Multi-Criteria Decision-Making in Supply Chain Management

Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) has become an indispensable tool in supply chain management, where practitioners must balance cost, quality, delivery time and sustainability objectives under conditions of uncertainty. By structuring complex problems into criteria and alternatives, MCDM methods facilitate transparent and systematic evaluation of suppliers, logistics networks, inventory policies and production schedules. Techniques range from classic pairwise comparison approaches to mathematical programming, analytic hierarchy and network processes, and extend into fuzzy, probabilistic and interval-based frameworks that capture ambiguity in expert judgements and data.

Recent advances highlight the integration of MCDM with big data analytics, machine learning and digital‐twin simulators to support real‐time supply chain monitoring and adaptive decision support. Hybrid models combine the rigour of optimisation with the flexibility of fuzzy sets or grey systems to enhance robustness against disruptive events, such as demand shocks or transportation delays. Emerging trends emphasise sustainability‐driven criteria, life‐cycle impact assessment and circular economy metrics, embedding environmental and social dimensions alongside traditional performance indicators.

Global supply chains further call for collaborative decision‐making platforms that mediate trade‐offs among multiple stakeholders. By employing interactive and participatory MCDM processes, organisations can co-create rankings and scenarios that reconcile conflicting objectives, for example between cost minimisation and carbon footprint reduction. Practical applications range from supplier selection in high‐tech manufacturing to location planning for distribution centres and risk assessment in logistics corridors. This convergence of methodological diversity and application breadth underscores the growing strategic role of MCDM in designing resilient, efficient and sustainable supply chains.

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Multi-Criteria Decision-Making in Supply Chain Management publication trend

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Technical terms

Multi‐Criteria Decision‐Making (MCDM): A structured process for evaluating and ranking alternatives against multiple often conflicting criteria.

Fuzzy set: A mathematical framework that represents vagueness by assigning to each element a degree of membership ranging between zero and one.

Spherical fuzzy set: An extension of fuzzy sets characterised by three independent functions for membership, non-membership and indeterminacy, whose squared sum does not exceed one.

Z-number: A pair of fuzzy numbers capturing both the restriction on a variable and the reliability of that restriction in decision analysis.

Grey number: An interval representation of uncertain or incomplete information, used to model qualitative assessments when precise data are unavailable.

References

1. A Comprehensive Review of Multiple Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) Methods: Advancements, Applications, and Future Directions. Decision Making Advances (2023).
2. Approach to Multi-Attribute Decision Making Based on Spherical Fuzzy Einstein Z-Number Aggregation Information. Journal of Operations Intelligence (2024).
3. A grey combined compromise solution (CoCoSo-G) method for supplier selection in construction management. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management (2019).