Identification and Quantitative Analysis of Key Sustainability Indicators for Developing a Sustainable Closed-Loop Supply Chain Network for Nylon Yarn Product Using a Fuzzy Approach
Keywords:
Sustainable Closed, Loop Supply Chain, Fuzzy Delphi, Sustainability Indicators, Nylon Yarn, Economic Sustainability, Environmental Sustainability, Social SustainabilityAbstract
This study aimed to identify and validate the key economic, environmental, and social sustainability indicators relevant to the nylon yarn supply chain in the rubber and plastics industry using expert consensus and the fuzzy Delphi technique. This applied study employed a quantitative expert-based design using the fuzzy Delphi method. An initial pool of sustainability indicators was developed through an extensive review of the theoretical literature, previous empirical studies, and preliminary expert screening. Twenty-three experts with postgraduate education and substantial academic or managerial experience in industrial management, industrial engineering, supply chain management, production planning, procurement, distribution, and related areas were selected purposively. The preliminary indicators were classified into economic, environmental, and social dimensions and evaluated during successive Delphi rounds. Expert linguistic judgments were converted into triangular fuzzy numbers, aggregated using the geometric mean, and defuzzified to obtain crisp scores. Indicators with crisp values of at least 7.00 were retained. Stability of expert judgments between rounds was assessed using the absolute difference between defuzzified values, with values of 0.20 or less indicating sufficient consensus. Of the 26 initial sustainability indicators, 23 were retained after the first fuzzy Delphi round and three were excluded. In the second round, four additional indicators were removed, resulting in a final framework of 19 validated indicators comprising 10 economic, three environmental, and six social indicators. The highest second-round score was obtained for occupational accidents and work-related diseases (8.38), followed by variable water-consumption cost and number of rewarded employees (8.23 each). All retained indicators showed an absolute inter-round difference below 0.20, indicating stable expert consensus and eliminating the need for a third Delphi round. The study produced a concise, expert-validated, and context-specific sustainability indicator framework for the nylon yarn supply chain, demonstrating that sustainable performance in this industry requires simultaneous attention to economic efficiency, environmental resource use, occupational health and safety, employment, and human resource development.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Reza Siavashi (Author); Hamid Shahbandarzadeh; Ali Rajabzadeh Ghatari, Ebrahim Heidari (Author)
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