[pt] O Sistema de Medição de Desempenho de Fornecedores (SMDF) é uma ferramenta para avaliar, medir e monitorar o desempenho dos fornecedores. O interesse em SMDF é grande na academia, tornando-se um tema frequente na literatura. Contudo, ainda existem lacunas pouco exploradas por pesquisadores no tema, como a fase de revisão de um SMDF e a sua aplicação no setor público. Neste contexto, a presente pesquisa de mestrado avalia a eficácia da fase de revisão de um SMDF de uma empresa estatal brasileira de grande porte, que precisou se adequar às alterações legislativas e aos feedbacks de suas equipes de gestão contratual, compradores e fornecedores, buscando aumentar a confiança do sistema junto a estas partes interessadas. Com o suporte da literatura e o trabalho colaborativo de diversos departamentos da empresa, esta pesquisa-ação acompanhou cinco intervenções realizadas no SMDF corrente da empresa, sendo elas o aumento da transparência, a melhoria na tempestividade das avaliações, a implementação da funcionalidade de revisão de avaliações, a implementação da funcionalidade de justificativas de avaliações, e a revisão dos questionários e métricas de avaliações. Como resultado das intervenções, observou-se melhoria no relacionamento com os fornecedores, o aumento significativo no uso do Índice de Desempenho de Fornecedores (IDF) como critério seleção e habilitação de fornecedores, e o aumento no desempenho de contratos novos e em andamento. O trabalho oferece um framework, inspirado na teoria organizacional das contingências, apresentando o contexto inicial, as intervenções realizadas através da ótica das dimensões Humana, Tecnológica e Organizacional, e os resultados identificados, propiciando orientações e implicações diretas para praticantes da indústria e pesquisadores acadêmicos e reduzindo a lacuna entre teoria e prática. / [en] The Supplier Performance Measurement System (SPMS) is a tool for assessing, measuring, and monitoring supplier performance. There is great interest in SPMS in the academia, becoming a frequent theme in the literature. However, there are still gaps little explored by researchers in the subject, such as the review phase of an SPMS and its application in the public sector. In this context, this master s research evaluates the effectiveness of the review phase of an SPMS of a large Brazilian state-owned company, which had to adapt to legislative changes and feedback from its contract management teams, buyers and suppliers, seeking to increase the confidence of the system with these stakeholders. With the support of the literature and the collaborative work of several departments, the company carried out five interventions in the SPMS, including raising its transparency, improving the timing of assessments, implementation of the assessment review functionality, implementation of the assessment justifications functionality, and review of questionnaires and evaluation metrics. As a result of the interventions, there was an improvement in the relationship with suppliers, the significant increase in the use of the Supplier Performance Index (SPI) as a criterion for selecting and enabling suppliers and increasing the performance of new and ongoing contracts. This research offers a framework, inspired by the organizational contingency theory, presenting the initial context, interventions performed through the perspective of Human, Technological and Organizational dimensions (HTO), and the identified results, which provides guidance and direct implications for industry practitioners and academic researchers, reducing the gap between theory and practice.

No description available.

