The Green Supplier Selection Method For Chemical Industry With

Analytic Network Process And Radial Basis Function Neural Network

Rongxi Zhou, Xin Ma, Shourong Li,
*
Jian Li
School of Economics and Management,
Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029
Email: zrx103@126.com, maxinstu@gmail.com, shourong1102@163.com,
*lijian@amss.ac.cn (Corresponding author)

Abstract
Green supplier selection in chemical industry is an important issue especially in the era of low-
carbon economy. In this paper, a supplier selection method for chemical industry is proposed based on
analytic network process (ANP) and radial basis function (RBF) neural network and on the philosophy
of green supply chain management (GSCM). We first put forward several distinctive criteria which
contain not only traditional supplier selection factors but also environmental factors. We then apply
them in ANP to derive the weights of the criteria. With all the weights of the criteria, we incorporate
the RBF neural network into alternatives selection process. During RBF neural network training
procedure, implied knowledge is extracted from the training data and can be conveniently used in a
new supplier selection process. Therefore, the method possesses dynamic assessment capability.
Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate the application of the two-stage integrated model.
The results show that the proposed method has the feasibility and effectiveness for green supplier
selection in chemical industry.

Keywords: Green Supplier Selection; Analytic Network Process (ANP); Radial Basis Function
(RBF); Neural Network; Chemical Industry

1. Introduction

Supplier selection is a key issue which contributes to the overall supply chain performance. The
criteria and decision-making techniques of supplier selection have been studied extensively. As
environmental awareness of people increase, environmental factors have been gradually taken factors
into supplier evaluation system [1], [2]. Specially, it is necessary to concern environmental factors for
supplier selection in the chemical industry due to its great impact on the environment.
There are lots of works on evaluating and selecting suppliers. Dickson, a pioneer in this field,
carried out a survey on buyers about the factors that affect the decision of selecting suppliers based on
questionnaires [3]. Weber Current, and Benton classified 74 relevant articles appearing since 1966, and
paid special attention to the criteria [4]. Min and Galle argued that the effective way to facilitate
environmental protection was to focus on waste prevention and control at the source through green
purchasing [5]. A fishbone diagram was used as an evaluation tool by Enarsson, in which the
environmental factors as parameters for supplier selection [6]. Humphreys, Wong, and Chan illustrated
environmental criteria how to influence purchasing decision [7]. Chan and Kumar discussed some
decision criteria for global supplier selection [8]. Wang and Lei built a model including business
people criteria and objective data factors under the methodology of AKD [9]. Ho Xu, and Dey
reviewed the evaluating criteria and approaches applied from 2000 to 2008 [10].
In recent years, single methods have been gradually replaced by integrated ones, as well as some
advanced methodologies and intelligent algorithms. Weber, Current and Desai developed a two-stage
model by integrating multi-objective programming and data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate
the number of suppliers employed in a procurement situation [11]. Kwong Ip and Chan combined a
scoring method with fuzzy expert systems not only for the supplier assessment but also for product
development of manufacturing companies [12]. Yue Li and Zhou developed a multiple attribute
decision making method to select supplier in uncertain linguistic setting, by which the attribute weights
can be determined [13]. Ha and Krishnan developed a hybrid method, in which AHP was used to
assign weights to the qualitative selection criteria and DEA and neural network were applied to
measure the performance efficiency of each supplier [14], and so on.
The Green Supplier Selection Method For Chemical Industry With
Analytic Network Process And Radial Basis Function Neural Network
Rongxi Zhou, Xin Ma, Shourong Li, Jian Li
Advances in information Sciences and Service Sciences(AISS)
Volume4, Number4, March 2012
doi: 10.4156/AISS.vol4.issue4.18
147

From the above literature review, it can be found that those concerning chemical industry are rather
limited. This paper aims to develop an integrated model for green supplier selection in chemical
industry. The new model integrates analytic network process (ANP) and radial basis function (RBF)
neural network, combing both qualitative and quantitative criteria simultaneously.
The organization of this paper is as follows. Theories of ANP and RBF neural networks are
introduced in Section 2. In Section 3, some distinctive criteria are presented and the framework for
supplier evaluation is given. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the application of the
integrated method in Section 4. Finally, some concluding remarks are made.

2. Methodology

In what follows, we describe the main theories of the two-stage integrated approach which consists
of ANP and RBF neural network.

