Green Suppliers Evaluation by Fuzzy Clustering and TOPSIS Suppliers

Abstract

According to the concept of green supply chain, in this paper, we introduce a multi-method multiple criteria approach to develope more appropriate green supplier programs and practices. In reality, investigation into this field of study has just begun. We propose a combination of new fuzzy clustering means (FCM) better than the traditional clustering method and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) approaches for different suppliers' performance evaluation and their relationship with business, organizational attributes and performance outcomes, identifying a sets of guidelines that help make investment more judicious and efficient. Practical research implications of this work are shown in detail in the paper. Although the intention of methodology results from sustainability concerns, this method can also be applied in other areas where making decisions is based on a large sets of data.