In the context of recent global disruptions, enhancing supply chain resilience has become critical for businesses. This thesis proposes a conceptual model for implementing a Digital Twin (DT) in the supplier selection process to enhance supply chain resilience. By integrating real-time monitoring, scenario testing, and collaborative platforms, the model addresses three main pillars of supply chain resilience: SC Visibility, SC Agility, and SC Collaboration. The research employs a systematic literature review for the identification of the three pillars and the development of the Supplier Management Digital Twin (SMDT) framework. The findings suggest that the DT can significantly improve supply chain visibility through continuous KPI monitoring, enhance agility by simulating disruption scenarios, and foster collaboration via shared data platforms. Additionally, a case study on the supplier selection process was conducted, through semi-structured interviews, that when applied through the SMDT framework showcased what factors in the supplier selection process that can be applied to a DT. This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of DTs in Supply Chain Management and offers practical insights for managers seeking to enhance resilience to their supply chain. Future research could explore greater insights from DT experts and implementation through simulation models to further validate and expand the model's utility. / I samband med dagens globala störningar har förbättringen av leveranskedjans motståndskraft blivit mer kritiskt än någonsin för världens företag. Denna rapport föreslår en konceptuell modell för att implementera en Digital Tvilling (DT) i leverantörsvalprocessen för att stärka leveranskedjans motståndskraft. Genom att integrera realtidsövervakning, scenariotestning och samarbetsplattformar adresserar modellen tre grundpelare av leveranskedjans motståndskraft: Synlighet, Agilitet och Samarbete. Rapporten använder en systematisk litteraturstude för att identifiera de tre grundpelarna samt utveckla ett ramverk för en DT. Resultaten tyder på att en DT avsevärt kan förbättra leveranskedjans synlighet genom kontinuerlig KPI-övervakning, öka agiliteten genom att simulera scenarier av olika störningar och främja samarbetet via en delad plattform. Dessutom genomfördes en fallstudie av leverantörvalsprocessen genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer, vilket via en analys av Leverantörshanterings DT-ramverket visar vilka faktorer i leverantörvalsprocessen som kan tillämpas på en DT. Denna studie bidrar till den teoretiska kunskapen av DT:ar i leveranskedjehantering och erbjuder praktiska insikter för chefer som söker att öka motståndskraften i sin leveranskedja. Framtida forskning kan utforska djupare insikter från DT-experter och testa implementering genom simuleringsmodeller för att ytterligare validera och utöka modellens användbarhet.

關於供應商評選模式的探討與研究，是現今於供應鏈管理中非常重要的議題，而對於國內外供應商評選的相關性研究中，往往只考量供應商本身績效，而缺乏整體性的考量，有鑑於此，當企業在評選供應商時，不僅是針對單一供應商績效的考量，而對於供應商本身上下游廠商的整體績效的考量，也是相當重要的評選因素。本研究運用資料包絡分析法(Data Envelopment Analysis, DEA)與簡易多屬性評等技術(Simple Multi-Attribute Rating, SMART)，以建構較完整的供應商評選模式，協助企業的決策者選擇最適的供應商。 在進行供應商與供應商所屬的供應鏈之績效評估時，利用資料包絡分析法中的交叉模式計算供應商與供應商所屬的供應鏈之平均效率，再藉由平均效率值以排序供應商與供應商所屬的供應鏈之優先順位，但因兩者之順序會產生不一致的情形，利用SMART法中的排序加總法計算兩者之權重值，最後以加總法計算綜合效率值，依據綜合效率值加以排序以評選最適的供應商，而此兩種方法的結合， 則需透過驗證的方式以確定運用之正確性，利用系統動力學(System Dynamics, SD)以建構供應鏈之整體廠商的經營環境，模擬供應鏈整體廠商之績效評估模式，以產生模擬驗證排序，最後再將綜合排序與驗證排序，利用Spearman等級相關係數驗證其相關性，而最終證明兩排序具有高度相關性，也證實本研究所提出的供應商評選模式富有參考價值。 / The research of supplier selection model is a very important issue in supply chain management (SCM). Even though the research on supplier selection is abundant, the most works usually only consider the performance of the supplier. This situation can result in a lack of integral deliberation. Therefore, the decision-maker wants to select his vendor in the company, it is important that the decision-maker not only focus on the business unit but also add to the overall organization of the supply chain. In this paper the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and the Simple Multi-Attribute Rating (SMART) are developed to construct the effective supplier evaluation model depends upon the constituent parts of the supply chain, which may be helpful for selecting the appropriate vendor. When evaluating the performance of the supplier and the supplier’s supply chain, the cross-efficiency model of DEA is applied to compute average efficiency both the supplier and the supply chain. According to average efficiency, we can arrange the priority order that may be have the inconsistent order for the suppliers and their supply chains. The rank sum weighting of SMART is employed to determine the weights of suppliers and their chains and then the weighted method is used to calculate overall efficiency that ranking of the suppliers is obtained. Above of two methods, we must be verify the model. The System Dynamics (SD) is designed to implement the whole components of the supply chain for business environment and simulate the performance model. Based on this performance model, we can acquire a confirmation list. In the end, the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient is provided to testify the correlation between the overall order and the confirmation list. The result of the statistic analysis is illustrated the strength of the association. The model can be tailored and applied by firms that are making decisions on supplier selection.

