Assessment and Selection of Suppliers in the Supply Chain with a Combined Approach of QFD and VIKOR under Uncertainty (Case study: Yazd Rubber Industries)

Given the importance of finding the supply chain for many companies in recent years and turning it into one of the competitive advantages, the continuous and effective communication with suppliers as the upstream segment can play a crucial role in the strength and balance of this chain/ In the supply chain, an important component of production and logistics management is the choice of the supplier/ Mistake in choosing a supplier can lead to a shaky financial and operational position of a company/ On the other hand, the correct supplier selection can reduce the cost of purchasing, market competitiveness, and improve end-user satisfaction/ This research seeks to evaluate and select suppliers and introduce a superior supplier for Yazd rubber industry/ To this end, the combination of two QFD and fuzzy VIKOR techniques has been used/ Since there are criteria in the selection of the supplier of both quantitative and qualitative aspects that sometimes contradict each other/ Therefore, the decision in conditions of uncertainty is more in group and ambiguous; fuzzy numbers have been used to solve this problem/ The present study is in applied research/ In this research, an non probable and purposeful study of industrial and academic experts has been made/ Important suppliers' indicators, including experience and credibility, price, flexibility in customer orders, supplier access and geographic location, valid certificates and licensed quality, and validated environmental permits for products/ Important product features include technical features, safety tabs, test reports, environmental effects, packaging and after sales services/ The weight of each index is determined by the fuzzy QFD method, and finally the suppliers of Yazd rubber industries are ranked using fuzzy VIKOR method.