Analysis of Decision Support Systems of Industrial Relevance: Application Potential of Fuzzy and Grey Set Theories

The present work articulates few case empirical studies on decision making in industrial context. Development of variety of Decision Support System (DSS) under uncertainty and vague information is attempted herein. The study emphases on five important decision making domains where effective decision making may surely enhance overall performance of the organization. The focused territories of this work are i) robot selection, ii) g-resilient supplier selection, iii) third party logistics (3PL) service provider selection, iv) assessment of supply chain’s g-resilient index and v) risk assessment in e-commerce exercises. Firstly, decision support systems in relation to robot selection are conceptualized through adaptation to fuzzy set theory in integration with TODIM and PROMETHEE approach, Grey set theory is also found useful in this regard; and is combined with TODIM approach to identify the best robot alternative. In this work, an attempt is also made to tackle subjective (qualitative) and objective (quantitative) evaluation information simultaneously, towards effective decision making. Supplier selection is a key strategic concern for the large-scale organizations. In view of this, a novel decision support framework is proposed to address g-resilient (green and resilient) supplier selection issues. Green capability of suppliers’ ensures the pollution free operation; while, resiliency deals with unexpected system disruptions. A comparative analysis of the results is also carried out by applying well-known decision making approaches like Fuzzy- TOPSIS and Fuzzy-VIKOR. In relation to 3PL service provider selection, this dissertation proposes a novel ‘Dominance- Based’ model in combination with grey set theory to deal with 3PL provider selection, considering linguistic preferences of the Decision-Makers (DMs). An empirical case study is articulated to demonstrate application potential of the proposed model. The results, obtained thereof, have been compared to that of grey-TOPSIS approach. Another part of this dissertation is to provide an integrated framework in order to assess gresilient (ecosilient) performance of the supply chain of a case automotive company. The overall g-resilient supply chain performance is determined by computing a unique ecosilient (g-resilient) index. The concepts of Fuzzy Performance Importance Index (FPII) along with Degree of Similarity (DOS) (obtained from fuzzy set theory) are applied to rank different gresilient criteria in accordance to their current status of performance. The study is further extended to analyze, and thereby, to mitigate various risk factors (risk sources) involved in e-commerce exercises. A total forty eight major e-commerce risks are recognized and evaluated in a decision making perspective by utilizing the knowledge acquired from the fuzzy set theory. Risk is evaluated as a product of two risk quantifying parameters viz. (i) Likelihood of occurrence and, (ii) Impact. Aforesaid two risk quantifying parameters are assessed in a subjective manner (linguistic human judgment), rather than exploring probabilistic approach of risk analysis. The ‘crisp risk extent’ corresponding to various risk factors are figured out through the proposed fuzzy risk analysis approach. The risk factor possessing high ‘crisp risk extent’ score is said be more critical for the current problem context (toward e-commerce success). Risks are now categorized into different levels of severity (adverse consequences) (i.e. negligible, minor, marginal, critical and catastrophic). Amongst forty eight risk sources, top five risk sources which are supposed to adversely affect the company’s e-commerce performance are recognized through such categorization. The overall risk extent is determined by aggregating individual risks (under ‘critical’ level of severity) using Fuzzy Inference System (FIS). Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) is then used to obtain structural relationship amongst aforementioned five risk sources. An appropriate action requirement plan is also suggested, to control and minimize risks associated with e-commerce exercises

Evaluating strategies for implementing industry 4.0: a hybrid expert oriented approach of B.W.M. and interval valued intuitionistic fuzzy T.O.D.I.M.