整個產業的競爭已由企業個體對企業個體，轉變為供應者與購買者結合而成的供應鏈與供應鏈間的競爭，因此整個供應鏈管理被認為是一個新競爭優勢的來源。建構供應鏈管理之首要活動為供應商的評估與選擇，選擇良好的供應商為供應鏈運作順暢與發揮最大效益的基礎，因此如何選擇具有發展潛力的供應商以幫助自身策略之達成便格外重要。除慎選供應商外，為使供應商達到並維持企業設立之多項標準，企業尚須投入努力以執行供應商發展活動，藉以提升供應商之績效和能力，且企業亦須定期地仔細監督和評估供應商之績效，以確保現有供應商能符合企業之需求及未來非預期之需求。 企業與供應商並非保持單一關係類型，而是維持一個不同關係類型的組合，因而為了達到最適之供應商管理效率和效果，且分配最適之資源給不同的供應商，企業須針對不同關係類型之供應商採取不同之供應商管理模式。 本研究採個案研究法，再輔以問卷分析加以支持。以國內某資訊電子企業為對象，探討伴隨供應商與企業之關係類型不同，企業採取之供應商選擇評估標準、供應商發展活動以及供應商績效評估制度各為何以及有何異同，經整理分析，發現之結果如下： 一、個案公司與供應商之關係類型可分為三類。 二、個案公司對供應商之選擇評估標準會隨著與供應商之關係類型不同 而有所不同。 三、個案公司對供應商採行之供應商發展活動會隨著與供應商之關係類型 不同而有所不同。 四、個案公司對供應商採行之供應商績效評估項目會隨著與供應商之關 係類型不同而有所不同。 五、個案公司與其供應商之間，對於個案公司所採取之供應商管理制度具 有一些認知上差異。 六、個案公司對策略夥伴型供應商，在選擇評估標準、績效評估項目上重 視及要求的程度皆最高，且對其執行之發展活動亦最為頻繁。 / Competition in the industry is changing from among firms to among supply chains forming by suppliers and buyers. Thus, supply chain management is increasingly recognized as an important source of a firm’s competition advantage. The first step of supply chain management is to select and evaluate suppliers. Since selecting good suppliers is the basis of running supply chain smoothly and creating maximum benefits; therefore, how to select potential suppliers to help achieving the strategy goal has become the most important thing. Besides selecting suppliers carefully, in order to attaining and maintaining various standards set up by firms, they have to put effort to implement supplier development activities to promote the performance and abilities of suppliers. Also, firms must monitor and evaluate supplier performance carefully and regularly to ensure that its current suppliers are meeting the needs and unexpected future needs of the firm. Firms do not have a “one-size-fits-all” strategy for relationship types with suppliers, but manage a portfolio of relationships. Firms should adopt different types of supplier management in accordance with types of relationships to achieve the objective of managing supply chain efficiently and effectively and distribute proper resources to suppliers. This study uses case study research, and is supported by the questionnaire. This study takes certain electronic enterprise as the object company, and tries to discuss that with different relationship types between suppliers and firms, what will be the selection criterion, the development activity, and the performance evaluation system for suppliers; moreover, how are they different. Through collection and analysis, we found the following conclusions: 1.The types of relationship can be divided into three types. 2.Supplier selection criteria adopted by the firm are different from types of relationships. 3.Supplier development activities implemented by the firm are different from types of relationships. 4.Supplier performance evaluation items adopted by the firm are different from types of relationships 5.There are little agreements between the firm and it’s suppliers as for the supplier management system. 6.On the selection criterion and performance evaluation items, the firm pays most attention and requires most on strategic partnership suppliers. Moreover, the development activities are most frequently executed.

