Supplier selection problems in fashion business operations with sustainability considerations

Abstract

In recent years, sustainability has been a major focus of fashion business operations because fashion industry development causes harmful effects to the environment, both indirectly and directly. The sustainability of the fashion industry is generally based on several levels and this study focuses on investigating the optimal supplier selection problem for sustainable materials supply in fashion clothing production. Following the ground rule that sustainable development is based on the Triple Bottom Line (TBL), this paper has framed twelve criteria from the economic, environmental and social perspectives for evaluating suppliers. The well-established multi-criteria decision making tool Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) is employed for ranking potential suppliers among the pool of suppliers. Through a real case study, the proposed approach has been applied and some managerial implications are derived.