This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Highlights  Proposing a novel integration of Z numbers and Best Worst Method.  The method results in lower inconsistency.  The uncertainty of the real word decisions is considered in the proposed method.

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The overall objective of this paper is to introduce a customer oriented supplier selection method. Although the supplier selection problem has previously been investigated, an effective solution to consider the dynamics of Customer Needs (CNs) in finding the best supplier has not yet been proposed. Such a method takes into account customer needs as a determinant factor in finding the best supplier and considers possible changes in the priorities of customer needs as time passes. In this study a method integrating the analytic network process (ANP), quality function deployment (QFD), and a Markov chain is used to address the supplier selection problem. This proposed method utilizes a Markov chain to trace the changing-priorities of customer needs and find a pattern for them. The ANP-QFD method then connects this pattern to product requirements (PRs) and PRs to supplier qualifications. This combination develops a customer based supplier selection method. The best supplier is selected based on the changing-priorities of customer needs. Although the customer needs priorities keeps changing, one supplier is selected as the best one. This study introduces an innovative customer based approach to select the best supplier that is independent of initial CNs.