Measuring Supply Chain Flexibility using Fuzzy AHP and Fuzzy TOPSIS (Case study: Clothing Industry)

Abstract

Flexibility is one of the most important indicators of a supply chain .A flexible supply chain in the face of market changes and customer needs, must be responsive to the changes and needs, to be able to attract customers in the a competitive marketplace. Being aware of the flexibility of a supply chain helps managers to solve problems and overcome deficiencies and increase the competitive advantages. Supply chain flexibility has a hierarchical structure consisting of four dimensions: sourcing flexibility, operating system Flexibility, distribution flexibility and information system flexibility. The purpose of this paper is to provide measurement of supply chain flexibility, using a combination of two methods, fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS, with a case study. Results show that the operating system flexibility is the most important dimension among the other dimensions. In addition, it is concluded that taking the information system flexibility into account will increase the overall flexibility.