Adding value to the VRIO framework using DEMATEL

Strategic management is fundamental for organizational development. It plays a critical role in the accomplishment of business performance and, as result, in the achievement of competitive advantage. Currently, the increased use of strategic management has intentional impacts on a company’s performance and differentiation, specifically in a globalized market. From this perspective, organizational evaluation is important, as well as the development of strategic management frameworks that can guarantee the achievement of sustainable competitive advantages for organizations. One of the most well-known frameworks for organizational resource assessment is the Value, Rarity, Inimitability and Organizational-oriented (VRIO) framework. It is worth noting, however, that this tool is not without limitations (e.g., how to identify and weight resources and capabilities in the evaluation process), which have prevented progress. Hence, this dissertation aims to enhance the VRIO framework, allowing for its quantification in a transparent and robust manner. To reach this aim, the VRIO framework is combined with the DEcision-MAking Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method, and a reallife application is carried out. The incentives and shortcomings of this structured evaluation model are also analyzed and discussed

Development of a Risk Management Model by the Fuzzy DEMATEL Method in the Evaluation of Authorized Certification Bodies

The concept of risk, which has been seen as a danger for many years, has started to be seen as an opportunity today, and with this approach, risks have also begun to be considered as opportunities that can facilitate reaching goals. For these reasons, it is gaining importance day by day for businesses to adopt an effective risk management approach, to identify risks, to determine the degree of importance of risks and to define the actions that can be taken against these risks. Within the scope of this section, the possible risks in the activities of the certification bodies authorized by Vocational Qualification Authority operating in Turkey to conduct assessment and certification in order to determine vocational competencies were determined, and the Fuzzy DEMATEL method, which is one of the Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making Methods, was used to determine the weights of the risks. A new risk management model has been designed to be used in the evaluation and management of possible risks of organizations by using the weights obtained was designed for the assessment and management of risks

Benchmarking the outsourcing factors of third-party logistics services selection: analysing influential strength and building a sustainable decision model

Purpose: Outsourcings always affect crucial supply chain functions concerning flexibility and cost. During the decision to outsource and consider third-party logistics service (3PLs) provider selection, decision-makers need to pay more attention to certain critical outsourcing factors such as coordination, integration and cooperation as these key factors are essential to improve overall supply chain performance. The main purpose of this work is to identify the inter-relations among outsourcing decision factors to highlight the most important and influential factors that should be considered and carefully thought through when making outsourcing sustainable decisions. Methodology: A two-phased methodology has been used in this study. In the first phase, outsourcing decision factors are identified from existing literature and validated by decision-makers from industry and academia. To understand the influential strength and build a sustainable model, the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method is employed. A courier company in the United Arab Emirates is considered for implementation. Findings: All identified and validated factors are segregated into two categories (cause and effect). The result shows that the most influential factors are; developing strategic alliances, uncertainty and risk mitigation and deficiency of internal resources for a service. Practical implications: There are several insights for industry managers and practitioners. The results of the study may help practitioners and logistics managers to make the logistics service sustainable and more efficient for businesses. Originality/value: The originality of the study is that this study focuses on a courier company to understand the interdependencies among outsourcing decision factors; this is unique in this field of literature

Unveiling the relation between the challenges and benefits of Operational Excellence and Industry 4.0: A Hybrid Fuzzy Decision-Making Approach

Operational excellence (OpEx) is a direction toward learning and developing an excellent culture in all aspects of an organization. To reach this culture, revolutionizing activities using industry 4.0 (i4.0) technologies might be a significant empowering tool. This study aims to identify the challenges and benefits of both concepts and investigate their interrelationship to be considered in applying industry 4.0 technologies toward operational excellence. The challenges and benefits of OpEx and i4.0 are identified and finalized by reviewing the literature. The causal relations between the considered factors are extracted using the fuzzy DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) method. Then, the analytical network process (ANP) is applied to determine the importance and weight of the factors (challenges and benefits of OpEx and i4.0) according to the constructed network. The findings illustrated a strong network structure between the factors. First, the causal factors included OpEx and i4.0 challenges, while the OpEx challenges also affected the i4.0 challenges. Both group challenges had a significant effect on OpEx and i4.0 benefits. This means that challenges are the causal factors to be considered in the alignment of i4.0 toward OpEx. Among the OpEx challenges, lack of strategic planning and proper infrastructure were the main influential factors. In contrast, lack of government support and undeveloped business models were identified as the main challenges of i4.0. OpEx and i4.0 concepts are reviewed, and their pros and cons are studied. Previous studies determined an interaction among these concepts. However, from a practical viewpoint, the relation between the challenges and benefits of i4.0 and OpEx was studied for the first time for their alignment

