An SVM-based model for supplier selection using fuzzy and pairwise comparison

Supplier selection is a multi-criteria problem including various factors. In order to select the best suppliers, it is necessary to make a trade off among these factors when some of them conflict, where few existing systems work well. In this paper a supplier selection model based on support vector machine (SVM) is firstly developed. The supplier selection criteria and quantitative methods using fuzzy and pairwise comparison are presented. Simulations show that the proposed supplier selection model is a more useful additional tool than fuzzy synthetical evaluation for supplier management.