The type of supplier involvement in new product development in the automotive industry: metaheuristic-based K-means clustering and analytic hierarchical process methods

Purpose - This paper aims to determine the type of supplier involvement in terms of time and extent of supplier involvement in automobile product development based on the characteristics of parts in the Iranian automotive industry. Design/methodology/approach - The paper proposes the clustering and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methods. Combining the K-means clustering method and metaheuristic algorithms, the genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm are applied to achieve better clustering results. Findings - The results show that lack of internal knowledge, high technology change and complexity of parts increase the need to outsource the design process. In addition to these reasons, high development costs and high interface complexity justify suppliers’ early involvement. Originality/value - Most research only presents a conceptual framework for understanding the various levels of supplier involvement in new product development (NPD). However, in the automotive industry, numerous parts have differing degrees of importance and priority, and experts may have varying opinions based on different criteria. Therefore, the existing conceptual model for analyzing the types of involvement of each supplier is not practical. We have formulated a problem-solving approach that utilizes the clustering and AHP methods to analyze data obtained from qualitative research and determine the type of supplier involvement.