The evaluation and ranking of medical device suppliers by using fuzzy topsis methodology

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Tadić, Danijela | Stefanović, Miladin | Aleksić, Aleksandar

Affiliations: Faculty of Engineering, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia

Note: [] Corresponding author. Danijela Tadić, PhD, Faculty of Engineering, University of Kragujevac, Kragujevac, Serbia. Tel.: +381 34 302 590; Fax: +381 34 331 772; E-mails: galovic@kg.ac.rs; miladin@kg.ac.rs (Miladin Stefanović); aaleksic@kg.ac.rs (Aleksandar Aleksić).

Abstract: The aim of this study is to propose a fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making approach (MCDM) to evaluate suppliers of one kind of medical device with respect to numerous criteria, simultaneously taking into account the type of each criteria and its relative importance. Two fuzzy MCDM methods are proposed for solving the treated problem. In the first step, the fuzzy pair-wise comparison matrix of the relative importance of criteria is constructed. The weight vector is calculated by using the developed procedure, and in the second step, the fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS) is applied in order to rank possible suppliers of the considered kind of medical device. The rank is obtained using the process of fuzzy number comparison. A case study with real-life data is presented to verify the proposed method.

Keywords: Medical device selection, fuzzy sets, fuzzy TOPSIS, degree of belief

DOI: 10.3233/IFS-141174

Journal: Journal of Intelligent & Fuzzy Systems, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 2091-2101, 2014