Assessing Supply Chain Risks in the Automotive Industry through a Modified MCDM-Based FMECA

[EN] Supply chains are complex networks that receive assiduous attention in the literature. Like any complex network, a supply chain is subject to a wide variety of risks that can result in significant economic losses and negative impacts in terms of image and prestige for companies. In circumstances of aggressive competition among companies, effective management of supply chain risks (SCRs) is crucial, and is currently a very active field of research. Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) has been recently extended to SCR identification and prioritization, aiming at reducing potential losses caused by lack of risk control. This article has a twofold objective. First, SCR assessment is investigated, and a comprehensive list of specific risks related to the automotive industry is compiled to extend the set of most commonly considered risks. Second, an alternative way of calculating the Risk Priority Number (RPN) is proposed within the FMECA framework by means of an integrated Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) approach. We give a new calculation procedure by making use of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to derive factors weights, and then the fuzzy Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) to evaluate the new factor of "dependence" among the risks. The developed joint analysis constitutes a risk analysis support tool for criticality in systems engineering. The approach also deals with uncertainty and vagueness associated with input data through the use of fuzzy numbers. The results obtained from a relevant case study in the automotive industry showcase the effectiveness of this approach, which brings important value to those companies: When planning interventions of prevention/mitigation, primary importance should be given to (1) supply chain disruptions due to natural disasters; (2) manufacturing facilities, human resources, policies and breakdown processes; and (3) inefficient transport.Mzougui, I.; Carpitella, S.; Certa, A.; El Felsoufi, Z.; Izquierdo Sebastián, J. (2020). Assessing Supply Chain Risks in the Automotive Industry through a Modified MCDM-Based FMECA. Processes. 8(5):1-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr8050579S12285Tian, Q., & Guo, W. (2019). Reconfiguration of manufacturing supply chains considering outsourcing decisions and supply chain risks. Journal of Manufacturing Systems, 52, 217-226. doi:10.1016/j.jmsy.2019.04.005Wu, Y., Jia, W., Li, L., Song, Z., Xu, C., & Liu, F. (2019). Risk assessment of electric vehicle supply chain based on fuzzy synthetic evaluation. Energy, 182, 397-411. doi:10.1016/j.energy.2019.06.007Garvey, M. D., & Carnovale, S. (2020). The rippled newsvendor: A new inventory framework for modeling supply chain risk severity in the presence of risk propagation. International Journal of Production Economics, 228, 107752. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2020.107752Kern, D., Moser, R., Hartmann, E., & Moder, M. (2012). Supply risk management: model development and empirical analysis. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 42(1), 60-82. doi:10.1108/09600031211202472Wang, H., Gu, T., Jin, M., Zhao, R., & Wang, G. (2018). The complexity measurement and evolution analysis of supply chain network under disruption risks. Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, 116, 72-78. doi:10.1016/j.chaos.2018.09.018Ghoshal, S. (1987). Global strategy: An organizing framework. Strategic Management Journal, 8(5), 425-440. doi:10.1002/smj.4250080503Schoenherr, T., Rao Tummala, V. M., & Harrison, T. P. (2008). Assessing supply chain risks with the analytic hierarchy process: Providing decision support for the offshoring decision by a US manufacturing company. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 14(2), 100-111. doi:10.1016/j.pursup.2008.01.008Xu, M., Cui, Y., Hu, M., Xu, X., Zhang, Z., Liang, S., & Qu, S. (2019). Supply chain sustainability risk and assessment. Journal of Cleaner Production, 225, 857-867. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.03.307Tang, C., & Tomlin, B. (2008). The power of flexibility for mitigating supply chain risks. International Journal of Production Economics, 116(1), 12-27. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2008.07.008Ghadge, A., Dani, S., & Kalawsky, R. (2012). Supply chain risk management: present and future scope. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 23(3), 313-339. doi:10.1108/09574091211289200Ho, W. (2008). Integrated analytic hierarchy process and its applications – A literature review. European Journal of Operational Research, 186(1), 211-228. doi:10.1016/j.ejor.2007.01.004Lolli, F., Ishizaka, A., Gamberini, R., & Rimini, B. (2017). A multicriteria framework for inventory classification and control with application to intermittent demand. Journal of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis, 24(5-6), 275-285. doi:10.1002/mcda.1620Żak, J., & Kruszyński, M. (2015). Application of AHP and ELECTRE III/IV Methods to Multiple Level, Multiple Criteria Evaluation of Urban Transportation Projects. Transportation Research Procedia, 10, 820-830. doi:10.1016/j.trpro.2015.09.035Zaidan, A. A., Zaidan, B. B., Al-Haiqi, A., Kiah, M. L. M., Hussain, M., & Abdulnabi, M. (2015). Evaluation and selection of open-source EMR software packages based on integrated AHP and TOPSIS. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 53, 390-404. doi:10.1016/j.jbi.2014.11.012Chang, K.-H., Chang, Y.-C., & Lee, Y.-T. (2014). Integrating TOPSIS and DEMATEL Methods to Rank the Risk of Failure of FMEA. International Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making, 13(06), 1229-1257. doi:10.1142/s0219622014500758Nazeri, A., & Naderikia, R. (2017). A new fuzzy approach to identify the critical risk factors in maintenance management. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 92(9-12), 3749-3783. doi:10.1007/s00170-017-0222-4Liu, H.-C., You, J.-X., Lin, Q.-L., & Li, H. (2014). Risk assessment in system FMEA combining fuzzy weighted average with fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory. International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, 28(7), 701-714. doi:10.1080/0951192x.2014.900865Muhammad, M. N., & Cavus, N. (2017). Fuzzy DEMATEL method for identifying LMS evaluation criteria. Procedia Computer Science, 120, 742-749. doi:10.1016/j.procs.2017.11.304Chang, K.-H., & Cheng, C.-H. (2009). Evaluating the risk of failure using the fuzzy OWA and DEMATEL method. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 22(2), 113-129. doi:10.1007/s10845-009-0266-xMarch, J. G., & Shapira, Z. (1987). Managerial Perspectives on Risk and Risk Taking. Management Science, 33(11), 1404-1418. doi:10.1287/mnsc.33.11.1404Blos, M. F., Quaddus, M., Wee, H. M., & Watanabe, K. (2009). Supply chain risk management (SCRM): a case study on the automotive and electronic industries in Brazil. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 14(4), 247-252. doi:10.1108/13598540910970072Hallikas, J., Karvonen, I., Pulkkinen, U., Virolainen, V.-M., & Tuominen, M. (2004). Risk management processes in supplier networks. International Journal of Production Economics, 90(1), 47-58. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2004.02.007Jüttner, U. (2005). Supply chain risk management. The International Journal of Logistics Management, 16(1), 120-141. doi:10.1108/09574090510617385Gary Teng, S., Ho, S. M., Shumar, D., & Liu, P. C. (2006). Implementing FMEA in a collaborative supply chain environment. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 23(2), 179-196. doi:10.1108/02656710610640943Jüttner, U., Peck, H., & Christopher, M. (2003). Supply chain risk management: outlining an agenda for future research. International Journal of Logistics Research and Applications, 6(4), 197-210. doi:10.1080/13675560310001627016Sodhi, M. S., Son, B.-G., & Tang, C. S. (2011). Researchers’ Perspectives on Supply Chain Risk Management. Production and Operations Management, 21(1), 1-13. doi:10.1111/j.1937-5956.2011.01251.xWagner, S. M., & Bode, C. (2006). An empirical investigation into supply chain vulnerability. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 12(6), 301-312. doi:10.1016/j.pursup.2007.01.004Manuj, I., & Mentzer, J. T. (2008). Global supply chain risk management strategies. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 38(3), 192-223. doi:10.1108/09600030810866986Bevilacqua, M., Ciarapica, F. E., Marcucci, G., & Mazzuto, G. (2019). Fuzzy cognitive maps approach for analysing the domino effect of factors affecting supply chain resilience: a fashion industry case study. International Journal of Production Research, 58(20), 6370-6398. doi:10.1080/00207543.2019.1680893Bevilacqua, M., Ciarapica, F. E., Marcucci, G., & Mazzuto, G. (2018). Conceptual model for analysing domino effect among concepts affecting supply chain resilience. Supply Chain Forum: An International Journal, 19(4), 282-299. doi:10.1080/16258312.2018.1537504Hsieh, C. Y., Wee, H. M., & Chen, A. (2016). Resilient logistics to mitigate supply chain uncertainty: A case study of an automotive company. Scientia Iranica, 23(5), 2287-2296. doi:10.24200/sci.2016.3957Lotfi, M., & Saghiri, S. (2018). Disentangling resilience, agility and leanness. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 29(1), 168-197. doi:10.1108/jmtm-01-2017-0014Marasova, D., Andrejiova, M., & Grincova, A. (2017). Applying the Heuristic to the Risk Assessment within the Automotive Industry Supply Chain. Open Engineering, 7(1), 43-49. doi:10.1515/eng-2017-0007Pandey, A. K., & Sharma, R. K. (2017). FMEA-based interpretive structural modelling approach to model automotive supply chain risk. International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 27(4), 395. doi:10.1504/ijlsm.2017.085221Vujović, A., Đorđević, A., Gojković, R., & Borota, M. (2017). ABC Classification of Risk Factors in Production Supply Chains with Uncertain Data. Mathematical Problems in Engineering, 2017, 1-11. doi:10.1155/2017/4931797Aven, T. (2012). The risk concept—historical and recent development trends. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 99, 33-44. doi:10.1016/j.ress.2011.11.006Chang, D., & Paul Sun, K. (2009). Applying DEA to enhance assessment capability of FMEA. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 26(6), 629-643. doi:10.1108/02656710910966165Chin, K.-S., Wang, Y.-M., Ka Kwai Poon, G., & Yang, J.-B. (2009). Failure mode and effects analysis using a group-based evidential reasoning approach. Computers & Operations Research, 36(6), 1768-1779. doi:10.1016/j.cor.2008.05.002Chang, B., Chang, C.-W., & Wu, C.-H. (2011). Fuzzy DEMATEL method for developing supplier selection criteria. Expert Systems with Applications, 38(3), 1850-1858. doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2010.07.114Zhang, Z., & Chu, X. (2011). Risk prioritization in failure mode and effects analysis under uncertainty. Expert Systems with Applications, 38(1), 206-214. doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2010.06.046Zhang, Y. F., Zhou, R. B., Yang, J. M., & Zhang, Z. (2014). Application of FTA-FMEA Method in Fault Diagnosis of Tracked Vehicle. Advanced Materials Research, 940, 112-115. doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.940.112Liu, H.-C., Liu, L., Bian, Q.-H., Lin, Q.-L., Dong, N., & Xu, P.-C. (2011). Failure mode and effects analysis using fuzzy evidential reasoning approach and grey theory. Expert Systems with Applications, 38(4), 4403-4415. doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2010.09.110Liu, H.-C., Liu, L., Liu, N., & Mao, L.-X. (2012). Risk evaluation in failure mode and effects analysis with extended VIKOR method under fuzzy environment. Expert Systems with Applications, 39(17), 12926-12934. doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2012.05.031Liu, Y., Fan, Z.-P., Yuan, Y., & Li, H. (2014). A FTA-based method for risk decision-making in emergency response. Computers & Operations Research, 42, 49-57. doi:10.1016/j.cor.2012.08.015Kutlu, A. C., & Ekmekçioğlu, M. (2012). Fuzzy failure modes and effects analysis by using fuzzy TOPSIS-based fuzzy AHP. Expert Systems with Applications, 39(1), 61-67. doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2011.06.044Chang, C., Liu, P., & Wei, C. (2001). Failure mode and effects analysis using grey theory. Integrated Manufacturing Systems, 12(3), 211-216. doi:10.1108/09576060110391174Bevilacqua, M., Braglia, M., & Gabbrielli, R. (2000). Monte Carlo simulation approach for a modified FMECA in a power plant. Quality and Reliability Engineering International, 16(4), 313-324. doi:10.1002/1099-1638(200007/08)16:43.0.co;2-uLai, G., Debo, L. G., & Sycara, K. (2009). Sharing inventory risk in supply chain: The implication of financial constraint. Omega, 37(4), 811-825. doi:10.1016/j.omega.2008.06.003Carpitella, S., Certa, A., Izquierdo, J., & La Fata, C. M. (2018). A combined multi-criteria approach to support FMECA analyses: A real-world case. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 169, 394-402. doi:10.1016/j.ress.2017.09.017Mahmoudi, S., Jalali, A., Ahmadi, M., Abasi, P., & Salari, N. (2019). Identifying critical success factors in Heart Failure Self-Care using fuzzy DEMATEL method. Applied Soft Computing, 84, 105729. doi:10.1016/j.asoc.2019.10572

