Environmental principles applicable to green supplier evaluation by using multi-objective decision analysis

Abstract

The recent shift from buying products to purchasing sets of services makes the re-use of recovered materials, parts and products desirable. In response to heightened governmental regulations and rising public awareness of the effect of industrial production on the environment, many organizations are now undertaking major initiatives to transform their supply chain processes. In contrast with the reverse logistic models, the green supply chain (GSC) is a broad concept that refers to a variety of methods by which companies work with their suppliers to improve the environmental performance of their products or manufacturing processes of the suppliers, customers or both. Two primary goals of GSC include: (1) consistently meeting specified environmental performance criteria among the participants in the supply chain, and promoting responsible corporate environmental behaviour among all the players in the chain of products and services, and (2) helping suppliers to recognize the importance of resolving environmental issues and support them in installing their own improvement initiatives. The emergence of GSC is one of the most significant environmental developments in the past decade, offering the opportunity for companies to align their supply chains in accordance with environmental and sustainability goals. GSC provides information and technical assistance to small- and medium-sized businesses that lack the resources of large companies, and can monitor and measure progress to facilitate environmental enhancement. The number of products produced entirely of recyclable materials will increase in the future, and organizations will have to make supply chain decisions within the context of growing environmental concerns and responsibilities. This study presents an innovative method using simple and efficient procedures to evaluate the effectiveness of projects supplying GSC concept. Specifically, a multi-objective decision making process for GSC management (GSCM) is presented to help the supply chain manager in measuring and evaluating suppliers’ performance based on an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) decision-making method. In addition, to reduce subjective bias in designing a weighting system, a fuzzy logic process is used to modify the AHP.