In this thesis, we study three supply chain planning problems. The first two problems fall in the tactical planning level, while the third one falls in the strategic/tactical level. We present a direct application for the first two planning problems in the wind turbines industry. For the third problem, we show how it can be applied to supply chains in the food industry. Many countries and localities have the explicitly stated goal of increasing the fraction of their electrical power that is generated by wind turbines. This has led to a rapid growth in the manufacturing and installation of wind turbines. The globally installed capacity for the manufacturing of different components of the wind turbine is nearly fully utilized. Because of the large penalties for missing delivery deadlines for wind turbines, the effective planning of its supply chain has a significant impact on the profitability of the turbine manufacturers. Motivated by the planning challenges faced by one of the world’s largest manufacturers of wind turbines, we present a comprehensive tactical supply chain planning model for manufacturing of wind turbines in the first part of this thesis. The model is multi-period, multi-echelon, and multi-commodity. Furthermore, the model explicitly incorporates backorder penalties with a general cost structure, i.e., the cost structure does not have to be linear in function of the backorder delay. To the best of our knowledge, modeling-based supply chain planning has not been applied to wind turbines, nor has a model with all the above mentioned features been described in the literature. Based on real-world data, we present numerical results that show the significant impact of the capability to model backorder penalties with general cost structures on the overall cost of supply chains for wind turbines. With today’s rapidly changing global market place, it is essential to model uncertainty in supply chain planning. In the second part of this thesis, we develop a two-stage stochastic programming model for the comprehensive tactical planning of supply chains under supply uncertainty. In the first stage, procurement decisions are made while in the second stage, production, inventory, and delivery decisions are made. The considered supply uncertainty combines supplier random yields and stochastic lead times, and is thus the most general form of such uncertainty to date. We apply our model to the same wind turbines supply chain. We illustrate theoretical and numerical results that show the impact of supplier uncertainty/unreliability on the optimal procurement decisions. We also quantify the value of modeling uncertainty versus deterministic planning. Supplier selection with quantity discounts has been an active research problem in the operations research community. In this the last part of this thesis, we focus on a new quantity discounts scheme offered by suppliers in some industries. Suppliers are selected for a strategic planning period (e.g., 5 years). Fixed costs associated with suppliers’ selection are paid. Orders are placed monthly from any of the chosen suppliers, but the quantity discounts are based on the aggregated annual order quantities. We incorporate all this in a multi-period multi-product multi-echelon supply chain planning problem and develop a mixed integer programming (MIP) model for it. Leading commercial MIP solvers take 40 minutes on average to get any feasible solution for realistic instances of our model. With the aim of getting high-quality feasible solutions quickly, we develop an algorithm that constructs a good initial solution and three other iterative algorithms that improve this initial solution and are capable of getting very fast high quality primal solutions. Two of the latter three algorithms are based on MIP-based local search and the third algorithm incorporates a variable neighborhood Descent (VND) combining the first two. We present numerical results for a set of instances based on a real-world supply chain in the food industry and show the efficiency of our customized algorithms. The leading commercial solver CPLEX finds only a very few feasible solutions that have lower total costs than our initial solution within a three hours run time limit. All our iterative algorithms well outperform CPLEX. The VND algorithm has the best average performance. Its average relative gap to the best known feasible solution is within 1% in less than 40 minutes of computing time.