Soft Computing

Soft computing is used where a complex problem is not adequately specified for the use of conventional math and computer techniques. Soft computing has numerous real-world applications in domestic, commercial and industrial situations. This book elaborates on the most recent applications in various fields of engineering

Robust Multi-Objective Sustainable Reverse Supply Chain Planning: An Application in the Steel Industry

In the design of the supply chain, the use of the returned products and their recycling in the production and consumption network is called reverse logistics. The proposed model aims to optimize the flow of materials in the supply chain network (SCN), and determine the amount and location of facilities and the planning of transportation in conditions of demand uncertainty. Thus, maximizing the total profit of operation, minimizing adverse environmental effects, and maximizing customer and supplier service levels have been considered as the main objectives. Accordingly, finding symmetry (balance) among the profit of operation, the environmental effects and customer and supplier service levels is considered in this research. To deal with the uncertainty of the model, scenario-based robust planning is employed alongside a meta-heuristic algorithm (NSGA-II) to solve the model with actual data from a case study of the steel industry in Iran. The results obtained from the model, solving and validating, compared with actual data indicated that the model could optimize the objectives seamlessly and determine the amount and location of the necessary facilities for the steel industry more appropriately.This article belongs to the Special Issue Uncertain Multi-Criteria Optimization Problem

Soft Computing

Soft computing is used where a complex problem is not adequately specified for the use of conventional math and computer techniques. Soft computing has numerous real-world applications in domestic, commercial and industrial situations. This book elaborates on the most recent applications in various fields of engineering

Synthesis of main criteria, methods and issues of multicriteria supplier selection

O objetivo do presente artigo é identificar na literatura quais são os principais critérios considerados no processo de decisão, os principais métodos individuais e combinados e os subproblemas da seleção de fornecedores no contexto multicritério. Cabe ressaltar que as tarefas de avaliar e identificar os melhores fornecedores para um novo produto ou serviço são essenciais ao gerenciamento da cadeia de suprimentos (GCS). Para executá-las apropriadamente, considerando-se a natureza multicritério da seleção de fornecedores, torna-se necessária a inclusão de uma abordagem de agregação dos critérios, cuja escolha depende basicamente dos objetivos da decisão, tipos de critérios a serem utilizados e racionalidade do decisor. Para atingir o objetivo proposto, optou-se por utilizar o procedimento da revisão sistemática da literatura que segue o protocolo proposto por Cronin, Ryan e Coughlan (2008), abrangendo artigos publicados nas bases ISI Web of Knowledge e Scopus, no período de 2001 a 2012. Além de sintetizar o conhecimento acerca do tema, o artigo ressalta os principais critérios, métodos e subproblemas da seleção de fornecedores, com isso, contribui ao identificar os aspectos que devem ser desenvolvidos em estudos futuros e ao apresentar aos gestores abordagens existentes para a tomada de decisões relativa à seleção de fornecedores de forma sistematizada.The purpose of this paper is to identify the main criteria considered in supplier selection, the main methods used and sub-problems in a multicriteria context. The tasks of identifying the best suppliers of new products or services or even for evaluating the performance of an existing supplier is essential to supply chain management (SCM). In order to perform these tasks properly, and considering the multicriteria nature of supplier selection, it is necessary to include an approach using aggregation of criteria, primarily chosen depending on the objectives of the decision, types of criteria to be used and the rationality of the decision maker. In order to achieve this objective this research used a systematic literature review of articles published in ISI Web of Knowledge and Scopus for the period 2001-2012 following the protocol proposed by Cronin, Ryan and Coughlan (2008). In addition to synthesizing knowledge about the subject, the article highlights the key criteria, methods and sub-problems of selection of suppliers, contributing by identifying the aspects that should be developed in future studies. It also provides managers with existing approaches to making decisions about supplier selection in a systematic way

Integrated FANP-f-MIGP model for supplier selection in the renewable energy sector

