Expert Systems With Applications 62 (2016) 273–283 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Expert Systems With Applications journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/eswa Designing an integrated AHP based decision support system for supplier selection in automotive industry Fikri Dweiri a,1 , Sameer Kumar b,∗ , Sharfuddin Ahmed Khan a,2 , Vipul Jain c,3 a Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management Department, College of Engineering, University of Sharjah, P. O. Box 27272, Sharjah, UAE b Operations and Supply Chain Management Department, Opus College of Business, University of St. Thomas, 1000 LaSalle Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403, USA c Victoria Business School, Victoria University of Wellington, 23, Lambton Quay, Pipitea Campus, Wellington 6140, New Zealand a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 13 November 2015 Revised 17 May 2016 Accepted 14 June 2016 Available online 16 June 2016 Keywords: Supplier selection Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) Supply chain management Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) Sensitivity analysis Decision support system a b s t r a c t Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to propose a decision support model for supplier selection based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) using a case of automotive industry in a developing country of Pakistan and further performs sensitivity analysis to check the robustness of the supplier selection decision. Methodology: The model starts by identifying the main criteria (price, quality, delivery and service) using literature review and ranking the main criteria based on experts’ opinions using AHP. The second stage in the adopted methodology is the identification of sub criteria and ranking them on the basis of main criteria. Lastly perform sensitivity analysis to check the robustness of the decision using Expert Choice ۛ software. Findings: The suppliers are selected and ranked based on sub criteria. Sensitivity analysis suggests the effects of changes in the main criteria on the suppliers ranking. The use of AHP in the supplier selection gives the decision maker the confidence of the consistency and the robustness throughout the process. Practical implications: The AHP methodology adopted in this study provides managers in automotive in- dustry in Pakistan with the insights of the various factors that need to be considered while selecting suppliers for their organizations. The selected approach also aids them in prioritizing the criterion. Man- agers can utilize the hierarchical structure of adopted supplier selection methodology suggested in this study to rank the suppliers on the basis of various factors/criteria. Originality/value: This study makes three novel contributions in supplier selection area. First, AHP is ap- plied to automotive industry and use of AHP in the supplier selection gives decision maker the confi- dence of the consistency. Second, sensitivity analysis enables in understanding the effects of changes in the main criteria on the suppliers ranking and help decision maker to check the robustness throughout the process. Last, we find it important to come with a simple methodology for managers of automotive industry so that they can select the best suppliers. Moreover, this approach will also help managers in dividing the complex decision making problem into simpler hierarchy. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Supplier selection is one of the strategic decision that compa- nies have to take and are vital as they play significant role in overall supply chain management. It is a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem. In addition, supplier selection in today’s competitive market is the most critical function for the success of overall performance of supply chain cycle and organization. The ∗ Corresponding author. Fax: +651 962 4710. E-mail addresses: fdweiri@sharjah.ac.ae (F. Dweiri), skumar@stthomas.edu (S. Kumar), skhan@sharjah.ac.ae (S.A. Khan), vipul.jain@vuw.ac.nz (V. Jain). 1 Fax: +971 65053963. 2 Fax :+971 6 5053963. 3 Fax :+971 6 5053963. present study focuses on building a decision support system for supplier selection strategy using Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) based on a case study of automotive sector in Pakistan. 1.1. Automobile industry in Pakistan According to Be ¸ skese and ¸ Sakra (2010), the automotive industry is the principle customer for many industrial branches such as iron and steel, light metals, petro-chemicals, glass, tires, etc. Moreover, it creates vast business volume and employment together with its suppliers as well as the auxiliary sectors of marketing, distribu- tion, services, fuel, finance and insurance which supply automotive products/services to customers. That’s why automotive industry is considered as a backbone of any industrialized nation and devel- oping country like Pakistan. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2016.06.030 0957-4174/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.