Supply Sustainability Performance Research Articles

Sustainable Supplier Selection with Adaptive Network- Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFİS)

Choosing the right sustainable supplier is a critical decision problem for businesses. Due to the increase in the number of competitors, the increase in evaluation criteria and the difficulty in defining evaluation criteria, the need for reliable methodologies that work with high accuracy increases as the complexity of the selection problem increases. This article discusses a new approach to the problem of sustainable supplier selection based on the Adaptive Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) methods. In the study, firstly the sustainable supplier selection criteria have been reduced to four criteria by the ANFIS method. For sustainable supplier performance evaluation, ANFIS model and ANN model were developed. Multiple regression analysis was performed to compare the performance success of both models. The model with the highest success rate was determined as ANFIS model. At the end of the study, the most suitable sustainable supplier selection was made with ANFIS model.

A cutting-edge data envelopment analysis model for measuring sustainable supplier performance like never before

One of the challenges for suppliers is to increase their market share due to the limited target market. In other words, in the supply chain, the demand for suppliers' products is limited. Therefore, suppliers produce a determined share of the required amount by producers. However, when it comes to the share in the amount of output among suppliers, the output of suppliers in this indicator is interdependent. In the classical data envelopment analysis (DEA) models, there are no models that assess the suppliers according to the dependence of at least one output on each other. In this paper, a model is presented that can assess sustainable suppliers in the presence of interdependent output among suppliers by using DEA models and their extension. It can also determine the total benchmarks of decision making units (DMUs) in such a way that satisfies the interdependent output constraint. In other words, benchmarks are not determined independently. Ultimately, an approach is presented to determine efficient projections for inefficient DMUs by considering the concept of interdependent output. To represent the applicability of our proposed model, a dataset for two consecutive years including 32 sustainable suppliers with consideration of interdependent output has been implemented using the model presented in this paper. The resulting sustainability has been compared with a classical model.

3-S BOM: Pioneering Sustainability-Scoring-System for Multi-Functional Product Configurations Based on ESG and Circularity

The Bill of Materials (BOM) is the primary place where product configurations are formulated and designed. Despite its critical role, the BOM falls short in addressing sustainability concerns. The current state of the art does not capture data on the sustainability performance of suppliers of listed components. Furthermore, the BOM neglects synthetic information on reusability and circularity of components. To overcome these limitations, this study proposes the introduction of a Sustainability-Scoring-System (3-S BOM). The aim is to upscale the traditional BOM to the new sustainability market demand. The 3-S BOM has two purposes: to integrate synthetic data on sustainability and to allow further configurations of products based on diversified sustainability profiles. Specifically, each component, sub-assembly and assembly within the BOM is assigned an Overall Sustainability Score (OSS), which covers three key sustainability areas On the supplier side, an ESG score will be representative of the supplier’s level of sustainability, while on the component side, a Hazardous Substances and Virgin Materials (HV) indicator and a Hazardous Substances and Virgin Materials Circularity (HVci) indicator will assess the sustainability of the components, taking into account their composition and circularity. The customer is actively involved in defining the sustainability profile of the purchased product by defining how the ESG, HV and HVci must influence the final assembly of the purchased product, choosing between different levels of specificity.

The role of trainings in improving supplier sustainability performance

This article analyses the impact of training measures on supplier sustainability performance. It raises the question of the role that training measures and knowledge sharing activities by focal firms play in improving sustainability performance in a global supplier network. The analysis is based on a difference-in-difference approach with multiple time periods following Callaway & Sant’Anna (2021), using a longitudinal data set of over 5000 first-tier suppliers from the automotive industry. We find that sustainability trainings improve supplier sustainability performance in general. Specifically, these results seem to be driven by longer training sessions that require active supplier engagement, outlining a clear learning objective and relating to local sustainability challenges.

Stop Auditing and Start to CARE: Paradigm Shift in Assessing and Improving Supplier Sustainability