2.1. Analytic network process

The ANP is the generalization of the AHP [15], developed by Saaty [16]. ANP is regarded as a
promising decision analysis tool to solve multi-criteria supplier selection problem which contains many
qualitative and quantitative concerns and independence relationships in the mean time.

2.1.1. Basic structure of ANP

The ANP is composed of two parts. The first consists of control hierarchy or network of criteria and
sub-criteria that control the interactions in the system. The second is a network of influences among the
elements and clusters [16].The control hierarchy is a coupling of goals and decision criteria. It connects
directly to the structure, much like the control hierarchy of AHP. If o control criterion connects directly
to the structure, the control criterion is called a comparison-linking criterion. If a control criterion
does not connect directly to the structure but induces comparisons in a network, it is called a
comparison-inducing criterion [16]. No criteria in the control hierarchy are permitted, but at least a
goal exists. The decision elements are organized into networks of clusters and nodes. There can be
feedback or interactions in different levels and also between the same levels. The elements can link to
the elements in another cluster, as well as the ones in their own cluster. Feedback existing in the
network can better capture the complex effects of interplay in human society [16]. The typical structure
of ANP is shown as Figure 1.


Figure 1. Typical structure of ANP

As it seen from Figure 1, nodes of the network represent components of the system, arrows denote
interactions between them. For example, C
1
C
2
means the cluster C
2
depends on cluster C
1
; XY
means the element Y depends on the element X, where X is an element in one of the clusters, and Y
belongs to the same cluster or some other cluster in the network.
Control Hierarchy
Network Hierarchy
Goal Hierarchy
Criterion P
1
Criterion P
m
Cluster C
1
Cluster C
2
Cluster C
n
The Green Supplier Selection Method For Chemical Industry With
Analytic Network Process And Radial Basis Function Neural Network
Rongxi Zhou, Xin Ma, Shourong Li, Jian Li
148

2.1.2. The super-matrix

The elements in the control hierarchy are defined successively as P
1
,P
2
,,P
m
; Simultaneously, the
clusters in the network are defined as C
1
,C
2
,, C
N
, where the elements in cluster C
i
are known as
e
i1
,e
i2
,,e
in
(i=1,2,,N). Take P
s
(s=1,2,,m) in the control hierarchy as criterion and the element e
jl

(l=1,2,,n
j
) in C
i
as sub-criterion, and then pair-wise comparisons between e
jl
and the other elements
in C
i
are made systematically. Similarly with AHP, the 1-9 scale is used in this whole paper. By means
of a matrix based on the above pair-wise comparisons, eigenvector w
in
can be calculated. When the
consistency of each relative comparison is checked, the eigenvector acts as an element of order vector
of the network. After all the combinations of clusters or elements relationships have been determined,
the super-matrix forms as Eq. (1):



(1)




Among the above matrix, the column vectors of W
ij
are the order vectors about the impact or
dependence of e
i1
,e
i2
,,e
in
in C
i

to e
j1
,e
j2
,, e
jnj
in C
i
If clusters are independent each other, W
ij
will be
assigned zero. So the super-matrix W under criterion P
s
can be obtained, showing as Eq. (2).


11 12 1
21 22 2
1 2
N
N
N N NN
W W W
W W W
W
W W W
(
(
(
=
(
(

2.1.3. The limiting super-matrix

The outcome of the process above is not a weighted super-matrix. Because in each column it
consists of several eigenvectors which of them sums to one, but the entire column of the matrix may
not be column stochastic. Then, the super-matrix needs to be stochastic to derive meaningful limiting
priorities [17]. The following shows the core steps to construct the weighted super-matrix.
Step 1. Take the element P
s
(s=1,2,,m) in the control hierarchy as criterion, and make pair-wise
comparisons among the influencing clusters. In this way, it is easy to get a stochastic order vector
(a
1i
,a
2i
,,a
Ni
)
T
. After getting together all the stochastic order vectors, the weighted matrix A is derived,
showing as Eq. (3).


11 12 1
21 22 2
1 2
N
N
N N NN
a a a
a a a
A
a a a
(
(
(
=
(
(

Where a
ij
denotes the influencing degree cluster C
i
to cluster C
j
. If they are independent each other,
then a
ij
will be assigned zero.
Step 2. Multiply the blocks of the super-matrix above by the priority of corresponding influencing
cluster a
ij
and then obtain stochastic matrixW . Eq. (4) represents the weighted super-matrix, of which
each column is stochastic.

