Lifetime-Based Supplier Selection for the Exponential Model with Censored and Imprecise Information

Since the censored and imprecise information are ubiquitous in the real world, under this fuzzy environment, the supplier selection based on the lifetime for the exponential model is proposed in this paper. The fuzzy estimates ^tp L% of lifetime capability indices tp L of suppliers are obtained according to the approach taken by Buckley [3][4] and the Zadeh's [14] extension principle in fuzzy sets theory. Some optimization problems are formulated and solved to obtain the -level sets for the purpose of constructing the membership function of fuzzy estimate of capability index for each supplier. The presented methodology takes into consideration an interval of imprecision in the sample data and leads to a three-decision rule with the FLCB decision chart. Finally, a numerical example is illustrated to present the possible application by incorporating the censored and imprecise information into the problem of supplier selection.