Green supplier selection with a multiple criteria decision-making method based on thermodynamic features

With the increased awareness and concerns for the environment, many companies are now incorporating environmental factors in supplier selection process. Green supplier selection will help in increasing the environmental sustainability of a company. The green supplier selection is a group multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem in which multiple experts rate suppliers on different criteria. The criteria for green supplier selection can be classified into qualitative and quantitative categories. This paper presents a methodology for green supplier selection that uses thermodynamic features like energy, exergy and entropy of qualitative and quantitative criteria. The main advantage of the proposed method is that it accounts for the quality of ratings assigned by experts. The method is not only effective in green supplier selection but also useful for resource allocation and scheduling of supplier training programs. The accuracy of the method is assessed by comparing its results with those of other MCDM methods. Finally, the stability of the method is demonstrated by carrying out a sensitivity analysis.