Enhancing Supplier Selection in Public Manufacturing: A Hybrid Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach

In today's business world, outsourcing is a key strategy for organizations aiming to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and increase transparency. By using external experts, companies can quickly gain necessary resources and knowledge to better handle operational challenges. Therefore, choosing the right suppliers and contractors for manufacturing is essential. This study examines how public manufacturing organizations select suppliers and contractors, highlighting the importance of setting clear evaluation criteria before making selections. Following the Iranian Public Procurement Regulations, a strong set of criteria was created for effective supplier assessment. A combined Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach was employed, integrating the Fuzzy DEMATEL method to analyze relationships among selection criteria, and the Best-Worst Method (BWM) to assign weights, with the best and worst criteria derived from the results of the Fuzzy DEMATEL analysis. The weighted criteria were then applied using three different MCDM techniques—COCOSO, MOORA, and TOPSIS—in a case study to rank potential suppliers. The results showed strong agreement among the methods, confirming the reliability of the evaluation framework and boosting stakeholder confidence in decision-making. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of MCDM strategies in promoting informed and strategic procurement decisions, ultimately leading to better operational efficiency and alignment with organizational goals in the public sector.