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Technology: Public Management, Durban University of Technology, 2017. / The world over, countries are burdened with existing and emerging diseases and while that affected all nations, sub-Saharan Africa carried the heaviest portion. This filtered to Zimbabwe where a myriad of health challenges are faced. Unavailability of medicines coupled with poor inventory management of these medicines has been prevalent. Insufficient financial resources and increasing cost of healthcare costs is one of the pressing matters. It is also important to note that these challenges are occurring at a time when government is realising the crucial role of procurement in addressing health challenges. Due to the extent, depth, breadth and nature of the health challenges and their criticality in establishing sustainable and affordable health system in Zimbabwe, a case study approach has been adopted where data from questionnaires, interviews, documents and observations were corroborated and triangulated in an effort to bring to the surface deep-seated procurement matters and how they are related to the challenges provided. Thus, in terms of the research findings, it was first revealed that the procurement legislative frameworks and processes are fragmented and not in one place resulting in multiple accountabilities. It was further shown that the framework is inappropriate in a healthcare set-up where issues of speed and flexibility in addressing requirements are paramount. It was also shown that procurement planning being a critical aspect is regrettably and detrimentally missing in procurements. In addition, the selection criteria as set out in the regulations and practiced by individual state health facilities indicated over-reliance on price and that being the case, key aspects such as quality and supply-lead time are missed and yet are very necessary in terms of evaluation among other factors. In the findings, the peripheral role of procurement staff with clinicians being also at the epicentre of purchasing decisions was presented. Perhaps related to that was the inadequacy of procurement skills and competences from the procurement personnel. Last on the findings, financing and the frequency of disbursement was unmatched with hospital requirements and thus resulting in unavailability of adequate medicines and equipment. / D

Tesis por compendio / [ES] Los métodos multicriterio proporcionan un enfoque analítico y estructurado para la toma de decisiones en la gestión de la cadena de suministro, que permiten evaluaciones basadas en múltiples criterios, esenciales para gestionar socios comerciales sostenibles. El objetivo de esta tesis es contribuir a la gestión sostenible de la cadena de suministro desarrollando nuevos modelos y técnicas multicriterio para evaluar proveedores y clientes. Se han diseñado modelos que incorporan las preferencias empresariales para tomar decisiones colaborativas en la selección y clasificación transparente de alternativas basadas en criterios sostenibles. También se han desarrollado métodos para clasificar las alternativas en grupos ordenados y evaluar su calidad. Tanto los modelos como los métodos se han validado mediante casos empíricos y comparado con enfoques alternativos. La metodología se basa en una profunda revisión bibliográfica y en el conocimiento experto de profesionales en la cadena de suministro. Los modelos multicriterio propuestos emplean técnicas como el Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), la Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) y PROMETHEE. También se han desarrollado tres algoritmos para la clasificación de alternativas (nominal y ordenada). En primer lugar, se ha propuesto un modelo multicriterio híbrido y se ha validado con datos reales para homologar y seleccionar proveedores de tecnología, así como para su priorización y clasificación. Este modelo integra métodos compensatorios (AHP, MAUT) y no compensatorios (PROMETHEE, FlowSort) en una jerarquía con criterios de sostenibilidad. La validación del modelo en un contexto real y su comparación con un modelo alternativo ha demostrado su capacidad para proporcionar información relevante y transparente en la toma de decisiones para la evaluación sostenible de proveedores de tecnología en el sector bancario. En segundo lugar, se ha diseñado un nuevo algoritmo, denominado Global Local Net Flow sorting (GLNF sorting), que clasifica alternativas en grupos ordenados a partir de los flujos netos generados en búsquedas globales y locales con PROMETHEE. Adicionalmente, se ha diseñado el algoritmo SILhouette for Sorting (SILS) para calcular un índice de calidad en las clasificaciones. Ambos algoritmos se han validado empíricamente en la segmentación de proveedores y sus resultados se han comparado con otros métodos publicados. Por una parte, GLNF sorting destaca al mejorar la discriminación entre proveedores cercanos a los perfiles limitantes de los grupos, aprovechando el nivel de similitud preferencial entre alternativas. Por otra, SILS mejora la calidad de las asignaciones y permite un análisis detallado que facilita la toma de decisiones. En tercer lugar, se ha propuesto un sistema de segmentación de clientes B2B basado en transacciones y colaboración, aplicando AHP y GLNF sorting. Validado con 8,157 clientes de una multinacional, se ha evaluado con SILS y estadística descriptiva. Comparado con K-means, el modelo genera clasificaciones más homogéneas y robustas. Esta herramienta permite a las empresas automatizar decisiones y llevar a cabo análisis detallados para mejorar las relaciones con los clientes, alineándose con sus estrategias de colaboración y enfoques de mercado. En cuarto lugar, las búsquedas globales y locales se han utilizado para proponer un algoritmo