open access articleDeveloping and accepting industry 4.0 influences the industry structure and customer willingness. To a successful transition to industry 4.0, implementation strategies should be selected with a systematic and comprehensive view to responding to the changes flexibly. This research aims to identify and prioritise the strategies for implementing industry 4.0. For this purpose, at first, evaluation attributes of strategies and also strategies to put industry 4.0 in practice are recognised. Then, the attributes are weighted to the experts’ opinion by using the Best Worst Method (BWM). Subsequently, the strategies for implementing industry 4.0 in Fara-Sanat Company, as a case study, have been ranked based on the Interval Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy (IVIF) of the TODIM method. The results indicated that the attributes of ‘Technology’, ‘Quality’, and ‘Operation’ have respectively the highest importance. Furthermore, the strategies for “new business models development’, ‘Improving information systems’ and ‘Human resource management’ received a higher rank. Eventually, some research and executive recommendations are provided. Having strategies for implementing industry 4.0 is a very important solution. Accordingly, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods are a useful tool for adopting and selecting appropriate strategies. In this research, a novel and hybrid combination of BWM-TODIM is presented under IVIF information

RISK PRIORITY EVALUATION OF POWER TRANSFORMER PARTS BASED ON HYBRID FMEA FRAMEWORK UNDER HESITANT FUZZY ENVIRONMENT

The power transformer is one of the most critical facilities in the power system, and its running status directly impacts the power system's security. It is essential to research the risk priority evaluation of the power transformer parts. Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a methodology for analyzing the potential failure modes (FMs) within a system in various industrial devices. This study puts forward a hybrid FMEA framework integrating novel hesitant fuzzy aggregation tools and CRITIC (Criteria Importance Through Inter-criteria Correlation) method. In this framework, the hesitant fuzzy sets (HFSs) are used to depict the uncertainty in risk evaluation. Then, an improved HFWA (hesitant fuzzy weighted averaging) operator is adopted to fuse risk evaluation for FMEA experts. This aggregation manner can consider different lengths of HFSs and the support degrees among the FMEA experts. Next, the novel HFWGA (hesitant fuzzy weighted geometric averaging) operator with CRITIC weights is developed to determine the risk priority of each FM. This method can satisfy the multiplicative characteristic of the RPN (risk priority number) method of the conventional FMEA model and reflect the correlations between risk indicators. Finally, a real example of the risk priority evaluation of power transformer parts is given to show the applicability and feasibility of the proposed hybrid FMEA framework. Comparison and sensitivity studies are also offered to verify the effectiveness of the improved risk assessment approach

EDAS method for multiple criteria group decision making with picture fuzzy information and its application to green suppliers selections

In this paper, we construct picture fuzzy EDAS model based on traditional EDAS (Evaluation based on Distance from Average Solution) model. Firstly, we briefly review the definition of picture fuzzy sets (PFSs) and introduce the score function, accuracy function and operational laws of picture fuzzy numbers (PFNs). Then, we combine traditional EDAS model for MCGDM with PFNs. In our model, it’s more accuracy and effective for considering the conflicting attributes. Finally, a numerical example for green supplier selection has been given to illustrate this new model and some comparisons between EDAS model with PFNs and PFWA, PFWG aggregation operators are also conducted to further illustrate advantages of the new method. First published online 23 August 201

Single-valued neutrosophic TODIM method based on cumulative prospect theory for multi-attribute group decision making and its application to medical emergency management evaluation

In recent years, emergent public health events happen from time to time, which puts forward new requirements for the establishment of a perfect medical emergency system. It is a new direction to evaluate the effectiveness of medical emergency systems from the perspective of multi-attribute group decision making (MAGDM) issues. In such article, we tend to resolve the MAGDM issues under single-valued neutrosophic sets (SVNSs) with TODIM method based on cumulative prospect theory (CPT). And the single-valued neutrosophic TODIM method based on CPT (CPT-SVNTODIM) for MAGDM issues are developed. This new method not only inherits advantages of classical TODIM method, but also has further improvement in some aspects. For example, we set up the entropy to calculate attribute weights for ensuring the more objective decision-making process. Furthermore, it is also an extension of MAGDM method to utilize single-valued neutrosophic numbers (SVNNs) to depict decision makers’ ideas. In addition, we introduce the application of CPT-SVN-TODIM method in the assessment of medical emergency management. And finally, the reliability of CPT-SVN-TODIM method is confirmed by comparing with some other methods