A Hybrid Intuitionistic Fuzzy Multi-criteria Group Decision Making Approach for Supplier Selection

Due to the increasing competition of globalization, selection of the most appropriate supplier is one of the key factors for the success of a supply chain management. Due to conflicting evaluations and insufficient information about the criteria, Intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs) are considered as an impressive tool and utilized to specify the relative importance of the criteria. The aim of this paper is to develop a new approach to solving the decision making processes. Thus, an intuitionistic fuzzy multi-criteria group decision making approach is proposed. Interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy ordered weighted aggregation (IIFOWA) is utilized to aggregate individual opinions of decision makers into a group opinion. A linear programming model is used to obtain the weights of the criteria. Then, a combined approach based on GRAand TOPSIS method is introduced and applied to the ranking and selection of the alternatives. Finally a numerical example for supplier selection is given to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method. A combined method based on GRA and TOPSIS associated with intuitionistic fuzzy set has a high chance of success for multi-criteria decision-making problems since it contains vague perception of decision makers’ opinions. Therefore, intuitionistic fuzzy sets can be used for dealing with uncertainty in multi-criteria decision-making problems such as project selection, manufacturing systems, pattern recognition, medical diagnosis as well as many other areas of management decision problems.