A Framework for Prioritizing Opportunities of Improvement in the Context of Business Excellence Model in Healthcare Organization

In today\u27s world, the healthcare sector is facing challenges to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations. More and more improvement projects are being adopted to enhance healthcare services, making it more patient-centric, and enabling better cost control. Healthcare organizations strive to identify and carry out such improvement initiatives to sustain their businesses and gain competitive advantage. Seeking to reach a higher operational level of excellence, healthcare organizations utilize business excellence criteria to conduct assessment and identify organizational strengths and weaknesses. However, while such assessments routinely identify numerous areas for potential improvement, it is not feasible to conduct all improvement projects simultaneously due to limitations in time, capital, and personnel, as well as conflict with other organization\u27s projects or strategic objectives. An effective prioritization and selection approach is valuable in that it can assist the organization to optimize its available resources and outcomes. This study attempts to enable such an approach by developing a framework to prioritize improvement opportunities in healthcare in the context of the business excellence model through the integration of the Fuzzy Delphi Method and Fuzzy Interface System. To carry out the evaluation process, the framework consists of two phases. The first phase utilizes Fuzzy Delphi Method to identify the most significant factors that should be considered in healthcare for electing the improvement projects. The FDM is employed to handle the subjectivity of human assessment. The research identifies potential factors for evaluating projects, then utilizes FDM to capture expertise knowledge. The first round in FDM is intended to validate the identified list of factors from experts; which includes collecting additional factors from experts that the literature might have overlooked. When an acceptable level of consensus has been reached, a second round is conducted to obtain experts\u27 and other related stakeholders\u27 opinions on the appropriate weight of each factor\u27s importance. Finally, FDM analyses eliminate or retain the criteria to produce a final list of critical factors to select improvement projects. The second phase in the framework attempts to prioritize improvement initiatives using the Hierarchical Fuzzy Interface System. The Fuzzy Interface System combines the experts\u27 ratings for each improvement opportunity with respect to the factors deemed critical to compute the priority index. In the process of calculating the priority index, the framework allows the estimation of other intermediate indices including: social, financial impact, strategical, operational feasibility, and managerial indices. These indices bring an insight into the improvement opportunities with respect to each framework\u27s dimensions. The framework allows for a reduction of the bias in the assessment by developing a knowledge based on the perspectives of multiple experts

International collaboration formation in entrepreneurial food industry: evidence of an emerging economy

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Purpose International collaboration is a crucial requirement of entrepreneurship, particularly in developing emerging economies. This collaboration seems so necessary in the food industry as a major contributor to environmental, social and economic problems. This paper aims to identify, analyse the influential network relationship and prioritise the key success factors (KSFs) of international collaboration formation in the entrepreneurial food industry with a case study on Iran's emerging economy. Design/methodology/approach To identify a list of KSFs, a qualitative method, literature review, is initially used. A quantitative method, fuzzy-Delphi, then is employed to finalise the main KSFs based on the entrepreneurial food industry experts' opinion. To analyse the causal relationship, and prioritise the KSFs, a fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL)-analytic network process (ANP) methodology, i.e. FDANP, is applied. At the first stage, the cause–effect diagram of KSFs is extracted using fuzzy DEMATEL and then, the KSFs weights and priorities are evaluated using a fuzzy ANP. Findings The results illustrate that the characteristics of effective development workers are the leading dimension of a successful international collaboration that directly affects other dimensions. On the other hand, increased marketing and trading is the most important KSF that is directly related to international entrepreneurial collaboration team capabilities and professionalism. The leading and casual role of team members also plays a vital role in strategic and communication issues affecting the collaboration success, e.g. market research and new product development. Availability of financial resources and the ability of partners in continuous financing is also a crucial and required factor for a successful collaboration. Originality/value Using an extensive review of the literature to extract the KSFs of international entrepreneurial collaboration and finalising them using a fuzzy-Delphi method and examining the cause-effect relations between them, as well as prioritising the KSFs are the main contributions of this paper