( ) ( )
, , 1, 2, , .
ij ij ij
W A W W a W i j N = = = =


(2)
(3)
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
1 2
1 1 1
1 2
2 2 2
1 2
(
(
(
=
(
(
(

i
i
i
i i i
jn j j
i i i
jn j j
i i i
ij
jn j j
in in in
w w w
w w w
W
w w w

(4)
The Green Supplier Selection Method For Chemical Industry With
Analytic Network Process And Radial Basis Function Neural Network
Rongxi Zhou, Xin Ma, Shourong Li, Jian Li
149

Step 3. Raise the powers of W until the differences between consecutive matrixs elements are less
than a very small number [15]. It is essential to give full expression to the influencing relationship
among clusters or elements in the network. If W

is convergent, the final weights of all the elements

can be determined. The column j means the weight of each element in the network hierarchy relative to
the general objective.

2.2. RBF neural networks

RBF was first used in the design of neural networks by Broomhead and Lowe [18]. It is an effective
algorithm possessing many promising characteristics. In recent papers, examples related to RBF neural
networks used in prediction are extensive and well illustrated in [2], [19]. The good predictive validity
they have achieved provides feasibility to this paper.
The RBF neural network, in its most basic form, is composed of the input layer, hidden layer and
output layer. The neuron model is shown in Figure 2. Here, let X= {x
1
, x
2
, , x
n
} be the input vector,
which is applied to all neurons in the hidden layer. The input layer actualizes nonlinear mapping by m
radical based functions of hidden layer. The functions connect directly to the elements in the output
layer Y, namely Y= {y
1
, y
2
, , y
n
}. Based on the linear mapping relationship between the hidden layer
and output layer, there outputs the final responses.
In the application, the input vector is produced by data samples. The hidden layer uses RBFs as
activation functions to nonlinear transform. In RBF neural networks, Gaussian function is used as the
nonlinear transfer function in the unique hidden layer. It is due to the ease of implementation and the
fact that it gives optimal approximation when the input data is normally distributed, which is
mentioned explicitly by Coulomb, Kobetski and Costa [20]. Therefore, this paper selects the preferred
function. The function is shown as equation (5).


Figure 2. Neuron model of RBF neural network

)
2
|| ||
exp( ) (
2
2
j
i
x
x
o

=


Where
i
is the average value of the inputs, and
i
is a tunable parameter corresponding to the relative
width of Gaussian function clustered around the central point. The network outputs are calculated as:

n j
x
w y
n
i j
i
ij i
, , 2 , 1 , )
2
|| ||
exp(
1
2
2
=

=

=
o

Among the above equations,
i
is calculated as (7).

Hidden layer

X
n-1
X
n

X
1
X
2
X
3

Input layer Output layer

(6)
Y
1
Y
i
Y
n
(5)
The Green Supplier Selection Method For Chemical Industry With
Analytic Network Process And Radial Basis Function Neural Network
Rongxi Zhou, Xin Ma, Shourong Li, Jian Li
150

1
1
L
X
i j
j L
=
=


Where L represents the total number of the vectors and
i
X

is the j
th
vector.

3. Determining criteria and framework

Based on the study of GSCM and some representative research results about the evaluation system
for supplier selection in [21], [22], this section proposes several distinctive criteria for green supplier
selection by taking chemical industry characteristics and some environmental factors into consideration.
As the elements within a level or between higher and lower levels are almost dependent on each other,
thus ANP is appropriate to solve the problem. Following the principles of comprehensive, concise,
comparable, flexible and operable, a general framework is established according to ANP, which
include five clusters: product quality, cost, production and delivery capability, service capability and
risk. Specifically, the elements in the network are defined from C
1
to C
17
, illustrated as Figure 3.

4. A numerical example

This numerical example explains how to use the two-stage mathematical model to select green
suppliers in chemical industry given a number of qualitative and quantitative criteria. Because product
quality, cost, production and delivery capability, service capability and risk are independent in the
same hierarchy, the weights are determined by AHP; while the factors in the same cluster are
dependent or interact, the weights of which are calculated by the limiting super-matrix.

