Hybrid Knowledge-Based Flexible Supplier Selection

Supplier selection no longer relies on cost only. Multi-criteria should be considered in making the selection. Subject to environmental changes, original suppliers may not be feasible or effective ones. Selection has to be flexible reacting to new market requirements. In this paper, a hybrid knowledge-based flexible supplier selection system (HKBF-SSS) is proposed incorporating a case-based reasoning (CBR) module and a mathematical programming module comprised of a proposed linear programming (LP) model. The system enables the company to select capable and most cost-effective supplier(s).