Optimal placement of pressure sensors using fuzzy DEMATEL-based sensor influence

[EN] Nowadays, optimal sensor placement (OSP) for leakage detection in water distribution networks is a lively field of research, and a challenge for water utilities in terms of network control, management, and maintenance. How many sensors to install and where to install them are crucial decisions to make for those utilities to reach a trade-off between efficiency and economy. In this paper, we address the where-to-install-them part of the OSP through the following elements: nodes' sensitivity to leakage, uncertainty of information, and redundancy through conditional entropy maximisation. We evaluate relationships among candidate sensors in a network to get a picture of the mutual influence among the nodes. This analysis is performed within a multi-criteria decision-making approach: specifically, a herein proposed variant of DEMATEL, which uses fuzzy logic and builds comparison matrices derived from information obtained through leakage simulations of the network. We apply the proposal first to a toy example to show how the approach works, and then to a real-world case study.This research has been partially supported by the CNPq grant with number 156213/2018-4.Frances-Chust, J.; Brentan, BM.; Carpitella, S.; Izquierdo Sebastián, J.; Montalvo, I. (2020). Optimal placement of pressure sensors using fuzzy DEMATEL-based sensor influence. Water. 12(2):1-18. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12020493S118122Li, J., Wang, C., Qian, Z., & Lu, C. (2019). Optimal sensor placement for leak localization in water distribution networks based on a novel semi-supervised strategy. Journal of Process Control, 82, 13-21. doi:10.1016/j.jprocont.2019.08.001Pérez, R., Puig, V., Pascual, J., Quevedo, J., Landeros, E., & Peralta, A. (2011). Methodology for leakage isolation using pressure sensitivity analysis in water distribution networks. Control Engineering Practice, 19(10), 1157-1167. doi:10.1016/j.conengprac.2011.06.004Boatwright, S., Romano, M., Mounce, S., Woodward, K., & Boxall, J. (s. f.). Optimal Sensor Placement and Leak/Burst Localisation in a Water Distribution System Using Spatially-Constrained Inverse-Distance Weighted Interpolation. doi:10.29007/37cpBlesa, J., Nejjari, F., & Sarrate, R. (2015). Robust sensor placement for leak location: analysis and design. Journal of Hydroinformatics, 18(1), 136-148. doi:10.2166/hydro.2015.021Steffelbauer, D. B., & Fuchs-Hanusch, D. (2016). Efficient Sensor Placement for Leak Localization Considering Uncertainties. Water Resources Management, 30(14), 5517-5533. doi:10.1007/s11269-016-1504-6Yoo, D., Chang, D., Song, Y., & Lee, J. (2018). Optimal Placement of Pressure Gauges for Water Distribution Networks Using Entropy Theory Based on Pressure Dependent Hydraulic Simulation. Entropy, 20(8), 576. doi:10.3390/e20080576De Schaetzen, W. B. ., Walters, G. ., & Savic, D. . (2000). Optimal sampling design for model calibration using shortest path, genetic and entropy algorithms. Urban Water, 2(2), 141-152. doi:10.1016/s1462-0758(00)00052-2Cugueró-Escofet, M. À., Puig, V., & Quevedo, J. (2017). Optimal pressure sensor placement and assessment for leak location using a relaxed isolation index: Application to the Barcelona water network. Control Engineering Practice, 63, 1-12. doi:10.1016/j.conengprac.2017.03.003Sela Perelman, L., Abbas, W., Koutsoukos, X., & Amin, S. (2016). Sensor placement for fault location identification in water networks: A minimum test cover approach. Automatica, 72, 166-176. doi:10.1016/j.automatica.2016.06.005Carpitella, S., Carpitella, F., Certa, A., Benítez, J., & Izquierdo, J. (2018). Managing Human Factors to Reduce Organisational Risk in Industry. Mathematical and Computational Applications, 23(4), 67. doi:10.3390/mca23040067Addae, B. A., Zhang, L., Zhou, P., & Wang, F. (2019). Analyzing barriers of Smart Energy City in Accra with two-step fuzzy DEMATEL. Cities, 89, 218-227. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2019.01.043Dalvi-Esfahani, M., Niknafs, A., Kuss, D. J., Nilashi, M., & Afrough, S. (2019). Social media addiction: Applying the DEMATEL approach. Telematics and Informatics, 43, 101250. doi:10.1016/j.tele.2019.101250Quezada, L. E., López-Ospina, H. A., Palominos, P. I., & Oddershede, A. M. (2018). Identifying causal relationships in strategy maps using ANP and DEMATEL. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 118, 170-179. doi:10.1016/j.cie.2018.02.020Nilashi, M., Samad, S., Manaf, A. A., Ahmadi, H., Rashid, T. A., Munshi, A., … Hassan Ahmed, O. (2019). Factors influencing medical tourism adoption in Malaysia: A DEMATEL-Fuzzy TOPSIS approach. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 137, 106005. doi:10.1016/j.cie.2019.106005Zhang, L., Sun, X., & Xue, H. (2019). Identifying critical risks in Sponge City PPP projects using DEMATEL method: A case study of China. 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Human Reliability assessment in oil tanker operations

