Decision support model for selecting and evaluating suppliers in the construction industry

• Published in: Pesquisa Operacional 2012-12, Vol.32 (3), p.643-662
• Main Authors: Schramm, Fernando, Morais, Danielle Costa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: OPERATIONS RESEARCH & MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN: 0101-7438; 1678-5142; 1678-5142
• DOI: 10.1590/S0101-74382012005000020

A structured evaluation of the construction industry's suppliers, considering aspects which make their quality and credibility evident, can be a strategic tool to manage this specific supply chain. This study proposes a multi-criteria decision model for suppliers' selection from the construction industry, as well as an efficient evaluation procedure for the selected suppliers. The model is based on SMARTER (Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique Exploiting Ranking) method and its main contribution is a new approach to structure the process of suppliers' selection, establishing explicit strategic policies on which the company management system relied to make the suppliers selection. This model was applied to a Civil Construction Company in Brazil and the main results demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed model. This study allowed the development of an approach to Construction Industry which was able to provide a better relationship among its managers, suppliers and partners.