Evaluation of suppliers of Mazandaran Steel Industries using MADM techniques

Dissertation for receiving the master's degree in industrial management with financial orientation

Introduction

In today's industrial world, which is affected by tight industrial competition, the need to pay attention to the quality of the final product or service and its continuous improvement is of particular importance for the managers of any production or service organization. In other words, the desirability of the quality of the final product and service is no longer considered to be the main factor for success in the competition and continuous superior presence in the market, but many other effective factors have also been proposed, among which is the confidence of customers in the ability of organizations to maintain the level of quality of the product or service that they produce and supply. Based on this, it can be said that the main attention has been directed from the desirability of the quality of the final product or service to the quality of the functions and processes affecting the quality and the desired level of service, throughout the structure of the institution and in the collection of software and hardware. On the other hand, due to the intense competition, the rapid development of technology, the short production cycle and the need to provide high-level customer service, other companies cannot handle all their activities alone, so that today the competition has moved from the level of organizations to the level of the supply chain, and the desired service index is in the system-oriented system along the supply chain. In the framework of this supply chain, companies have to perform part or all of their production operations outside the organization by suppliers. It is here that companies consider their suppliers as one of the most important links in the supply chain, and therefore suppliers are responsible for a major part of performing functions and processes affecting the quality of the company's final product or service. In fact, in a supply chain, organizations are considered among the customers of suppliers, and it is obvious that any undesirable quality and service from suppliers will reach the organizations like a wave to the final customers. Experts believe that a major part of the problems of organizations are caused by poor selection and management of suppliers [49]. Therefore, organizations will try to eliminate most of their problems by surrounding the duties of suppliers, their correct selection and management. The importance of the issue of supplier selection is to the extent that a strategic and appropriate link with the appropriate suppliers can lead to the growth and prosperity of the organization, and vice versa, the lack of proper selection of suppliers can lead to the stagnation and even decline of the organization. In the first chapter, the purpose, a general statement of the research including issues such as statement of the problem, importance and necessity of the research, research objectives, research questions and so on. is for the reader to get familiar with its general structure. 1-2: Statement of the problem The supplier selection problem consists of several indicators, each of these indicators may be divided into sub-indexes. Each of these indicators and sub-indicators has its own weight and influence in the supplier selection process. In real problems and in a supplier selection system, its components may be affected by each other and have mutual effects [69]. In past researches that have been done with multi-indicator decision making and other methods, the selection indicators are mostly assumed to be independent from each other and their impact on each other and on the selection process has been given less attention. While most of the indicators are not independent from each other and the combined effect they have on each other and as a result on the entire evaluation process should be considered [78].

1-3: The importance and necessity of research

Today, supply chain management is a very vital and influential element in the strategies of organizations and is one of the most effective ways to create value for customers. The supply chain structure consists of potential suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, customers, etc. and suppliers as one of the important members of the supply chain play a very fundamental role in achieving the goals of a supply chain [9]. Choosing a suitable supplier can increase the value created in a supply chain, the benefit of which will reach all the components involved in the supply chain.

As a result, the evaluation and selection of suitable suppliers and strategic links with them is an undeniable part of a supply chain, which can improve performance in many cases, including: reducing costs by eliminating waste, continuously improving quality in order to achieve a zero defect rate, improving flexibility in order to satisfy the needs of end customers, reducing delay time in various stages of the supply chain, and so on. [12] [.

1-4: research objectives

1-4-1- General objectives

The purpose of this research is to use a combined model of multi-indicator decision making techniques to evaluate and rank raw material suppliers of Mazandaran Steel Industries. It is worth mentioning that in the first steps, the evaluation and ranking of the effective indicators have also been discussed. The best supplier

Inspection and study of multi-indicator decision-making methods and models and choosing the appropriate method or combination of methods

1-5: Research questions

What are the quantitative and qualitative indicators for evaluating and ranking suppliers?

What are the appropriate standards for evaluating and selecting suppliers?

How important is each of the indicators?

What is the method of prioritizing suppliers?

What are the sensitive indicators in determining the rank of suppliers?

1-6: Organizations using the research results

Due to the applicability of this research, all companies and organizations that receive their services and raw materials outside the organization can use the results of this research. Since the relationship with a suitable supplier is one of the vital components of a supply chain, this research is very useful for organizations that want to achieve a competitive advantage through the correct management of the supply chain.

Also, because the recent research uses a multi-indicator decision-making structure for supplier selection, it can be used in all decisions in which the decision-maker is faced with a complex, multi-indicator structure and the influence of indicators on each other.

1-7: The spatial scope of the research

The spatial scope of the current research is the suppliers of raw materials of Mazandaran Steel Industries Company.

1-8: The temporal scope of the research

The current research is considered trans-temporal in terms of the temporal scope, but the questionnaire data is in the time range from October 2013 to the end of 2011.

1-9: Description Key words of the research

Supply chain: includes two or more organizations that are legally separate from each other and are connected by material, financial and information flows, and their purpose is to provide a service or product to the final customer [47]. They are coordinated in such a way that the products are produced and distributed in the right quantities, at the right time and at the right place, so as to achieve customer satisfaction [47].

Supplier: refers to an organization that provides the goods needed by another organization in the right amount, at the right time and under the required conditions [61].

Supplier evaluation: It is a set of measures taken by managers and purchasing agents in line with the strategic goals of the organization, including reducing costs, meeting customer needs, and increasing customer satisfaction are done in order to identify the supplier [61].

Supplier selection: the process of finding the appropriate supplier or suppliers that have the greatest degree of compliance with the desired indicators of the organization [61][.

Multi-indicator decision making: a branch of decision-making science that includes a set of methods whose purpose is to choose the best option among several options by considering The indicators are desirable [11].

1-10: Limitations of the research

Regarding the scope of the research topic and the breadth and number of decision-making indicators, the researcher has focused on a certain number of indicators in the decision-making process. But one of the most important problems of the research was the lack of quick and easy access to information, which exists in all researches in different fields in the country, which is caused by the lack of information or the lack of cooperation of the information holders with the researchers. During the research, the researcher has tried to inform the experts and managers of the organization about the importance and effects of the research topic on the progress of the organization so that the problem of non-cooperation of some experts or managers can be solved to some extent.