Traditional auditing has been commonly practiced by multinational companies to monitor their suppliers for sustainability violations. Based on a collaborative supplier sustainability performance improvement program at Koninklijke (Royal) Philips N.V., we introduce a framework that offers a paradigm shift to an improvement-based proactive approach that makes use of suppliers’ self-assessments. We refer to this framework as CARE, consisting of the following phases: collecting supplier sustainability data, assessing suppliers’ sustainability levels, reacting to future violations proactively, and enhancing sustainability performance. The framework integrates analytics techniques to understand the link between the general characteristics of the carefully assessed suppliers—such as location, size, and sector—and their sustainability profile, enabling large-scale supplier assessment and improvement. This information is then used to leverage machine learning techniques to predict current and future sustainability levels of suppliers and to determine best actions for sustainability improvement using mathematical programming. The utilization of analytics constitutes a pivotal element in this endeavor and notably makes CARE highly scalable because it harnesses limited supplier data—namely, only general supplier information—while there is a need to support decision making concerning thousands of suppliers. Philips makes use of this framework and reports that the overall 2021 year-on-year improvement in sustainability performance was 24% for suppliers that entered the program in 2020, indicating the efficacy of the suggested approach. History: This paper was refereed. Funding: The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of TKI Dinalog–Dutch Institute for Advance Logistics on the project entitled “Supplier Sustainability Improvement” [Grant 2017-2-132TKI].

Environmental and Social Factors in Supplier Assessment: Fuzzy-Based Green Supplier Selection

Supplier selection is a key process that entails selecting suppliers who provide high-quality, cost-effective products or services with predetermined schedules and quantities. Organisations are currently reconsidering their supply chain strategies in order to incorporate environmental and ecological issues into their operations. This involves a shift towards environmentally conscientious providers as well as the incorporation of environmental requirements into daily practises. This research paper investigates supplier evaluation strategies and selection criteria in depth. This study presents a novel methodology for assessing supply chain risk management in the setting of supplier management. This study’s focuses are cost, quality, delivery time, environmental performance, and social responsibility. The incorporation of administrative observation into supplier selection is illustrated, with the results compared to those of traditional methods. Our findings highlight the synergies between administrative observation and quantitative metrics, providing crucial insights into supplier sustainability performance and improving decision making. Finally, this study emphasises the importance of managerial observation in sustainable supplier selection, emphasising the relevance of subjective ratings to improve awareness of suppliers’ sustainability practises and minimise risks associated with weak quantitative assessments.

Sustainable Supplier Selection using Neutrosophic Multi-Criteria Decision Making Methodology

Sustainable supplier selection is an important part of supply chain management since it encourages ethical and eco-friendly procedures. This study examines the most important criteria and factors for judging the sustainability performance of suppliers and presents a thorough overview of sustainable supplier selection. A decision-making framework for sustainable supplier selection is created via a review of relevant research, case studies, and best practices. Key factors for assessing suppliers include environmental performance, social responsibility, and economic viability, all of which are included in the framework. The results stress the need to take into account suppliers' energy efficiency, waste management, and social responsibility initiatives including fair labor practices and community involvement. Other essential considerations for long-term sustainability include economic viability and supply chain resilience. Organizations may improve their environmental impact, reduce supply chain risks, and boost overall performance by using sustainable supplier selection practices. This study used the TOPSIS method to rank sustainable suppliers. The TOPSIS method is employed with the single-valued neutrosophic set to deal with vague information. A case study in a food company is conducted to show the best supplier

Moving Beyond the four walls: The evolving impact of supplier sustainability on firm value

Stakeholders are increasingly holding firms accountable for the sustainability performance of their suppliers, calling for increased levels of transparency and higher standards of social and environmental sustainability. This research focuses on the effect of supplier sustainability on focal firm value, and whether it differs from the effect of focal firm sustainability. The authors use an event study methodology to investigate 3986 positive and negative environmental and social sustainability event announcements from 1994 to 2013. The results suggest that supplier sustainability performance was not related to focal firm value at the beginning of this time period. However, after the turn of the millennium, the authors find a significant relationship between supplier social sustainability and focal firm value. Notably, focal firm value is not as heavily affected by supplier environmental performance. This long-term multi-faceted comparison provides empirical evidence informing firms on how they can best allocate their monetary and strategic resources to specific categories of supply chain sustainability in a way that maximizes focal firm value.

Sustainable development of supplier performance. An empirical analysis of relationship characteristics in the automotive sector

AbstractSustainability performance of suppliers has become increasingly important for both corporate practice and research. While the importance of relationships between the focal company and its suppliers has been acknowledged for improving sustainability performance of suppliers, little is known about the role of relation specific factors in practice. This research fills this gap by empirically analyzing the relevance of relationspecific factors for the sustainability performance of suppliers based on a unique data set of 736 first‐tier suppliers of a German original equipment manufacturer in the automotive industry. The analysis reveals that the sustainability performance of suppliers relates positively to transaction volume and relationship length as specific forms of relation specific characteristics as well as strategic partnership as a proxy of incentivized, in‐depth cooperation and knowledge exchange. Each of the investigated relation‐specific characteristics show a link with either environmental or with social performance. Conclusions are drawn for research and management.