This research is carried out to improve Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) in oil tanker operations in general, to extend and enhance in specific Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method (CREAM), with the aim of reducing human error and thus subsequently preventing oil tanker spills. It is concentrated on oil tanker operations to address the limitation of availability of human reliability data in the maritime domain. The continual occurrence of oil tanker spills, which was substantiated with analysis of historical data of oil tanker incidents/accidents from 1970 to 2008, provides a judicious reason to conduct this research. The critical review of Formal Safety Assessment (FSA) and HRA results in the development of a conceptual framework of HRA facilitating FSA and incorporating Human Organisational Factors (HOF), which addresses the shortcomings of the generic HRA and FSA methodologies that exist independently in the management of oil tankers to prevent oil spills. The CREAM is reviewed due to its prominent use in identifying the root causes of human error. However, its inability of providing solutions to an incident/accident investigation and robust quantification of human reliability features stimulates the development of an advanced CREAM and a human reliability quantification model using a combined Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) and fuzzy logic approach in this research. In addition to facilitating identification of the root causes of human error, the advanced CREAM also provides the solutions to a quantification model, which enables the development of HRA data in the maritime domain. Furthermore, lack of CREAM studies on relationships among Common Performance Conditions (CPCs) is addressed by proposing a Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) model, which allows for a comprehensive understanding of relationships and interdependencies among the CPCs. The model could also be used toappreciate and assimilate the relationships and interdependencies among human factor variables involved in other transportation systems and industrial fields. Finally, the research is concluded with an integrated AHP and fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) model for determining the selection of an appropriate risk control option (RCO) while performing an incident/accident investigation by taking subjective judgments of decision makers into consideration. This research as a pioneer work in developing and applying advanced techniques to improve the generic CREAM in oil tanker operations establishes a foundation for future effort to improve the use of CREAM in other industries. The techniques developed can also be tailored to investigate and deal with an incident/accident effectively, resulting in the reduction of human error within the system management of any organisatio

