A Possibility Distribution Based Multi-Criteria Decision Algorithm for Resilient Supplier Selection Problems

Resilient supplier selection problem is a key decision problem for an organization to gain competitive advantage. In the presence of multiple conflicting evaluation criteria, contradicting decision makers, and imprecise information sources, this problem becomes even more difficult to solve with the classical optimization approaches. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) is a viable alternative approach for handling the imprecise information associated with the evaluation proffered by the decision makers. In this work, we present a comprehensive algorithm for ranking a set of suppliers based on aggregated information obtained from crisp numerical assessments and reliability adjusted linguistic appraisals from a group of decision makers. We adapted two popular tools - Single Valued Neutrosophic Sets (SVNS) and Interval-valued fuzzy sets (IVFS) and extended them to incorporate both crisp and linguistic evaluations from the decision makers to obtain aggregated SVNS and IVFS. This information is then used to rank the suppliers by using TOPSIS method. We present a case study to illustrate the mechanism of the proposed algorithm and show sensitivity of the supplier ranking with respect to the priorities of evaluation criteria.