4.1 Determining the weights of all the criteria with ANP

4.1.1 Determining the weights of independent clusters in the same hierarchy

ANP uses the same comparison 1-9 scale as AHP to perform pair-wise comparisons. This
comparison scale enables the decision makers to incorporate experience and knowledge intuitively.
The pair-wise comparison matrix about the five clusters is made under the general goal by experts.
Relatively, the eigenvectors are obtained based on the eigenvalue method and each comparison matrix
has achieved consistency. The following calculations are carried out by the same process. The matrix
consisting of eigenvectors mentioned above is given in Table 1.
(7)
The Green Supplier Selection Method For Chemical Industry With
Analytic Network Process And Radial Basis Function Neural Network
Rongxi Zhou, Xin Ma, Shourong Li, Jian Li
151


Figure 3. Framework for green supplier selection

Table 1. Weights matrix of five clusters based on suppliers general goal
A B
1
B
2
B
3
B
4
B
5
Weights
B
1

1 2 3 3 4 0.3814
B
2

1/2 1 3 3 4 0.2900
B
3

1/3 1/3 1 2 4 0.1592
B
4

1/3 1/3 1/2 1 3 0.1119
B
5

1/4 1/4 1/4 1/3 1 0.0575

4.1.2. Determining the weights of dependent criteria in the same cluster

The following three tables show the pair-wise comparison results of the three factors in the
suppliers product quality cluster by experts. For example, Table 2 illustrates the matrix that taking C
1

as criterion, C
2
and C
3
the sub-criteria to perform pair-wise comparisons. Through comparisons, the
weights are calculated about their impact corresponding to each criterion of the same cluster. If there is
a minor influence, the comparison results will be assigned a number based on 1-9 scale.
The Green Supplier Selection Method For Chemical Industry With
Analytic Network Process And Radial Basis Function Neural Network
Rongxi Zhou, Xin Ma, Shourong Li, Jian Li
152

Table 2. Matrix based on C
1

C
1
C
2
C
3
Weights
C
2
1 1/4 0.2000
C
3
4 1 0.8000
Table 3. Matrix based on C
2

C
2
C
1
C
3
Weights
C
1
1 2 0.6667
C
3
1/2 1 0.3333
Table 4. Matrix based on C
3

C
3
C
1
C
2
Weights
C
1
1 2 0.6667
C
2
1/2 1 0.3333

The above weights from the three tables compose a block in the super-matrix, showing as Eq. (8).
Similarly, the blocks derived from pair-wise comparison matrices in the other four clusters can be
determined.

11
0 0.6667 0.6667
0.2 0 0.3333
0.8 0.3333 0
W
(
(
=
(
(



4.1.3. Determining the limiting super-matrix

The super-matrix given in Table 5 has been column stochastic, and each column sums to one.
Therefore, the super-matrix not needs to be weighted. Zeros in the super-matrix which indicate no
interaction between cluster criteria based on the appropriate assumption. Under this circumstance, as
for W
ij
(i, j=1,2,,N), if i j, W
ij
will be assigned zero.

Table 5. Super-matrix for green supplier selection by using ANP
C
1
C
2
C
3
C
4
C
5
C
6
C
7
C
8
C
9
C
10
C
11
C
12
C
13
C
14
C
15
C
16
C
17

C
1
0 0.6667 0.6667 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
2
0.2000 0 0.3333 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
3
0.8000 0.3333 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
4
0 0 0 0 0.5000 0.6406 0.5590 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
5
0 0 0 0.0881 0 0.0668 0.0702 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
6
0 0 0 0.7172 0.2500 0 0.3707 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
7
0 0 0 0.1974 0.2500 0.2926 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
8
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.6870 0.5584 0.4934 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
9
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.6267 0 0.3196 0.3108 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
10
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.2797 0.1865 0 0.1958 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
11
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0936 0.1265 0.1220 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
12
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.7500 0.6667 0 0 0
C
13
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.8000 0 0.3333 0 0 0
C
14
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.2000 0.2500 0 0 0 0
C
15
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.8000 0.3333
C
16
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.8333 0 0.6667
C
17
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1667 0.2000 0

To determineW

, this paper successfully gets the convergent result by MATLAB 7.8, showing in
Table 6. In brief, when the power is raised to 60, the super-matrix is exactly stable.









