Quantifying the Sustainability of Products and Suppliers in Food Distribution Companies
1
Department of Applied Statistics and Operational Research and Quality, Universitat Politècnica de València, s/n 46022 Valencia, Spain
2
Department of Economy and Social Sciences, Universitat Politècnica de València, s/n 46022 Valencia, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2019, 11(21), 5875; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11215875
Received: 14 September 2019 / Revised: 17 October 2019 / Accepted: 22 October 2019 / Published: 23 October 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability as a Multi-criteria Concept: New Developments and Applications)
Supplier evaluation is a relevant task of supply chain management where multicriteria methods make great contributions to manufacturing industries. This is not the case in food distribution companies, which have a key role in providing safe and affordable food to society. The purpose of this research is to measure the sustainability of products and suppliers in food distribution companies through a multiple criteria approach. Firstly, the system proposed provides indicators to qualify products and assess the food quality, using the compensatory Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) model. Secondly, these indicators are included in supplier evaluation, which takes economic, environmental, and social criteria into account. MAUT and Preference Ranking Organisation Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE), a non-compensatory method, are used for supplier evaluation. This approach has been validated for fresh food in a supermarket chain, mainly using historical data. Partial indicators, such as food safety scores, together with global indicators of suppliers, inform the most appropriate decisions and the most appropriate relations between companies and providers. Poor performance in food safety can lead to the disqualification of some suppliers. MAUT is good for qualifying products and is easy to apply at the operational level in logistic platforms, while PROMETHEE is more suitable for supplier segmentation, as it helps to identify supplier strengths and weaknesses.
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Keywords:
supplier evaluation; supplier segmentation; multi-attribute utility theory; preference ranking organisation method for enrichment evaluation; quality indicator; food safety; fresh food; sustainable supply chain; multicriteria
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MDPI and ACS Style
Segura, M.; Maroto, C.; Segura, B. Quantifying the Sustainability of Products and Suppliers in Food Distribution Companies. Sustainability 2019, 11, 5875. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11215875
AMA Style
Segura M, Maroto C, Segura B. Quantifying the Sustainability of Products and Suppliers in Food Distribution Companies. Sustainability. 2019; 11(21):5875. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11215875
Chicago/Turabian StyleSegura, Marina, Concepción Maroto, and Baldomero Segura. 2019. "Quantifying the Sustainability of Products and Suppliers in Food Distribution Companies" Sustainability 11, no. 21: 5875. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11215875
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