Suppliers ranking in production systems by Fuzzy TOPSIS method, case study: underground coal mines Resavica-Serbia

Abstract

Selection and evaluation of suppliers is a complex issue that depends mostly on the quality of the decision-making process. The aim of this paper is to point to the possibility of applying multi-criteria analysis (Fuzzy TOPSIS method) for the selection of suppliers operating in mining systems in the case of the Public Company for Underground Coal Mining Resavica (JPPEU Resavica) -Serbia. Ranking of companies is done based on ten criteria, and it is considered a five suppliers (Supplier 1; Supplier 2; Supplier 3; Supplier 4; Supplier 5). The criteria cover the most important aspects of suppliers selection such as: management and organization, quality, technical ability, production facilities and capacity, financial position, delivery, service, relationship-connectivity, security and environmental protection and price. In doing so, it is used the experts knowledge from JPPEU Resavica to determine the significance and impact of certain criteria to the process of supplier selection and evaluation of suppliers in regard to each criterion. Fuzzy TOPSIS method was used for the final ranking of suppliers. The best elected supplier was the Supplier 4. The obtained results indicate that the proposed method gives excellent results and can be used for solving various, and the most complex problems that occur in mining systems, as well as in other production systems.