(8)
The Green Supplier Selection Method For Chemical Industry With
Analytic Network Process And Radial Basis Function Neural Network
Rongxi Zhou, Xin Ma, Shourong Li, Jian Li
153

Table 6. Limiting super-matrix for green supplier selection by using ANP
C
1
C
2
C
3
C
4
C
5
C
6
C
7
C
8
C
9
C
10
C
11
C
12
C
13
C
14
C
15
C
16
C
17

C
1
0. 40000.4000 0.4000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
2
0.2100 0.2100 0.2100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
3
0.3900 0.3900 0.3900 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
4
0 0 0 0.3742 0.3742 0.3742 0.3742 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
5
0 0 0 0.0706 0.0706 0.0706 0.0706 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
6
0 0 0 0.3585 0.3585 0.3585 0.3585 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
7
0 0 0 0.1954 0.1954 0.1954 0.1954 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
8
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.3814 0.3814 0.3814 0.3814 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
9
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.3303 0.3303 0.3303 0.3303 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
10
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1879 0.1879 0.1879 0.1879 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
11
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1004 0.1004 0.1004 0.1004 0 0 0 0 0 0
C
12
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.4199 0.4199 0.4199 0 0 0
C
13
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.3969 0.3969 0.3969 0 0 0
C
14
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1832 0.1832 0.1832 0 0 0
C
15
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.4041 0.4041 0.4041
C
16
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.4404 0.4404 0.4404
C
17
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.1555 0.1555 0.1555

The stable weights of environmental factors are concluded in Table 7: product green degree (0.21),
resource utilization cost (0.3585), waste disposal cost (0.1954), clean production capability (0.1879)
and green risk (0.4404). On the other hand, it can be seen how the priorities and necessities of the
environmental factors work during the green supplier selection process in the chemical industry.

Table 7. Weights of environmental factors
Environmental
factors
Product green
degree(C
2
)
Resource
utilization
cost(C
6
)
Waste disposal
cost(C
7
)
Clean
production
capability(C
10
)
Green
risk(C
16
)
Weights 0.21 0.3585 0.1954 0.1879 0.4404

4.2. Selecting the optimal green supplier by RBF neural network

In the alternatives selection process, the input vector is produced by the weights of sub-criteria
determined above. During RBF neural network experimental procedure, implied knowledge will be
extracted from the training data and can be conveniently used in new supplier selection process.
During the training procedure, the accuracy of the network is determined by the number of neurons,
so it is necessary to select the appropriate style of the RBF neural networks according to the
characteristics of the date samples before training. There are two types of RBF neural network: the
exact type and the approximate type. The exact type is suitable for the network of lesser data samples.
When the data samples are numerous, the approximate type is needed.

4.2.1. Data collection and pretreatment

This paper takes 15 suppliers in chemical industry as examples to explain the alternatives selection
process. The relative 17 criteria are scored with the scale 1-10 as the simulated data based on the
general goal. The scored results are given in Table 8.
The Green Supplier Selection Method For Chemical Industry With
Analytic Network Process And Radial Basis Function Neural Network
Rongxi Zhou, Xin Ma, Shourong Li, Jian Li
154

Table 8. Scores of 15 simulated suppliers in chemical industry

Because the above criteria have different dimensions, it is essential to convert the data to uniform
measurable standard. The scores of criteria in cost and risk clusters can be converted according to Eq.
(9), while the other benefit criteria convert by Eq. (10).

max
max min
j j
j
j j
y y
r
y y

,

min
max min
j j
j
j j
y y
r
y y

The comprehensive evaluation results of the 15 simulated suppliers derived from the operation of
the converted scores and the weights obtained from the ANP model are shown as Table 9.

Table 9. Comprehensive evaluation results of the 15 simulated suppliers.
Suppliers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Comprehensive
evaluation
results
0.485 0.549 0.433 0.569 0.539 0.699 0.750 0.613 0.760 0.417 0.506 0.536 0.456 0.566 0.542

4.2.2 Training and forecasting

In the numerical example, the 17 sub-criteria scores consist of the input vector and the
comprehensive evaluation results are taken as the output vector. During the training procedure, the
converted data act as the samples; the fitted results and its absolute error are as follows.
It can be seen from Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 that the curve is better fitted and of high accuracy. As a result,
it can improve the adaptability of the network. Because it can extract implied knowledge from the
training data, the human error can be reduced by a certain degree. Based on the above analysis, suppose
there are 5 new suppliers in the evaluation system, the following steps will show what the dynamic
assessment capability means. The five new suppliers 17 criteria are scored with the scale 1-10,
showing in Table 10.
C
1
C
2
C
3
C
4
C
5
C
6
C
7
C
8
C
9
C
10
C
11
C
12
C
13
C
14
C
15
C
16
C
17

