The Selection of Suppliers with Environmental Criteria in Small Companies in the City of Durán, Ecuador

Abstract

Sustainable, efficient, and competitive supply chain management implies a change of perspective in small companies: moving from purchasing as an operational and routine function to strategic management of procuring and selecting suitable suppliers. In other words, supplier selection is a multi-criteria decision problem. The methodology used in this research refers to a mixed descriptive approach. The information necessary for the study was obtained through surveys and group work with the participation of owners of 27 small businesses in the city of Durán. The expert method, Saaty’s hierarchical analysis and the technique of order preference by similarity to the ideal solution (TOPSIS) were applied in this study. The results obtained helped to identify the main weaknesses in procurement management in the small companies studied, the selection of sustainable suppliers, and possible actions for improvement. The study found that small companies have shortcomings in supply chain management and selecting suitable suppliers to meet sustainability objectives. The shortcomings were financial, cultural, and market management.


Keywords: supply chain management, supplier selection, multi-criteria decision.


Resumen


La gestión de la cadena de suministros sostenible, eficiente y competitiva supone un cambio de perspectiva en las pequeñas empresas: pasar de la compra como una función operativa y rutinaria a una gestión estratégica de los aprovisionamientos y la selección idónea de los proveedores. En otras palabras, la selección de proveedores es un problema de decisión multicriterio. La metodología utilizada en la investigación refiere un enfoque mixto, de tipo descriptiva. La información necesaria para el estudio se obtuvo a través de encuestas y trabajo en grupo con la participación de propietarios de 27 pequeñas empresas de la ciudad de Durán. En el estudio se aplicó el método de expertos, análisis jerárquico de Saaty y la técnica de Preferencia de Pedidos por Similitud a la Solución Ideal (TOPSIS). Los resultados obtenidos permitieron identificar las principales insuficiencias de la gestión de aprovisionamientos en las pequeñas empresas estudiadas, la selección de proveedores sostenibles y posibles acciones de mejora. El estudio constató que las pequeñas empresas tienen insuficiencias en la gestión de la cadena de suministros y selección de proveedores idóneos cumplir con objetivos de sostenibilidad. Las insuficiencias son de tipo financiero, cultural y de gestión en el mercado.


Palabras Clave: gestión de la cadena de suministros, selección de proveedores, decisión multicriterio.

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