution of this work is the employment of FANP and WASPAS to propose an MCDM for ranking potential suppliers in the fisheries industry in a fuzzy environment. The proposed approach can also be modified to support complex decision-making processes in fuzzy environments in different industries.

Highlights

The European–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) ensures that seafood enterprises have more advantages in tax rates and more favorable legal procedures related to Europe (EU) [1]
As the consumers and governments become increasingly concerned with the sustainability of products, it is extremely important for exporters to identify optimal frozen shrimp suppliers who can satisfy the requirements of EU importers
This study aims to develop an multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) model based on Fuzzy Analytical Network Process (FANP) and Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) to support the frozen shrimp supplier evaluation and selection process within a fuzzy environment

Summary

Introduction

The European–Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) ensures that seafood enterprises have more advantages in tax rates and more favorable legal procedures related to Europe (EU) [1]. The EU is currently the fourth largest shrimp consumer market purchasing from Vietnam, after the US, Japan, and China. The EU has strict requirements for shrimp products imported from other countries [3]. To meet the above requirements, frozen shrimp exporters must improve production systems, improve product quality, and optimally select suitable raw suppliers. While the production and export volume of Vietnam shrimp has constantly increased in recent years, there are many concerns about the sustainability of current farming practices [4]. As the consumers and governments become increasingly concerned with the sustainability of products, it is extremely important for exporters to identify optimal frozen shrimp suppliers who can satisfy the requirements of EU importers. The frozen shrimp supplier evaluation and selection process is a decision-making process that involves multiple criteria, which can be quantitative or qualitative in nature

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