Towards Sustainable Supply Chain Management: A MCDM Framework

This paper proposes a novel Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) framework for sustainable supply chain management. The framework addresses the challenges of evaluating and selecting suppliers based on sustainability criteria, optimizing logistics operations, and making sustainable decisions within the supply chain. Through a comprehensive case study, the effectiveness of the proposed framework is demonstrated. The results show that the framework provides a structured and systematic approach for evaluating supplier sustainability performance and supporting decision-making. The framework integrates established MCDM techniques, such as Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), while accommodating the unique requirements of supply chain sustainability. The findings highlight the advantages of the proposed framework, including its ability to handle uncertainties, incorporate multiple criteria, and facilitate informed decision-making for sustainable supply chain management.

Sustainable Supplier Evaluation in an Automotive Company Using Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methods

Sustainable supplier management literature is mainly on sustainable supplier selection but sustainable supplier performance monitoring & evaluation studies are scarce. Furthermore, the studies do not differentiate the sustainability evaluation criteria between the supplier selection and monitoring & evaluation stages. To bridge this gap, this study aimed to monitor & evaluate sustainability performance of the suppliers of a focal manufacturing company in automotive sector with the TBL approach. Toward that end, we questioned and tried to identify first the sustainable supplier selection and monitoring & evaluation differentiating criteria, and then, how we can rank and rate the sustainable suppliers for developmental purposes in the monitoring & evaluation phase. 21 criteria were determined for sustainable supplier performance in monitoring & evaluation by a detailed literature review and taking the opinions of the focal company. Then, decision makers assessed sustainability dimensions and determined criteria related to these dimensions. The weights of dimensions and criteria were calculated by Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy AHP method. Then, sustainability performances of selected suppliers from the focal company’s portfolio were ranked by using Fuzzy EDAS, Fuzzy CODAS and Fuzzy MOORA methods. The results show that sustainable supplier monitoring & evaluation criteria involve a mix of external criteria (rules and regulations) and internal criteria (suppliers’ values). This finding helps us understand how we can have a more relaxed criteria set involving basic external criteria while selecting suppliers to have access to a more innovative and diverse supplier space and then have more challenging internal and external criteria to monitor & evaluate those suppliers toward true sustainability.

A Multi-Criteria Approach to Sustainable Risk Management of Supplier Portfolio: A Case Study at Defense Industry

Supply Chain Management plays an important role in the success and performance of businesses. Supply chains have to adapt to changes in technological advancements and customer expectations to maintain competitive advantage. On the other hand, driving factors such as risk reduction, increasing the financial performance of the supply chain, societal influence, governmental requirements and attracting customers who give importance to sustainability have been influential in the increasing interest in the concept of Sustainable Supply Chain. Therefore, businesses maintain their supply chain operations while focusing on economic, environmental and social dimensions. Additionally, the risk evaluation methods employed in supply chain management are considered to be more qualitative rather than quantitative. This study conducted in a Turkish defense industry company introduces a quantitative framework that allows the evaluation of risks and risk management practices required for sustainable supplier performance with the help of a Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach. In this study, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Rating Methods are applied together in order to evaluate risks through classification of critical suppliers with respect to business volume, capabilities and schedule certainty. Using this framework, Sustainable Supplier Risk Scores (SSRS) of each class of suppliers have been calculated and specific risk management practices have been determined for each class. The objective is to establish effective supply chain risk management practices, which provide long term partnership with suppliers in a business with strategic customers, high cost of production, high expectations in terms of quality and high level of supply chain risks.

Explanatory factors for variation in supplier sustainability performance in the automotive sector – A quantitative analysis

This article analyses differences in sustainability performances across supplier groups in the automotive industry using a multiple regression approach. The supplier sustainability performance is proxied by the self-assessment questionnaire (SAQ), a document-based assessment tool widely used in the automotive industry. The supplier groups are divided according to their headcount, business category and the region suppliers are located in. The analysis shows that the sustainability performance increases significantly with a supplier’s headcount. Furthermore, it shows that manufacturing suppliers perform significantly better compared to service providers. While there exist regional performance differences, the development stage of a country is found to be only a small significant factor influencing suppliers’ sustainability performances. Our results suggest OEM requirements in their assessments to be a major driver for supplier sustainability performance and that further analysis of regional factors is necessary.

