A New DEA Model for Classification Intermediate Measures and Evaluating Supply Chain and its Members

Appropriate selection of intermediate measure status in supply chain is an important requirement for the effective management of supply chain. The data envelopment analysis (DEA) is suitable tool for evaluating supply chain performance. In the conventional DEA it is deemed that the variable status of each performance measures from the point view of input or output is known. In supply chain intermediate measures treat as both inputs of buyer and outputs of seller. Conventional data envelopment analysis cannot be employed directly to measure the performance of supply chain and its members, because of the existence of the intermediate measures that connects the supply chain members. In this paper we develop a DEA model to classify the status of intermediate measures and evaluate the performance of supply chain members. The proposed model for each DMU₀ permits that supply chains (DMUs) choose which is best for each intermediate measure, whether to designate it as an output of seller or input of buyer. Then we illustrate the application of model in a numerical example.