Risk-based maintenance of critical and complex systems

Tableau d’honneur de la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales, 2016-2017.De nos jours, la plupart des systèmes dans divers secteurs critiques tels que l'aviation, le pétrole et les soins de santé sont devenus très complexes et dynamiques, et par conséquent peuvent à tout moment s'arrêter de fonctionner. Pour éviter que cela ne se reproduise et ne devienne incontrôlable ce qui engagera des pertes énormes en matière de coûts et d'indisponibilité; l'adoption de stratégies de contrôle et de maintenance s'avèrent plus que nécessaire et même vitale. Dans le génie des procédés, les stratégies optimales de maintenance pour ces systèmes pourraient avoir un impact significatif sur la réduction des coûts et sur les temps d'arrêt, sur la maximisation de la fiabilité et de la productivité, sur l'amélioration de la qualité et enfin pour atteindre les objectifs souhaités des compagnies. En outre, les risques et les incertitudes associés à ces systèmes sont souvent composés de plusieurs relations de cause à effet de façon extrêmement complexe. Cela pourrait mener à une augmentation du nombre de défaillances de ces systèmes. Par conséquent, un outil d'analyse de défaillance avancée est nécessaire pour considérer les interactions complexes de défaillance des composants dans les différentes phases du cycle de vie du produit pour assurer les niveaux élevés de sécurité et de fiabilité. Dans cette thèse, on aborde dans un premier temps les lacunes des méthodes d'analyse des risques/échec et celles qui permettent la sélection d'une classe de stratégie de maintenance à adopter. Nous développons ensuite des approches globales pour la maintenance et l'analyse du processus de défaillance fondée sur les risques des systèmes et machines complexes connus pour être utilisées dans toutes les industries. Les recherches menées pour la concrétisation de cette thèse ont donné lieu à douze contributions importantes qui se résument comme suit: Dans la première contribution, on aborde les insuffisances des méthodes en cours de sélection de la stratégie de maintenance et on développe un cadre fondé sur les risques en utilisant des méthodes dites du processus de hiérarchie analytique (Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), de cartes cognitives floues (Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCM)), et la théorie des ensembles flous (Fuzzy Soft Sets (FSS)) pour sélectionner la meilleure politique de maintenance tout en considérant les incertitudes. La deuxième contribution aborde les insuffisances de la méthode de l'analyse des modes de défaillance, de leurs effets et de leur criticité (AMDEC) et son amélioration en utilisant un modèle AMDEC basée sur les FCM. Les contributions 3 et 4, proposent deux outils de modélisation dynamique des risques et d'évaluation à l'aide de la FCM pour faire face aux risques de l'externalisation de la maintenance et des réseaux de collaboration. Ensuite, on étend les outils développés et nous proposons un outil d'aide à la décision avancée pour prédire l'impact de chaque risque sur les autres risques ou sur la performance du système en utilisant la FCM (contribution 5).Dans la sixième contribution, on aborde les risques associés à la maintenance dans le cadre des ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)) et on propose une autre approche intégrée basée sur la méthode AMDEC floue pour la priorisation des risques. Dans les contributions 7, 8, 9 et 10, on effectue une revue de la littérature concernant la maintenance basée sur les risques des dispositifs médicaux, puisque ces appareils sont devenus très complexes et sophistiqués et l'application de modèles de maintenance et d'optimisation pour eux est assez nouvelle. Ensuite, on développe trois cadres intégrés pour la planification de la maintenance et le remplacement de dispositifs médicaux axée sur les risques. Outre les contributions ci-dessus, et comme étude de cas, nous avons réalisé un projet intitulé “Mise à jour de guide de pratique clinique (GPC) qui est un cadre axé sur les priorités pour la mise à jour des guides de pratique cliniques existantes” au centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en réadaptation et intégration sociale du Québec (CIRRIS). Nos travaux au sein du CIRRIS ont amené à deux importantes contributions. Dans ces deux contributions (11e et 12e) nous avons effectué un examen systématique de la littérature pour identifier les critères potentiels de mise à jour des GPCs. Nous avons validé et pondéré les critères identifiés par un sondage international. Puis, sur la base des résultats de la onzième contribution, nous avons développé un cadre global axé sur les priorités pour les GPCs. Ceci est la première fois qu'une telle méthode quantitative a été proposée dans la littérature des guides de pratiques cliniques. L'évaluation et la priorisation des GPCs existants sur la base des critères validés peuvent favoriser l'acheminement des ressources limitées dans la mise à jour de GPCs qui sont les plus sensibles au changement, améliorant ainsi la qualité et la fiabilité des décisions de santé.Today, most systems in various critical sectors such as aviation, oil and health care have become very complex and dynamic, and consequently can at any time stop working. To prevent this from reoccurring and getting out of control which incur huge losses in terms of costs and downtime; the adoption of control and maintenance strategies are more than necessary and even vital. In process engineering, optimal maintenance strategies for these systems could have a significant impact on reducing costs and downtime, maximizing reliability and productivity, improving the quality and finally achieving the desired objectives of the companies. In addition, the risks and uncertainties associated with these systems are often composed of several extremely complex cause and effect relationships. This could lead to an increase in the number of failures of such systems. Therefore, an advanced failure analysis tool is needed to consider the complex interactions of components’ failures in the different phases of the product life cycle to ensure high levels of safety and reliability. In this thesis, we address the shortcomings of current failure/risk analysis and maintenance policy selection methods in the literature. Then, we develop comprehensive approaches to maintenance and failure analysis process based on the risks of complex systems and equipment which are applicable in all industries. The research conducted for the realization of this thesis has resulted in twelve important contributions, as follows: In the first contribution, we address the shortcomings of the current methods in selecting the optimum maintenance strategy and develop an integrated risk-based framework using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCM), and fuzzy Soft set (FSS) tools to select the best maintenance policy by considering the uncertainties.The second contribution aims to address the shortcomings of traditional failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) method and enhance it using a FCM-based FMEA model. Contributions 3 and 4, present two dynamic risk modeling and assessment tools using FCM for dealing with risks of outsourcing maintenance and collaborative networks. Then, we extend the developed tools and propose an advanced decision support tool for predicting the impact of each risk on the other risks or on the performance of system using FCM (contribution 5). In the sixth contribution, we address the associated risks in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) maintenance and we propose another integrated approach using fuzzy FMEA method for prioritizing the risks. In the contributions 7, 8, 9, and 10, we perform a literature review regarding the risk-based maintenance of medical devices, since these devices have become very complex and sophisticated and the application of maintenance and optimization models to them is fairly new. Then, we develop three integrated frameworks for risk-based maintenance and replacement planning of medical devices. In addition to above contributions, as a case study, we performed a project titled “Updating Clinical Practice Guidelines; a priority-based framework for updating existing guidelines” in CIRRIS which led to the two important contributions. In these two contributions (11th and 12th) we first performed a systematic literature review to identify potential criteria in updating CPGs. We validated and weighted the identified criteria through an international survey. Then, based on the results of the eleventh contribution, we developed a comprehensive priority-based framework for updating CPGs based on the approaches that we had already developed and applied success fully in other industries. This is the first time that such a quantitative method has been proposed in the literature of guidelines. Evaluation and prioritization of existing CPGs based on the validated criteria can promote channelling limited resources into updating CPGs that are most sensitive to change, thus improving the quality and reliability of healthcare decisions made based on current CPGs. Keywords: Risk-based maintenance, Maintenance strategy selection, FMEA, FCM, Medical devices, Clinical practice guidelines