Evaluation of Strategies for Moving Towards a Smart and Sustainable Supply Chainin the Home Appliance Industry

Abstract

In today's competitive world, integrating the goals of smartization (such as the use of the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence) and sustainability (environmental, social, economic) is essential to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. The research literature shows that previous research often addressed these dimensions separately or showed significant methodological gaps in the analysis of uncertainties and prioritization of strategies. In this context, this research identifies and evaluates key strategies to move towards a smart and sustainable supply chain in the home appliance industry. This research identifies and evaluates a set of effective strategies and criteria using fuzzy-random multi-criteria decision-making methods. First, by applying the best-worst fuzzy-random method, the main criteria of the research problem are weighted.Then, using the Fuzzy-Random Coopers method, the identified strategies were ranked based on different uncertainty scenarios (pessimistic, probable, optimistic). The results show that the criteria of flexibility, operational feasibility, investment cost, safety, expandability and global warming were selected as the most important ones. Also, based on the results obtained, smart circular economy strategies and the use of advanced technologies in the production process were selected as the top ones. These findings provide valuable management insights for managers so that they can allocate their resources more effectively and make more informed strategic decisions in order to achieve the goals of smartization and sustainability