A goal programming-based fuzzy best–worst method for the viable supplier selection problem: a case study

Since the COVID-19 outbreak has led to drastic changes in the business environment, researchers attempt to introduce new approaches to improve the capability and flexibility of the industries. In this regard, recently, the concept of the viable supply chain, which tried to incorporate the leagile, resiliency, sustainability, and digitalization aspects into the post-pandemic supply chain, has been introduced by researchers. However, the literature shows that there is lack of study that investigated the viable supplier selection problem, as one of the crucial branches of viable supply chain management. Therefore, to cover this gap, the current work aims to develop a decision-making framework to investigated the viable supplier selection problem. In this regard, owing to the crucial role of the oxygen concentrator device during the COVID-19 outbreak, this research selects the mentioned product as a case study. After determining the indicators and alternatives of the research problem, a novel method named goal programming-based fuzzy best–worst method (GP-FBWM) is proposed to compute the indicators’ weights. Then, the potential alternatives are prioritized employing the Fuzzy Vlse Kriterijumsk Optimizacija Kompromisno Resenje method. In general, the main contributions and novelties of the present research are to incorporate the elements of the viability concepts in the supplier selection problem for the medical devices industry and to develop an efficient method GP-FBWM to measure the importance of the criteria. Then, the developed method is implemented and the obtained results are analyzed. Finally, managerial and theoretical implications are provided. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00500-022-07572-0.