Mathematical modelling of sustainable procurement strategies: three case studies

Sustainable procurement is the process of meeting the needs of an organisation with the most beneficial monetary value, while mitigating the diverse effects of its operations on society and environment. There are studies which adopt environmental criteria to procurement decisions, whereas, works int...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of cleaner production 2016-02, Vol.113, p.767-780
Main Authors: Aktin, Tülin, Gergin, Zeynep
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cost engineering
Decisions
Demand
Mathematical modelling
Mathematical models
Procurement
Strategy
Sustainability
Sustainable procurement
Three dimensional
Triple-bottom-line
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Sustainable procurement is the process of meeting the needs of an organisation with the most beneficial monetary value, while mitigating the diverse effects of its operations on society and environment. There are studies which adopt environmental criteria to procurement decisions, whereas, works integrating the three dimensions and discussing the trade-offs between them are scarce. In this paper, the three dimensions of corporate sustainability; environmental–economical–social, are integrated into supplier selection and demand allocation decisions. With their integrated approach, the proposed mathematical models aim to contribute to the relevant literature by analysing different sustainable procurement strategies. Initially a questionnaire is introduced for measuring the sustainability scores of a company's potential suppliers, and these scores are then used as an input to the models. The developed mixed-integer linear programming models distribute demand to the most sustainable firms in the supplier pool of the company, while ensuring minimum procurement cost for the identified strategy. The questionnaire and models are implemented in three companies to interpret the outcomes of different sustainability strategies on the procurement decisions. Selection of the most appropriate strategy is a managerial decision influenced by the varying dynamics of the company and the market conditions. These models demonstrate an easy and practical approach in assisting sustainable procurement. Results are promising in displaying the trade-offs between the sustainability dimensions of different strategies with alternating procurement costs, and can aid the managers to integrate environmental, economical, and social aspects into their supply chain operations. •A generic tool to measure the sustainability scores of suppliers is introduced.•Mathematical models are proposed integrating sustainability into procurement.•Proposed mathematical models aid in procuring from the sustainable suppliers.•The models are implemented on three companies from different sectors.•Alternative sustainability scenarios are tested via models.
ISSN:0959-6526
1879-1786
DOI:10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.11.057