Supplier selection in modern supply chains using a hybrid Fuzzy BWM and Fuzzy CoCoSo model
Abstract
Supplier selection represents one of the most significant decision-making problems in supply chain management, as supplier performance directly affects product quality, operational efficiency, delivery reliability, customer satisfaction, and overall organizational competitiveness. Modern supply chains are increasingly characterized by uncertainty, frequent disruptions, global competition, and growing requirements related to environmental and social responsibility. Under such conditions, the supplier selection process requires the simultaneous consideration of multiple, often conflicting criteria, including cost, quality, delivery reliability, flexibility, sustainability, technical capability, communication, reputation, and risk. Consequently, supplier selection can be regarded as a complex multi-criteria decision-making problem that requires a structured and transparent evaluation framework. This paper proposes a hybrid methodology based on the integration of the Fuzzy Best-Worst Method (BWM) and the Fuzzy Combined Compromise Solution (CoCoSo) method for selecting the most suitable supplier. The Fuzzy BWM is applied to determine the relative importance of the evaluation criteria while accounting for uncertainty and subjectivity in expert judgments. The Fuzzy CoCoSo method is subsequently used to assess, compare, and rank the available suppliers based on their overall performance. The proposed decision-making framework considers ten evaluation criteria and four supplier alternatives. The results indicate that delivery reliability and accuracy is the most important criterion in the supplier selection process, highlighting the critical role of timely and dependable deliveries in maintaining supply chain continuity. The findings also demonstrate that the proposed hybrid model enables a systematic, consistent, and reliable evaluation of suppliers under uncertain conditions. It can therefore serve as an effective decision-support tool for managers and practitioners and can be adapted for supplier selection problems across different industrial sectors
Keywords
References
Ho W, Xu X & Dey PK (2010), Multi-criteria decision-making approaches for supplier evaluation and selection: A literature review. European Journal of Operational Research 202(1), 16–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2009.05.009
Schramm VB, Cabral LPB & Schramm F (2020), Approaches for supporting sustainable supplier selection: A literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production 273, 123089. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123089
Wi?ckowski J, W?tróbski J & Sa?abun W (2025), Toward robust decision-making under multiple evaluation scenarios with a novel fuzzy ranking approach: Green supplier selection study case. Artificial Intelligence Review 58(1), 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10462-024-11006-8
Cooper J (2024), Understanding supplier selection criteria: Perspectives from procurement professionals in diverse industries. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.0744.v1
Enayati S & Özalt?n OY (2024), Supplier selection under disruption risk with hybrid procurement. Computers & Operations Research 165, 106593. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cor.2024.106593
Bottani E, Di Nardo M, Monferdini L & Murino T (2025), Mapping LARGS criteria and relationships for supplier selection using a fuzzy hybrid approach. Computers & Industrial Engineering 206, 111252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cie.2025.111252
Amiri M, Hashemi-Tabatabaei M, Ghahremanloo M, Keshavarz-Ghorabaee M, Zavadskas EK & Antucheviciene J (2021), A new fuzzy BWM approach for evaluating and selecting a sustainable supplier in supply chain management. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology 28(2), 125–142. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504509.2020.1793424
Durak M? (2025), Integrating strategic theory with MCDM: A BWM–CoCoSo approach to competitive strategy selection in the Turkish domestic airline industry. Business & Management Studies: An International Journal 13(3), 1483–1503. https://doi.org/10.15295/bmij.v13i3.2598
Rahnamay Bonab S, Haseli G, Rajabzadeh H, Jafarzadeh Ghoushchi S, Hajiaghaei-Keshteli M & Tomaskova H (2023), Sustainable resilient supplier selection for IoT implementation based on the integrated BWM and TRUST under spherical fuzzy sets. Decision Making: Applications in Management and Engineering 6(1), 153–185. https://doi.org/10.31181/dmame12012023b
Pishdar M, Yazdani M & Molavi H (2025), Hybrid sustainable waste upcycling: Integrating BWM and CoCoSo for strategic decision-making. SSRN, available online: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5349266
Sun J, Liu Y, Xu J, Zhu F & Wang N (2024), A probabilistic uncertain linguistic decision-making model for resilient supplier selection based on extended TOPSIS and BWM. International Journal of Fuzzy Systems 26(3), 992–1015. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40815-023-01649-0
Andreji? M & Paji? V (2023), Optimizing personnel selection in transportation: An application of the BWM-CoCoSo decision-support model. Journal of Organizations, Technology and Entrepreneurship 1(1), 35–46. https://doi.org/10.56578/jote010103
Ecer F & Pamu?ar D (2020), Sustainable supplier selection: A novel integrated fuzzy best worst method (F-BWM) and fuzzy CoCoSo with Bonferroni (CoCoSo'B) multi-criteria model. Journal of Cleaner Production 266, 121981. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121981
Hashemkhani Zolfani S, Chatterjee P & Yazdani M (2019), A structured framework for sustainable supplier selection using a combined BWM-CoCoSo model. Proceedings of Contemporary Issues in Business, Management and Economics Engineering 2019, 797–804. Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. https://doi.org/10.3846/cibmee.2019.081
Guo S & Zhao H (2017), Fuzzy best-worst multi-criteria decision-making method and its applications. Knowledge-Based Systems 121, 23–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.knosys.2017.01.010
Yazdani M, Zarate P, Zavadskas EK & Turskis Z (2019), A combined compromise solution (CoCoSo) method for multi-criteria decision-making problems. Management Decision 57(9), 2501–2519. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-05-2017-0458
Naqvi MA & Amin SH (2021), Supplier selection and order allocation: A literature review. Journal of Data, Information and Management 3, 125–139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42488-021-00049-z
Kumar Behera D & Beura S (2023), Supplier selection for an industry using MCDM techniques. Materials Today: Proceedings 74, 901–909. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2022.11.291
Ristono A, Pratikto, Santoso PB & Tama IP (2018), A literature review of criteria selection in supplier. Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management 11(4), 680–696. https://doi.org/10.3926/jiem.220
Sahoo SK, Goswami SS & Halder R (2024), Supplier selection in the age of Industry 4.0: A review on MCDM applications and trends. Decision Making Advances 2(1), 32–47. https://doi.org/10.31181/dma21202420
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52088/ijesty.v6i3.1857
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2026 Mladen Bozic, Mia Poledica






























