One of the most significant competitive strategies is supply chain management, used by contemporary enterprises. Integration of various suppliers for the satisfaction of market demands is the main aim of supply chain management. Meanwhile, an important role is played by supplier selection and evaluation in establishment of an effective supply chain. Instead of considering the entire supply chain, the requisites of single enterprises are focused on by traditional supplier selection and evaluation methods. (Chen, p. 1651)
The appropriate suppliers' selection and evaluation, in every industry, is very vital for the development and growth. The managers strive to rise above the traditional margins of material and money and seek to dig into the vast new world of possibilities, with an extensive usage of enterprise systems and stress on concepts of improvement and enhancement of quality. In majority of the business processes, selection of few and trustworthy suppliers has become an essential phenomenon for the firms, who can supply the goods of high-class with lowest lead time and low-cost prices. Selection of supplier has become a significant component of the organization decision making and has established to offer over the competitors a competitive edge, while keeping the tactical and functional adhering. Additional pressure has been put by the conception of just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing on the suppliers stressing on quality, deliverance performance, and strategic integration among the two organizations.
Different criteria are involved in supplier selection, which include: speed, price, delivery performance, reliability and quality etc and often the selection of one criterion is involved while giving the other. For instance, here a situation can be considered here wherein one supplier is not capable for an on time goods delivery, while offering goods on cheaper rates. Conversely, the best quality goods are being provided by another supplier but the deliverance performance and cost are not satisfactory. Thus, supplier selection goes to the multi-criteria decision making problem's class, wherein the organizations need to spot the topmost preferences of choosing the preeminent supplier on the basis of its industry type and style of working. (Agarwal et. al., p. 801) This paper is aimed to dig in to the issues of supplier selection in supply chain management
Discussion & Analysis
Supplier Selection
Such process is termed as supplier selection, through which the buyer keys out, assesses, and contracts with suppliers. Supplier selection is made by the aforementioned challenges as a prolific subject for disciplines of operational and management science.
Identification of Potential Suppliers
For the sake of survival in the extremely competitive economy worldwide, development of existing suppliers is often not only critically important but also the discovery of new suppliers.
Significance of New Suppliers
New suppliers are vital due to several factors. Firstly, new suppliers may be existed that, in some way, are superior to existing suppliers of a firm. For instance, a novel production technology or a streamlined process may have been developed, by a supplier, ...