Multi crteria decision making and its applications : a literature review

This paper presents current techniques used in Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) and their applications. Two basic approaches for MCDM, namely Artificial Intelligence MCDM (AIMCDM) and Classical MCDM (CMCDM) are discussed and investigated. Recent articles from international journals related to MCDM are collected and analyzed to find which approach is more common than the other in MCDM. Also, which area these techniques are applied to. Those articles are appearing in journals for the year 2008 only. This paper provides evidence that currently, both AIMCDM and CMCDM are equally common in MCDM

Decision support model for the selection of asphalt wearing courses in highly trafficked roads

The suitable choice of the materials forming the wearing course of highly trafficked roads is a delicate task because of their direct interaction with vehicles. Furthermore, modern roads must be planned according to sustainable development goals, which is complex because some of these might be in conflict. Under this premise, this paper develops a multi-criteria decision support model based on the analytic hierarchy process and the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution to facilitate the selection of wearing courses in European countries. Variables were modelled using either fuzzy logic or Monte Carlo methods, depending on their nature. The views of a panel of experts on the problem were collected and processed using the generalized reduced gradient algorithm and a distance-based aggregation approach. The results showed a clear preponderance by stone mastic asphalt over the remaining alternatives in different scenarios evaluated through sensitivity analysis. The research leading to these results was framed in the European FP7 Project DURABROADS (No. 605404).The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under Grant Agreement No. 605404

A review of application of multi-criteria decision making methods in construction

Construction is an area of study wherein making decisions adequately can mean the difference between success and failure. Moreover, most of the activities belonging to this sector involve taking into account a large number of conflicting aspects, which hinders their management as a whole. Multi-criteria decision making analysis arose to model complex problems like these. This paper reviews the application of 22 different methods belonging to this discipline in various areas of the construction industry clustered in 11 categories. The most significant methods are briefly discussed, pointing out their principal strengths and limitations. Furthermore, the data gathered while performing the paper are statistically analysed to identify different trends concerning the use of these techniques. The review shows their usefulness in characterizing very different decision making environments, highlighting the reliability acquired by the most pragmatic and widespread methods and the emergent tendency to use some of them in combination

GIS-based multicriteria analysis as decision support in flood risk management

In this report we develop a GIS-based multicriteria flood risk assessment and mapping approach. This approach has the ability a) to consider also flood risks which are not measured in monetary terms, b) to show the spatial distribution of these multiple risks and c) to deal with uncertainties in criteria values and to show their influence on the overall assessment. It can furthermore be used to show the spatial distribution of the effects of risk reduction measures. The approach is tested for a pilot study at the River Mulde in Saxony, Germany. Therefore, a GISdataset of economic as well as social and environmental risk criteria is built up. Two multicriteria decision rules, a disjunctive approach and an additive weighting approach are used to come to an overall assessment and mapping of flood risk in the area. Both the risk calculation and mapping of single criteria as well as the multicriteria analysis are supported by a software tool (FloodCalc) which was developed for this task. --

An integrated method for airline company supplier selection based on the entropy and vikor methods: a real case study

All certified airlines require to implement a safety and quality management system. Therefore, the quality of all services and products with critical operational domains have been challenging issues in the aviation industry. In this regard, supplier selection plays an important role to acquire competitive benefits. Flight operations is critical scope in an airline and their outputs have a direct impact on flight safety consequences. Therefore, the quality of supplier’s product and services play the main role in their flight operations process. In this research, a new decision-making framework is developed to evaluate the performance of the suppliers based on the Entropy and VIKOR approaches. At the outset, the main criteria and sub-criteria are identified based on the literature and expert\u27s viewpoint and then their weights are calculated using the Entropy method. Afterward, the potential suppliers are ranked using the VIKOR method. The airline supplier’s assessment through expert judgment and integrated criteria are the new approaches that are developed in this paper. The obtained results show that economic, quality and safety, and reputation respectively are the main criteria to select suppliers

A multi-criteria fuzzy method for selecting the location of a solid waste disposal facility

Facility location is a multicriteria decision process that has important operational and economic impacts and that typically involves uncertainty and vagueness of evaluations. A fuzzy-based method supporting preliminary decision-making about siting solid waste incinerators is proposed building on a structured classification of criteria for location selection developed from the existing literature. The application to a case study revealed the advantages of the methodology. The work intends to provide a general and comprehensive taxonomy of decision criteria that may be adapted to various facility location problems together with a fuzzy inference process that is useful for companies and public administration institutions looking for rigorous but relatively simple decision-making tools in uncertain environments. Future research will compare the developed method with the most common tools for making location decisions. The approach will be then extended to different kinds of facilitie

Creative trans-border cooperation in the field of operations research and sustainable development in civil engineering

The paper presents an overview of the history and achievements of trans-border cooperation in the Lithuania-Germany-Poland triangle in planning instruments in Construction Management, decision-making theory, application of Operational Research, and Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods in Civil Engineering and sustainable development. The cooperation and results of the Colloquiums with 35 years of tradition, their multidimensional nature is underlined. The research instruments, methods, studied phenomena are reviewed and characteristic applications in engineering and economics are presented. The knowledge and combined efforts of three academic centers have created a synergy which set in motion many original methods and spectacular implementations. The Colloquium calendar and the evolution of organizational forms are presented along with the inclusion of the informal EURO Working Group on Operations Research in Sustainable Development and Civil Engineering

Prioritizing Human Factors in Emergency Conditions Using AHP Model and FMEA

One of the most critical issues related to safety in industrial plant is to manage accidents that occur in industries. In general, the causes of accidents are twofold: the presence of dangerous equipment and human errors. The aim of this study is to propose a novel approach to ensure safety in emergency conditions in industrial plant considering both of these factors. The proposed idea aims to integrate the human reliability analysis (HRA) and the failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA). The human errors and failure modes are categorized using a multicriteria approach based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The final aim is to present a novel methodological approach based on AHP to prioritize actions to carry out in emergency conditions taking into account both qualitative and quantitative factors. A real case study is analyzed. The analysis allowed to identify possible failure modes connected with human error process

Sustainability as a Multi-criteria Concept

Sustainability is a fairly old concept, born in the 18th century in the field of forestry, within a mono-functionality perspective. The concept has considerably evolved in the last few years towards a multi-functionality context, with applications reported in practically all areas of economic interest. On the other hand, modern sustainability is a complex problem, for two reasons: a) The multiplicity of functions of a very different nature involved in the process and b) The manner in which different segments of the society or stakeholders perceive the relative importance of these functions. For the above reasons, a realistic approach for dealing with the sustainability issue requires taking into consideration multiple criteria of different nature (economic, environmental and social), and in many cases within a participatory decision making framework. This book presents a collection of papers, dealing with different theoretical and applied issues of sustainability, with the help of a modern multi-criteria decision-making theory, with a single as well as several stakeholders involved in the decision-making process. Hopefully, this material will encourage academics and practitioners to alter their research in this hot and vital topic. After all, the sustainable management of the environment and its embedded resources is one of the most important, if not the major challenge of the 21st century