Analisis Pemilihan Pemasok Kelapa Sawit yang Berkelanjutan dengan Menggunakan Metode PROMETHEE (Studi Kasus pada PT Perkebunan Nusantara III)

Suppliers are one of the business partners who play an important role in ensuring the availability of raw materials needed in production activities in a company. Companies in meeting the needs of raw materials in production activities of course conduct a selection of suppliers who can meet the supply of quality raw materials and on time in the delivery of goods. The purpose of this study is to develop a method of assessing the performance of palm oil suppliers that does not only look at economic criteria but also pays attention to sustainability factors, namely economic, social and environmental criteria in choosing the best supplier. The supplier performance assessment method aims to obtain the priority of the selected supplier by using the Multi Criteria Decision Making-PROMETHEE method. Assessment of supplier selection is carried out by filling out a questionnaire by two expert respondents, namely the Chief Engineer and Quality Assurance Assistant. This case study of sustainable supplier performance assessment was conducted in one of the state-owned companies engaged in plantation commodities, namely PT Perkebunan Nusantara III. Based on the type of decision-making using the PROMETHEE method, the suppliers selected and meeting the supplier performance assessment with sustainability criteria were UD. Satya Radja and UD. Meji Jaya suppliers with the highest Net Flow value of 0,1250.

A Novel Perspective to Sustainable Supplier Performance Evaluation Problem: A Case Study Based on Determining the Optimum Number of Clusters

In this study, it is aimed to contribute to the development of companies in order to reach the desired values utilizing the cluster features of the suppliers in a sustainable supplier evaluation process and to guide the supplier in this regard. The clustering features acquired at the end of the study will guide the determination of sustainable supplier criteria and potential new suppliers according to the sector and business line in future studies. The first step of the three-stage model is to apply the best–worst method to determine the weights of the criteria. At the second stage, suppliers are clustered together by the k-means algorithm and silhouette index method. At the third stage, suppliers are divided into categories, and suggestion policies for each supplier category are included. Then, sensitivity analysis has been performed to analyze the effects of variations of criteria weights on the result of the proposed model. Finally, to express the integrated method, a real-life sustainable supplier selection problem is solved and suppliers are categorized according to their similarities. Following evaluation, it was seen that the environmental management system and waste management criteria were the most critical criteria in the categorization of suppliers. When its reasons are investigated, sectoral characteristics come into prominence. The results indicate that the proposed model fits well as a multicriteria decision-making tool for sustainable supplier selection and evaluation decisions. Finally, it is predicted that this model will evaluate new suppliers or new products/services to be procured and selected from the set of features.

Toward sustainable supply chains: impact of buyer's legitimacy, power and aligned focus on supplier sustainability performance

PurposeAs large multinational firms are increasingly tasked with developing sustainable supply chains, their role in improving the sustainability performance of their suppliers is critical. This paper examines the dual role of a buyer firm, as a customer and as an important stakeholder, and identifies several attributes of the buyer firm and the dyadic relationship that could help improve the sustainability performance of suppliers.Design/methodology/approachA dyadic multi-year dataset is created using financial and customer data from the Compustat database and sustainability data from MSCI ESG ratings database. The hypotheses are tested using econometric panel data techniques.FindingsThe findings indicate that a buyer's legitimacy is a key factor that affects supplier's sustainability performance. The effect of legitimacy is much higher when the buyer and supplier firms have an aligned focus on similar sustainability dimensions. The market power of the buyer also increases the effect of legitimacy, though power without legitimacy is not effective.Originality/valueThe study expands the understanding of how buyer firms can influence suppliers on sustainability by highlighting the key role played by legitimacy and aligned focus and the supporting role of market power. The study contributes to both the stakeholder salience literature and the buyer–supplier relationship literature by showing evidence for complementarity between market power and legitimacy. Buyer firms can use the results of the study to focus their efforts on suppliers where a significant improvement in sustainability can be expected.

SÜRDÜRÜLEBİLİR TEDARİK ZİNCİRİ YÖNETİMİNDE TEDARİKÇİ DEĞERLENDİRME KRİTERLERİNİN DEMATEL YÖNTEMİYLE İNCELENMESİ VE AHŞAP SEKTÖRÜNDE BİR UYGULAMA

