Development of fuzzy expert system for supplier evaluation and selection

In present global scenario the competition among business organizations increases exponentially and hence they are forced to follow supply chain management. Customer satisfaction is the prime criteria to maintain the organization's profit in a supply chain. An important aspect of supply chain management is the supplier management. The supplier management includes supplier evaluation, selection and development. Supplier selection problem plays a significant role as strategic features in a company success. Improper evaluation and selection of potential supplier can reduce the organization supply chain performance. Supplier selection problem is a multi criteria decision problem in which both qualitative and quantitative factors are involved. In this paper a fuzzy logic expert system was developed for supplier selection in a process industry. The developed system will resemble a human judgment in correlating knowledge that represents the requirements of decision maker. This fuzzy expert system was piloted in a chemical industry and results showed that test effectiveness and efficiency was significantly improved.