Supplier selection plays a vital role in the process of product development. The purpose of this research is to integrate the state of the art Web technologies with business theories to establish a Web-based distributed environment for supplier selection. A Web Services-oriented multi-possibility supplier selection system has been developed, which helps manufacturers to make decisions for selecting supplier more effectively and accurately. The business theories and analytic hierarchy process approach have been applied in combination with Web Services and J2EE Technology in the system. In this paper, a brief review of the current supplier selection issues are addressed first, followed by the presentation of the methodologies employed and description of the system structure and main features, an example is given in the end.
Nowadays, with the rapid development of technologies and turbulent market environment, organizations shift their conventional way of running business, from product-driven to demand-driven. Hence, manufacturing industry is challenged with the task of designing customized products in a timely and cost-efficient manner. Supplier selection has been stressed as one of the most crucial issues in the process of product design [1], [2] and [3]. It is important for manufacturers to spend the least time to find the best suppliers in order to achieve competitive advantages [4].
The relationship between manufacturers and suppliers is influenced by the level of dependency of the one on the other and the degree of turbulence in the market [5]. In general, a manufacturer can have different types of relationships with suppliers for different purposes and must be able to match the optimal type of relationship to various product, market, and supplier conditions [1]. Traditionally, potential suppliers are evaluated on several criteria such as technical capability, material selection, production technology, costs, product quality, service and geographical location [6]. Extensive research reveals that the selection of suppliers not only is a technical decision, but also need to consider several factors from business perspective [4] and [7]. As a business decision, an organization's vision, mission, priority and criteria must be taken into consideration. With regard to these issues, tangible criteria inevitably need to be counted, such as pricing structure, delivery capability, product quality, technology capability, service issues, etc. In addition, intangible factors also need to be taken into account, such as affects by the external changes. However, little has been done to integrate organization's development strategies with supplier selection criteria. In fact, research in integration of business theories into manufacture procedure has been far behind the development of each individual area of business and manufacture.
In order to fill in the gap, a Web Services-oriented multi-possibility supplier selection (WMPSS) system has been developed to help manufacturers to identify suitable suppliers for the components, materials and services required within the procedure of product design and manufacture. In the development of the WMPSS, the business models and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach are integrated with the state of the art Web-related computing technologies including Web Services and J2EE.
A Web-based supplier selection system, WMPSS, has been developed. The system utilizes state of the art Web Services technology as tool to deliver a novel supplier selection method that integrates leading business theories with analytic hierarchy process approach. The system provides twelve potential choices of which business models and Web-based technology can be integrated in manufacture in relation to the selection of suppliers.
The purpose of the Web Services-based WMPSS system is to help firms to identify suitable suppliers for the components, materials and services required within the procedure of product design and manufacture, and to be able to fast shift their supplier selection in order to adapt external environment changes. This Web Services-based distributed environment breaks the barriers between geographically dispersed teams and partners who are using incompatible computing languages and equipment, which will speed up product to market, and minimize potential failure by mismatching of suppliers. An example has demonstrated that utilizing the CSPMP matrices helps manufacturer to find a suitable suppliers in a complicated situation.