The available integrated models for choosing efficient suppliers developed so far are mostly specific to companies with mass production capabilities. However, in some sectors involved in project-type manufacturing, the same decision-making criteria cannot be applied and, plus, there is no point in determining the quantity of orders. For instance, in wind power plant projects, a single turbine supplier needs to be selected for each project. This study proposes an integrated FANP-f-MIGP model that ensures the selection of the optimal supplier for each project by applying the model to an energy firm. The criteria specific to the selection of wind power plant turbine suppliers are established, and the criteria weights are obtained by fuzzy analytic network process (FANP). As a result of the analysis, the most important criterion of all is cost. These weights constitute the coefficients of the f-MIGP model’s objective function. Under the defined constraints, by minimizing cost and risk and maximizing quality and services of the firm, the selection of an optimal wind turbine supplier from three suppliers for each of three projects is ensured. This study contributes to the literature both by the specific criteria it establishes and its proposed integrated model which allows for the selection of the best supplier in wind turbine and similar project-based productions

FUZZY IN LEAN TO EVALUATE THE DECISION DEGREE

The research aims to structure hierarchically an approach about the importance in decision making processes in the organizational environment, facilitating the applicability of Lean principles. The proposal was carried out using the Fuzzy - Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP). We used the parity and individual matrices between three managers and nine supervisor’s experts in production through individual questionnaire application and focal group. The answers were collected through the categorical application, where the moderator role was conducted by the researchers themselves with six constructs and 33 subconstructs in three companies from different branches, having characteristics closely related in the manufacturing sector. As results about the companies’ operations and processes, the values that obtained the highest degree of importance were the management construct (23%); capacity (22%) and costs (20%). We conclude for Lean principles these three factors have a 65% impact degree on decisions.Keywords: FAHP. Lean. Manufacturing. Decision Making Processes. Production.RESUMOA pesquisa buscou estruturar hierarquicamente uma abordagem sobre a importância em processos decisórios no âmbito organizacional, facilitando a aplicabilidade dos princípios Lean. A proposta transcorreu com o auxílio analítico de Fuzzy – Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP). Desse modo, utilizou-se das matrizes paritárias e individuais entre três gestores e nove supervisores especialistas em produção utilizando técnicas de aplicação de questionário individual e grupo focal respectivamente. As respostas foram coletadas por meio da aplicação categórica, no qual o papel de moderador foi realizado pelos pesquisadores, com seis constructos e 33 subconstructos em três empresas de ramos diferentes, mas com características do setor manufatureiras fortemente relacionadas. Como respostas sobre as operações e processos das indústrias no âmbito atual, os valores que obtiveram maior grau de importância foram o constructo gestão (23%); capacidade (22%) e custos (20%). Conclui-se que, para princípios Lean, estes três fatores engajados impactam em um grau de 65% nas decisões.Palavras-chave: FAHP. Lean. Manufatureiras. Processos Decisórios. Produção

Supplier evaluation and selection in fuzzy environments: a review of MADM approaches

In past years, the multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) approaches have been extensively applied by researchers to the supplier evaluation and selection problem. Many of these studies were performed in an uncertain environment described by fuzzy sets. This study provides a review of applications of MADM approaches for evaluation and selection of suppliers in a fuzzy environment. To this aim, a total of 339 publications were examined, including papers in peer-reviewed journals and reputable conferences and also some book chapters over the period of 2001 to 2016. These publications were extracted from many online databases and classified in some categories and subcategories according to the MADM approaches, and then they were analysed based on the frequency of approaches, number of citations, year of publication, country of origin and publishing journals. The results of this study show that the AHP and TOPSIS methods are the most popular approaches. Moreover, China and Taiwan are the top countries in terms of number of publications and number of citations, respectively. The top three journals with highest number of publications were: Expert Systems with Applications, International Journal of Production Research and The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology

Comments on “Multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) methods in economics: an overview”

This paper offers comments on a previously published paper, titled “Multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) methods in economics: an overview,” by Zavadskas and Turskis (2011). The paper's authors made great efforts to summarize MCDM methods but may have failed to consider several important new concepts and trends in the MCDM field for solving actual problems. First, the traditional model assumes the criteria are independently and hierarchically structured; however, in reality, problems are often characterized by interdependent criteria and dimensions and may even exhibit feedback-like effects. Second, relatively good solutions from the existing alternatives are replaced by aspiration levels to fit today's competitive markets. Third, the emphasis in the field has shifted from ranking and selection when determining the most preferable approaches to performance improvement of existing methods. Fourth, information fusion techniques, including the fuzzy integral method, have been developed to aggregate the performances. Finally, the original fixed resources in multi-objective programming are divided such that both decision and objective spaces are changeable. In this paper, we add new concepts and provide comments that could be thought of as an attempt to complete the original paper