Supplier selection is considered among the most criterional decision-making problems as it aims to maximize conflicting targets. In order to meet the demands of customers, enterprises take environmental and social factors into account as well as economic factors. The main objective of the study is to evaluate supplier selection criteria within a sustainable supply chain and to determine which criteria have more weight. In the study, a conceptual framework has been developed by taking into account economic, environmental and social factors in order to evaluate the performance of a sustainable supply chain performance. In addition to these 3 main criteria, 9 sub-criteria are also included in the study. In this study, the DEMATEL method is applied to measure the sustainability performance of suppliers in the sustainable supply chain of a company operating in the natural wood coating sector. At the end of the practice, the weight rating of each criterion is calculated. It has been revealed that the economic, then social and environmental dimension is considered important in the sustainable supplier selection criteria for the company evaluated within the scope of the study and that the cost of supply is the most important performance criterion. The criteria are divided into affecting and affected by evaluating the level of importance relative to each other. It has been shown that the enterprise should focus on which performance criteria in the supplier selection.

Sustainable supplier evaluation and selection in developing countries: an integrated fuzzy framework

Evaluation and selection of suppliers play a vital role in improving their sustainability performance. In this regard, evaluating the sustainability performance of suppliers is much more critical in developing countries. These countries are among the best destinations for supplying raw materials and workforce utilisation because of lower costs. In recent years, various multi-criteria decision aiding (MCDA) frameworks utilised to evaluate suppliers based on sustainable aspects. However, few studies analysed the evaluation and selection of suppliers' sustainability in an integrated fuzzy MCDA model regarding the supplier selection process and developing nations. This research presents a comprehensive, integrated fuzzy decision model for sustainable supplier evaluation and selection using an integrated FDelphi-FDEMATEL-FANP-FVIKOR by considering sustainability (social, economic and environmental). Also, this research provides a comprehensive analysis of MCDA techniques' literature in terms of the main steps of sustainable supplier selection (e.g., formulation of criteria, handling of criterion's interaction, weight calculation and final selection). The previous research rarely considered the evolution of suppliers' sustainability according to its steps in the literature. This framework assists supply chain managers and practitioners better understand the extraordinary role of these steps on businesses. This research's proposed framework is validated by a numerical example taken from Iran's automotive industry.

Sustainable supplier evaluation and transportation planning in multi-level supply chain networks using multi-attribute- and multi-objective decision making

Supplier selection and transportation planning are essential tasks in managing supply chain networks (SCNs). The choice of a supplier has a significant influence on the transportation planning of SCNs, as the transportation routes will change. A limited number of studies in the literature have addressed the supplier selection and transportation planning issues simultaneously. This study proposes a two-stage multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach for sustainable supplier evaluation and transportation planning in multi-level SCNs. Initially, a supplier evaluation framework is proposed using the modified indifference threshold-based attribute ratio analysis (ITARA) and the performance calculation technique of the integrated multiple multi-attribute decision-making (PCIM-MADM) to determine the supplier’s performance index. Subsequently, a multi-level SCN model is established, and the sustainable supplier selection and transportation planning problem is solved by the fuzzy multi-objective linear programming (FMOLP) method. A set of real-world data provided by a smart audio manufacturing company has been used to demonstrate the proposed approach. Decision-makers understand the importance of criteria through the weights constructed by the modified ITARA. Moreover, the results of the PCIM-MADM can effectively determine the supplier’s ranking and provide improving strategies for underperforming suppliers. The augmented max–min technique of the FMOLP can produce a single optimal solution of the transportation allocation. The results show that our approach can effectively evaluate sustainable supplier performance and optimize transportation planning in SCNs.

Moving Beyond the Four Walls: The Impact of Supply Chain Sustainability on Firm Value

Stakeholders are increasingly holding firms accountable for the sustainability performance of their supply chains, calling for increased levels of transparency and higher standards of social and environmental sustainability. Yet the empirical relationship between various aspects of supply chain sustainability – positive versus negative events, differences between environmental and social events, and events over time – and firm value has not been investigated comprehensively, in a single study. Similarly, the impact on firm value (measured as abnormal stock market returns) of supplier sustainability relative to that of its customer (the focal firm) has not been established. This research focuses on the relationship between supplier sustainability and focal firm value, and whether it differs from the relationship between focal firm sustainability and focal firm value. The authors use an event study methodology to investigate 3,986 positive and negative environmental and social sustainability event announcements from 1994-2013. The results suggest that supplier sustainability performance was not related to focal firm value at the beginning of this time period. However, after the turn of the millennium the authors find a significant relationship between supplier social sustainability – particularly safety – and focal firm value. Interestingly, focal firm value is not as heavily affected by supplier environmental performance. Our study provides empirical evidence that resources should be allocated to specific categories of supplier sustainability and not just towards the sustainability performance of the focal firm.