AHP-based group decision making approach to supplier selection of irrigation equipment

Abstract

Supplier selection is a complex task which assumes decision making in presence of many conflict ing criteria and various parameters. If there are more than one decision maker, the problem shifts into a group context and it requires proper approach in mediating the decision making process and use of supporting multi criteria methods and tools. This paper proposes group decision making approach for supplier selection based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) that is combined with consensus convergence model, and two vot ing methods, non preferential approval voting and preferential Borda count. Proposed approach utilized strengths of these methods thus enabling their adaption to the specific decision problem of supplier selection. An example of selecting a supplier of irrigation equipment in the company engaged in projecting, installing and maintenance of irrigation systems is used to explain and demonstrate how proposed approach can be implemented. Furthermore, this approach is viable as sufficiently general in supporting different selection processes in a field of water planning, management, and development and it can be adapted and applied on various group decision making problems.

Water Resources and Sustainability Assessment Based on Group AHP-PCA Method: A Case Study in the Jinsha River Basin

“…Thus, it is reasonable to adopt the group AHP-PCA method to reduce dispersion, which modifies the group judgment matrix by changing the weights of the experts who join in the decision, which has been verified in the previous section. Compared with the previous studies that ignored the dispersion problem in the group AHP [17][18][19], this study proposed the group AHP-PCA method to reduce the dispersion whose validity was proved by the simulation results. Furthermore, we ranked the importance of water resources and sustainability assessment indicators, which was not done by previous studies.…”

“…Although the AHP method is used in water sustainability assessment, it is better to consult a group of experts to avoid bias and groups make better decisions than individuals, because groups are accepted to be more knowledgeable than individuals [15]. Hence, the standard AHP has been extended as group AHP in group decisions; for example, in the determination of the optimal treatment technology for chemical pollution accidents, selection of suppliers of irrigation equipment, selection of fire prevention measures for steel structures [17][18][19].…”

Proposed Method for Supplier Selection

“…So, the pairwise comparison matrix is a matrix that compares the importance of one criterion to another [12]. Usually, those who make comparisons between these criteria are professional experts who are competent in the problem of being studied or decision-makers in a company [3]. The value given by the expert or decision maker when making the comparison is in the value range 1 to 9 [1].…”

“…One of the MCDM methods that are often used in supplier selection is the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) because it is considered quite effective [2]. In the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), one criterion is compared with other criteria by decision-makers or experts in their field [3]. This comparison is to assess how high the importance of one criterion to another [4].…”

Assessment of Regional Water Resource Security: A Case Study from Hebei Province, China

“…According to the division principle of the index system, scholars have mainly conducted framework construction for water resource pressure, water resource function, economic level, and ecological regime in the past while ignoring the systematic and feedback effect between indexes at each layer [8]. In addition, the analytic hierarchy model of strong subjectivity is mainly used in index weight analysis from the research method perspective, resulting in the insufficient cognition of some factors [9]. The water resource supply and demand safety status system are a multi-factor coupling complex system in which regional economic status, eco-environmental quality, water quantity, and water quality are under a dynamic change process and the influence mechanisms between factors vary.…”