de clasificación nominal basado dos dimensiones, que proporciona una matriz estratégica muy útil para los gestores de cadena de suministro. Por último, se ha desarrollado el paquete de software PrometheeTools en R, que automatiza la aplicación de PROMETHEE, GLNF sorting y SILS para resolver problemas multicriterio de priorización y clasificación de alternativas. Este paquete se ha validado con éxito y destaca por su eficiencia en PROMETHEE con miles de alternativas. Está disponible en acceso abierto en el repositorio CRAN para su utilización por investigadores y profesionales interesados en toma de decisiones multicriterio. / [CA] Els mètodes multicriteri proporcionen un enfocament analític i estructurat per a la presa de decisions en la gestió de la cadena de subministrament, que permeten avaluacions basades en múltiples criteris, essencials per a gestionar socis comercials sostenibles. L'objectiu d'aquesta tesi és contribuir a la gestió sostenible de la cadena de subministrament desenvolupant nous models i tècniques multicriteri per a avaluar proveïdors i clients. S'han dissenyat models que incorporen les preferències empresarials per a prendre decisions col·laboratives en la selecció i classificació transparent d'alternatives basades en criteris sostenibles. També s'han desenvolupat mètodes per a classificar les alternatives en grups ordenats i avaluar-ne la qualitat. Tant els models com els mètodes s'han validat mitjançant casos empírics i comparat amb enfocaments alternatius. La metodologia es basa en una profunda revisió bibliogràfica i en el coneixement expert de professionals en la cadena de subministrament. Els models multicriteri proposats empren tècniques com ara el procés analític jeràrquic (AHP), la teoria d'utilitat multiatribut (MAUT) i PROMETHEE. També s'han desenvolupat tres algoritmes per a la classificació d'alternatives (nominal i ordenada). En primer lloc, s'ha proposat un model multicriteri híbrid i s'ha validat amb dades reals per a homologar i seleccionar proveïdors de tecnologia, així com per a la seua priorització i classificació. Aquest model integra mètodes compensatoris (AHP, MAUT) i no compensatoris (PROMETHEE, FlowSort) en una jerarquia amb criteris de sostenibilitat. La validació del model en un context real i la seua comparació amb un model alternatiu n'ha demostrat la capacitat per a proporcionar informació rellevant i transparent en la presa de decisions per a l'avaluació sostenible de proveïdors de tecnologia en el sector bancari. En segon lloc, s'ha dissenyat un nou algoritme, denominat Global Local Net Flow sorting (GLNF sorting), que classifica alternatives en grups ordenats a partir dels fluxos nets generats en cerques globals i locals amb PROMETHEE. Addicionalment, s'ha dissenyat l'algoritme SILhouette for Sorting (SILS) per a calcular un índex de qualitat en les classificacions. Ambdós algoritmes s'han validat empíricament en la segmentació de proveïdors i els seus resultats s'han comparat amb altres mètodes publicats. D'una banda, GLNF sorting destaca en millorar la discriminació entre proveïdors pròxims als perfils limitants dels grups, que aprofita el nivell de similitud preferencial entre alternatives. De l'altra, SILS millora la qualitat de les assignacions i permet una anàlisi detallada que facilita la presa de decisions. En tercer lloc, s'ha proposat un sistema de segmentació de clients B2B basat en transaccions i col·laboració, aplicant AHP i GLNF sorting. Validat amb 8,157 clients d'una multinacional, s'ha avaluat amb SILS i estadística descriptiva. Comparat amb K-means, el model genera classificacions més homogènies i robustes. Aquesta eina permet a les empreses automatitzar decisions i portar a cap anàlisis detallades per a millorar les relacions amb els clients, que s'alineen amb les seues estratègies de col·laboració i enfocaments de mercat. En quart lloc, les cerques globals i locals s'han utilitzat per a proposar un algoritme de classificació nominal basat en dues dimensions, que proporciona una matriu estratègica molt útil per als gestors de la cadena de subministrament. Finalment, s'ha desenvolupat el paquet de programari PrometheeTools en R, que automatitza l'aplicació de PROMETHEE, GLNF sorting i SILS per a resoldre problemes multicriteri de priorització i classificació d'alternatives. Aquest paquet s'ha validat amb èxit i destaca per la seua eficiència en PROMETHEE amb milers d'alternatives. Està disponible en accés obert en el repositori CRAN per a la utilització per investigadors i professionals interessats en la presa de decisions multicriteri. / [EN] Multicriteria methods provide an analytical and structured approach to decision making in supply chain management. These techniques allow multicriteria evaluations, which are essential for choosing and managing sustainable business partners. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to sustainable supply chain management by developing new multicriteria models and techniques to assess suppliers and customers. Models have been designed in order to incorporate business preferences to make collaborative decisions in the transparent selection and ranking of alternatives based on sustainable criteria. New methods have also been developed to classify alternatives into ordered groups and to assess their quality. Both models and methods have been validated using empirical cases and compared with alternative approaches. The methodology is based on an in-depth literature review, as well as the expertise of supply chain professionals. The proposed multicriteria models integrate techniques such as the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP), Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) and the PROMETHEE method. Three new algorithms have also been developed for classifying alternatives into nominal and ordered groups (sorting problem). Firstly, a hybrid multicriteria model has been proposed and validated with real data for technology supplier qualifying, selection and ranking. This model integrates compensatory (AHP, MAUT) and non-compensatory (PROMETHEE, FlowSort) methods in a hierarchy with sustainability criteria to evaluate products, suppliers and manufacturers. Validation of the model in a real context and its comparison with an alternative model has demonstrated its ability to provide relevant and transparent information for decision making in the sustainable evaluation of technology suppliers in the banking sector. Secondly, a new algorithm has been designed, called Global Local Net Flow sorting (GLNF sorting), which classifies alternatives into ordered groups based on the net flows generated in global and local searches with PROMETHEE. In addition, the SILhouette for Sorting (SILS) algorithm has been designed to calculate a quality index in the classifications. Both algorithms have been empirically validated in supplier segmentation and their results compared with other published methods. On the one hand, the GLNF sorting algorithm excels in improving the discrimination between suppliers close to the limiting profiles by exploiting the level of preference similarity between alternatives. On the other, SILS improves the quality of alternative assignments to groups, allows for a detailed analysis of suppliers and facilitates decision making. Thirdly, a customer segmentation model based on transactions and collaboration has been proposed in the Business to Business context, applying AHP and GLNF sorting. Validated with 8,157 customers of a multinational company, it has been assessed by SILS and descriptive statistics. This model generates more homogeneous and robust groups than the K-means cluster method. This tool enables companies to automate decisions and perform detailed analysis to improve customer relationships, aligning with their collaboration strategies and market approaches. Fourthly, global and local searches have been used to propose an algorithm for nominal classification based on two dimensions, which provides a very useful strategic matrix for supply chain managers. Finally, the PrometheeTools software package has been developed in R, which automates the implementation of PROMETHEE, GLNF sorting and SILS to solve multicriteria problems of alternatives ranking and classification. This package has been successfully validated and stands out for the efficiency in PROMETHEE and especially when solving problems with thousands of alternatives. It is available by open access in the CRAN repository for use by researchers and practitioners interested in multicriteria decision making. / Barrera Jimenez, IF. (2024). Multicriteria Techniques for Sustainable Supply Chain Management [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/202879 / Compendio

ABSTRACT In this case study, various strategic methods that influence procurement, purchase and choice of suppliers are discussed. The aim of the study is to provide a clear picture and depiction of different strategies and tools that SMEs can use to increase competitiveness. In this study, a qualitative research method has been used where no measurements or tests have been conducted. The analysis in this case study concludes that the choice of suppliers and procurement strategies for a small and medium enterprises (SME) is not always an easy task, a lot of components should be considered when making a strategy. Although many theories and methods often claim that the economic factors are important, this study shows that it may be good idea for companies and organizations to see the full picture and consider certain other factors into account. The conclusion also shows that small food business companies often is affected by certain criteria like delivery security and lead time. Many of the factor that are value adding to SMEs has been shown in this study to be determined by the customer. This study is suitable for readers who work with purchase strategies and supplier choices. The reader gets through reading this study insight into different strategy related contexts that are adapted to small and medium enterprises (SME). Further research on the subject can be applied with the help of this study using both the methodological and theoretical frameworks. The results and conclusions may also be of importance in further research.

