A supplier-selecting system using a neural network

Supplier selection is more and more important to all enterprises. The key to enhancing the quality of decision making in the supplier selection function is to take advantage of the powerful computer related concepts, tools and techniques that have become available in the last few years. A system that applies a technique with neural networks to select suppliers is described. The performance history, quality history, geography and price of a supplier are selected as determinant factors effecting the supplier selection. Considering the features of supplier selection and neural network models, a backpropagation neural network that includes a hidden layer is used to help selection decision.