Virtual integration with a multi-criteria partner selection model for the multi-echelon manufacturing system

Virtual integration (VI) offers a way to make manufacturing systems more agile and competitive. VI integrates the production resources of many manufacturing systems (partners) efficiently, and that leads to a rapid response to market changes. Based on the VI concept these partners throughout the world will form a virtual enterprise; (VE). Thus to select partners is the essential and the most important issue. The main objective of this paper is to develop a partner selection and production-distribution planning with the novel partner selection model, based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology, multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) and integer programming (IP), for the VI with multiple criteria. The AHP and MAUT methods are use to assess and set weights for each partner candidate and the IP model applies these weights to find the optimal partners from the potential ones and provide the suitable production-distribution plan to the elective partners. Finally, a case study has been provided to substantiate a feasible quality solution of the proposed model.