Artificial Intelligence technology has become increasingly important from a business perspective. In strategic sourcing, the technology has not been explored much. However, 67% of CPO:s in a survey showed that AI is one of their top priorities the next 10 years. AI can be used to identify patterns, predict prices and provide support in decision making. A qualitative case study has been performed in a strategic sourcing function at a large size global industrial company where the purpose has been to investigate how applicable AI is in the strategic sourcing process at The Case Company. In order to achieve the purpose of this study, it has been important to understand the strategic sourcing process and understand what AI technology is and what it is capable of in strategic sourcing. Based on the empirical data collection combined with literature, opportunities of applying AI in strategic sourcing have been identified and key areas for an implementation have been suggested. These include Forecasting, Spend Analysis & Savings Tracking, Supplier Risk Management, Supplier Identification & Selection, RFQ process, Negotiation process, Contract Management and Supplier Performance Management. These key areas have followed the framework identified in the literature study while identifying and adding new factors. It also seemed important to consider factors such as challenges and risks, readiness and maturity as well as factors that seems to be important to consider in order to enable an implementation. To assess how mature and ready the strategic sourcing function is for an implementation, some of the previous digital projects including AI technologies have been mapped and analysed. Based on the identified key areas of opportunities of applying AI, use cases and corresponding benefits of applying AI have been suggested. A guideline including important factors to consider if applying the technology has also been provided. However, it has been concluded that there might be beneficial to start with a smaller use case and then scale it up. Also as the strategic sourcing function has been establishing a spend analytics platform for the indirect team, there might be a good start to evaluate that project and then apply AI on top of the existing solution. Other factors to consider are ensuring data quality and security, align with top management as well as demonstrate the advantages AI can provide in terms of increased efficiency and cost savings. The entire strategic sourcing function should be involved in an AI project and the focus should not only be on technological aspect but also on soft factors including change management and working agile in order to successfully apply AI in strategic sourcing. / Artificiell Intelligens har blivit allt viktigare ur ett affärsperspektiv. När det gäller strategiskt inköp har tekniken inte undersökts lika mycket tidigare. Hursomhelst, 67% av alla tillfrågade CPO:er i en enkät ansåg att AI är en av deras topprioriteringar de kommande tio åren. AI kan exempelvis identifiera mönster, förutspå priser samt ge support inom beslutsfattning. En kvalitativ fallstudie har utförts i en strategisk inköpsfunktion hos ett globalt industriföretag där syftet har varit att undersöka hur tillämpbart AI är i strategiskt inköp hos Case-Företaget. För att uppnå syftet med denna studie har det varit viktigt att förstå vad den strategiska inköpsprocessen omfattas av samt vad AI-teknologi är och vad den är kapabel till inom strategiskt inköp. Därför har litteraturstudien gjorts för att undersöka hur man använt AI inom strategiskt inköp tidigare och vilka fördelar som finns. Baserat på empirisk datainsamling kombinerat med litteratur har nyckelområden för att applicera AI inom strategiskt inköp föreslagits inkluderat forecasting, spendanalys & besparingsspårning, riskhantering av leverantörer, leverantörsidentifikation och val, RFQ-processen, förhandlingsprocessen, kontrakthantering samt uppföljning av leverantörsprestation. Dessa nyckelområden har följt det ramverk som skapats i litteraturstudien samtidigt som nya faktorer har identifierats och lagts till då de ansetts som viktiga. För att tillämpa AI i strategiska inköpsprocessen måste Case-Företaget överväga andra aspekter än var i inköpsprocessen de kan dra nytta av AI mest. Faktorer som utmaningar och risker, beredskap och mognad samt faktorer som ansetts viktiga att beakta för att möjliggöra en implementering har identifierats. För att bedöma hur mogen och redo den strategiska inköpsfunktionen hos Case-Företaget är för en implementering har några av de tidigare digitala projekten inklusive AI-teknik kartlagts och analyserats. Det har emellertid konstaterats att det kan vara fördelaktigt för strategiskt inköp att börja med ett mindre användningsområde och sedan skala upp det. Eftersom strategiska inköpsfunktionen har implementerat en spendanalys plattform kan det vara en bra start att utvärdera det projektet och sedan tillämpa AI ovanpå den befintliga lösningen. Andra faktorer att beakta är att försäkra datakvalitet och säkerhet, involvera ledningen samt lyfta vilka fördelar AI kan ge i form av ökad effektivitet och kostnadsbesparingar. Därtill är det viktigt att inkludera hela strategiska inköps-funktionen samt att inte endast beakta den tekniska aspekten utan också mjuka faktorer så som change management och agila metoder.