1 5 4 5 6 9 6 7 8 4 5 6 7 4 4 5 5 6
2 5 6 5 6 7 6 6 6 5 6 6 6 5 4 7 5 6
3 6 6 6 8 6 8 8 6 6 7 5 6 6 7 6 7 7
4 8 6 6 8 6 8 8 7 8 7 7 7 8 7 7 8 7
5 5 5 6 6 8 7 6 5 6 6 7 5 6 6 4 5 5
6 7 6 5 6 6 6 7 9 8 6 8 6 6 3 6 4 7
7 6 6 7 8 7 6 6 8 8 8 7 7 8 7 5 6 5
8 7 6 6 7 7 7 8 7 6 6 7 7 8 6 5 6 5
9 7 6 7 7 8 7 6 8 7 7 8 8 9 8 6 7 7
10 4 5 5 7 5 6 6 5 4 3 3 4 6 5 4 5 4
11 6 5 6 8 5 7 8 8 7 6 5 6 8 6 8 7 5
12 7 6 6 8 6 8 7 7 6 8 7 6 6 7 5 7 6
13 4 7 4 7 7 8 6 9 3 8 7 8 7 8 5 6 4
14 5 5 7 7 7 7 6 6 5 7 6 5 6 7 5 4 6
15 7 7 6 9 6 8 7 8 5 5 5 7 8 6 5 5 7
(10)
(9)
Suppliers
Criteria
The Green Supplier Selection Method For Chemical Industry With
Analytic Network Process And Radial Basis Function Neural Network
Rongxi Zhou, Xin Ma, Shourong Li, Jian Li
155


Figure 4. Fitted evaluation results Figure 5. Absolute error of the fitted results

Table 10. Scores of 5 new simulated suppliers in chemical industry

The comprehensive evaluation results of the five new suppliers are obtained conveniently by the
well trained network. With the valid predictive data from Table 11, it can be concluded that the second
supplier (0.6039) is optimal and the error of each supplier is small, no more than 0.0106.

Table 11. The fitted results by the well trained network

5. Conclusions

With environmental awareness of people increasing, green supplier selection becomes an important
issue to implement a successful green supply chain system. This paper integrate ANP and RBF neural
network to select competitive suppliers in chemical industry. The contributions of this paper outline in
the following. (1) It focuses on green supplier evaluation and selection in chemical industry. Several
distinctive criteria for chemical industry are put forward concerning environmental factors. (2) It is the
first time to integrate ANP and RBF neural network and apply them in supplier selection process. The
integrated method possesses dynamic assessment ability and can be conveniently used when new
suppliers join in the evaluation system.
There are many opportunities for future works in this field. For example, it is worthwhile to add
more environmental factors to the proposed model and examine the results in practical environment.
Besides, as the data mining technique is promising and has been prevalent in recent years, it is valuable
to incorporate it into the supplier selection process so as to make the research be more in line with
reality. In addition, the integrated method proposed in this paper can be expected to make full use in
some other fields.

C
1
C
2
C
3
C
4
C
5
C
6
C
7
C
8
C
9
C
10
C
11
C
12
C
13
C
14
C
15
C
16
C
17

1 7 5 6 7 8 6 4 7 6 7 8 7 8 8 6 5 7
2 7 6 6 8 7 6 8 9 9 6 8 7 8 7 6 6 6
3 6 5 7 8 7 6 6 7 6 8 7 6 7 6 6 6 5
4 7 6 6 8 7 6 7 9 7 5 8 6 8 6 7 5 6
5 6 5 7 8 6 8 6 8 6 5 6 7 8 7 5 6 6
Suppliers 1 2 3 4 5
Actual Value
0.5711 0.6039 0.4355 0.5342 0.4430
Fitted Value
0.5735 0.6048 0.4461 0.5282 0.4404
Absolute Error
0.0024 0.0009 0.0106 0.0060 0.0026
Suppliers
Criteria
The Green Supplier Selection Method For Chemical Industry With
Analytic Network Process And Radial Basis Function Neural Network
Rongxi Zhou, Xin Ma, Shourong Li, Jian Li
156

Acknowledgements

This work is partially supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China
(No.70801003, No. 71171012), Chinese Universities Scientific Fund of Beijing University of Chemical
Technology (No.ZZ1017), and discipline construction project of Beijing University of Chemical
Technology (No.2010096).

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