311
Views
12
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Original Articles

B2B multi-attribute e-procurement: an artificial immune system based goal programming approach

, , , &
Pages 321-341 | Received 28 Jul 2008, Accepted 24 Mar 2009, Published online: 08 Feb 2010
 

Abstract

This paper presents an artificial immune system (AIS) based goal programming approach for a multi-attribute e-procurement system. Current trends reveal that procurers are now concerned with various attributes of supplier selection, rather than negotiating only on cost. The scenario considered in this paper pertains to the procurement of an homogenous item in a large quantity. In these circumstances, procurers are forced to incorporate multi-attribute bids, dynamics pricing, related business requirements and multiple criteria in bid evaluation. The prime objective is to decide on the supplier and the quantity to be procured from the selected supplier. The problem considered here is NP hard, even without taking into account business constraints, and it becomes computationally prohibitive with an increase in the number of bids and the number of attribute values. In order to solve this problem with minimal computational time and effort, an evolutionary algorithm AIS with a goal programming technique is adopted. The working of the AIS based goal programming approach is evaluated by implementing it for a few simulated problem instances of changing complexity. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is established by a comparative study with other established evolutionary approaches such as a genetic algorithm and a simulated annealing algorithm.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.