A New Multi-Criteria Assessment Model Combining GRA Techniques with Intuitionistic Fuzzy Entropy-Based TOPSIS Method for Sustainable Building Materials Supplier Selection

A new multi-criteria assessment model is proposed in this paper, which combines grey relational analysis (GRA) techniques with intuitionistic fuzzy entropy-based Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method, to solve multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problems and to sort the alternatives. Generally speaking, the supplier selection process, by which buyers choose to find the right supplier of the high-quality products or/and services within the scheduled and quantity, is one of the most important key activities in constructing an effective and timely supply chain. On account of several conflicting attributes on which the knowledge of decision makers is often inaccurate and vague, this is a difficult problem. The contribution of this paper is not only to substitute objective weights of intuitionistic fuzzy entropy for subjective weights directly made by decision-makers in the TOPSIS method, but also to extend and modify this method with intuitionistic fuzzy sets and GRA techniques, and to propose the intuitionistic fuzzy entropy-based TOPSIS method combined with GRA techniques for selecting appropriate sustainable building materials supplier. Finally, we take the choice of sustainable building materials supplier as an example to illustrate the alternative effectively chosen by the intuitionistic fuzzy entropy-based TOPSIS method combined with GRA techniques.