Supplier Selection using QFD and Grey TOPSIS

Supplier selection which is one of the most important activities in the supply chain, ultimately leads to customer satisfaction of organizational performance. Considering the inherent uncertainties in business environment, current study proposes an approach for selecting suppliers in order to meet customer requirements, which is a combination of quality function deployment and TOPSIS based on grey theory. The case of the study is a frequently-used part of Roshanaie Arm Industrial Co., which named astronomical time switch. Interviewing representatives of customers resulted in identification of 30 general and specific requirements of customers. Using focus group and eliminating unrelated requirements, 14 of them remained for using in quality function deployment method. After translation the customer requirements to technical specifications by engineers, 43 specifications were located in the house of quality matrix and with using and analyzing grey numbers, the weights of each were determined. TOPSIS method was utilized with grey data in order to rank the 13 domestic and international suppliers in order to determine the preferred supplier. It should be minded that purchasing parts through selected supplier enhances the conformity of technical requirements and customer needs and yields highest possible quality.