Structured Procedure for Evaluating Proposals for the Supply of Goods with Strategic Choice Approach

In the plastics industry, the evaluation of medium and long-term supply contracts, involving large customers, conflicting criteria (margin, cash flow, contractual risk, capacity use) and internal areas with different priorities configures an extit{messy problem} in the context of the extit{Soft} Operations Research. 

Based on the extit{Strategic Choice Approach} (SCA), this article develops and applies a structured procedure to support a complex situation with multiple extit{stakeholders}, conflicting criteria and UV, EU and UR uncertainties, aiming to select contractual schemes that integrate commercial, contractual, strategic and operational aspects. The procedure follows five steps, from structuring the problem to evaluating decision schemes, using the four modes of the SCA and the AIDA method. 

The results indicate two preferential schemes, based on a biennial contract with review, reduction of unconditional discounts and use of idle capacity, making the process more transparent and apt for the future application of multicriteria decision models.