Discount Environments in the Presence of Both Cardinal and ordinal Data

With the widespread use of manufacturing philosophies such as Just-In-Time (JIT), emphasis has shifted to the simultaneous consideration of cardinal and ordinal data in supplier selection process. Traditionally, many optimization models of supplier selection assume that the average prices of related expenditures are constant. This is far beyond the real situation. In fact, suppliers usually offer quantity discounts to encourage the buyers to order more. To select the best suppliers in volume discount environments in the presence of both cardinal and ordinal data, this paper proposes an innovative approach. A numerical example demonstrates the application of the proposed method.