A review of multi-criteria decision making methods for enhanced maintenance delivery

Conventionally there is a strong relation between manufacturing and services in complex engineering industries. For companies which aim to last in the competitive manufacturing market choosing appropriate decision making methods to improve their maintenance delivery has a vital role. The aim of this paper is to review Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) models, evaluate each method and do a critical comparison to assess them from a maintenance management point of view. The first section of this paper reviews MCDM methods in different literature, and then the second part develops a set of criteria to classify different techniques. At the end methods are compared based on developed criteria. This paper assesses different MCDM models, and provides a framework to select approaches for maintenance management

ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES ON CONSTRUCTING A COMPOSITE INDICATOR TO MEASURE AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY

The aim of this paper is to carry out a comparative analysis of alternative methods on constructing composite indicators to measure global sustainability of the agricultural sector. This comparison is implemented empirically on the irrigated agriculture of the Duero basin (Spain) as a case study. For this purpose, this research uses a dataset of indicators previously calculated for different farm-types and policy scenarios. The results allow to establish a hierarchy of the policy scenarios on the basis of the level of sustainability achieved. Furthermore, analyzing the heterogeneity of different farms-types in each scenario, is also possible to determine the main features of the most sustainable farms in each case. All this information is useful in order to support agricultural policy design and its implementation, trying to increase the sustainability of this sector.Sustainability, Composite Indicators, Irrigated agriculture, Scenarios, Agricultural policy, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

MCDM Farm System Analysis for Public Management of Irrigated Agriculture

In this paper we present a methodology within the multi-criteria paradigm to assist policy decision-making on water management for irrigation. In order to predict farmers' response to policy changes a separate multi-attribute utility function for each homogeneous group, attained applying cluster analysis, is elicited. The results of several empirical applications of this methodology suggest an improvement of the ability to simulate farmers' decision-making process compared to other approaches. Once the utility functions are obtained the policy maker can evaluate the differential impacts on each cluster and the overall impacts in the area of study (i.e. a river basin) by aggregation. On the empirical side, the authors present some studies for different policy instruments including water pricing, water markets, modernization of irrigation systems and a combination of them.multi-attribute utility theory, water management, irrigation, policy analysis, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q25, Q15, C61,

Recruitment and selection processes through an effective GDSS

[[abstract]]This study proposes a group decision support system (GDSS), with multiple criteria to assist in recruitment and selection (R&S) processes of human resources. A two-phase decision-making procedure is first suggested; various techniques involving multiple criteria and group participation are then defined corresponding to each step in the procedure. A wide scope of personnel characteristics is evaluated, and the concept of consensus is enhanced. The procedure recommended herein is expected to be more effective than traditional approaches. In addition, the procedure is implemented on a network-based PC system with web interfaces to support the R&S activities. In the final stage, key personnel at a human resources department of a chemical company in southern Taiwan authenticated the feasibility of the illustrated example.[[notice]]補正完畢[[journaltype]]國內[[incitationindex]]SCI[[incitationindex]]E

A multi-attribute decision making procedure using fuzzy numbers and hybrid aggregators

The classical Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) has two limitations. Firstly, it disregards the aspect of uncertainty that usually embedded in the data or information expressed by human. Secondly, it ignores the aspect of interdependencies among attributes during aggregation. The application of fuzzy numbers aids in confronting the former issue whereas, the usage of Choquet Integral operator helps in dealing with the later issue. However, the application of fuzzy numbers into multi-attribute decision making (MADM) demands some additional steps and inputs from decision maker(s). Similarly, identification of monotone measure weights prior to employing Choquet Integral requires huge number of computational steps and amount of inputs from decision makers, especially with the increasing number of attributes. Therefore, this research proposed a MADM procedure which able to reduce the number of computational steps and amount of information required from the decision makers when dealing with these two aspects simultaneously. To attain primary goal of this research, five phases were executed. First, the concept of fuzzy set theory and its application in AHP were investigated. Second, an analysis on the aggregation operators was conducted. Third, the investigation was narrowed on Choquet Integral and its associate monotone measure. Subsequently, the proposed procedure was developed with the convergence of five major components namely Factor Analysis, Fuzzy-Linguistic Estimator, Choquet Integral, Mikhailov‘s Fuzzy AHP, and Simple Weighted Average. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed procedure was verified by solving a real MADM problem where the image of three stores located in Sabak Bernam, Selangor, Malaysia was analysed from the homemakers‘ perspective. This research has a potential in motivating more decision makers to simultaneously include uncertainties in human‘s data and interdependencies among attributes when solving any MADM problems

Circular Pythagorean fuzzy sets and applications to multi-criteria decision making

In this paper, we introduce the concept of circular Pythagorean fuzzy set (value) (C-PFS(V)) as a new generalization of both circular intuitionistic fuzzy sets (C-IFSs) proposed by Atannassov and Pythagorean fuzzy sets (PFSs) proposed by Yager. A circular Pythagorean fuzzy set is represented by a circle that represents the membership degree and the non-membership degree and whose center consists of non-negative real numbers $\mu$ and $\nu$ with the condition $\mu^2+\nu^2\leq 1$. A C-PFS models the fuzziness of the uncertain information more properly thanks to its structure that allows modelling the information with points of a circle of a certain center and a radius. Therefore, a C-PFS lets decision makers to evaluate objects in a larger and more flexible region and thus more sensitive decisions can be made. After defining the concept of C-PFS we define some fundamental set operations between C-PFSs and propose some algebraic operations between C-PFVs via general $t$-norms and $t$-conorms. By utilizing these algebraic operations, we introduce some weighted aggregation operators to transform input values represented by C-PFVs to a single output value. Then to determine the degree of similarity between C-PFVs we define a cosine similarity measure based on radius. Furthermore, we develop a method to transform a collection of Pythagorean fuzzy values to a PFS. Finally, a method is given to solve multi-criteria decision making problems in circular Pythagorean fuzzy environment and the proposed method is practiced to a problem about selecting the best photovoltaic cell from the literature. We also study the comparison analysis and time complexity of the proposed method

Multi-Criteria Analysis in Compound Decision Processes. The AHP and the Architectural Competition for the Chamber of Deputies in Rome (Italy)

In 1967, a national architectural competition was released for a preliminary project proposal, aimed at the realization of the new building for the Chamber of Deputies in Rome. The outcomes of that competition were unusual: eighteen projects were declared joint winners, and no winner was consequently selected. With reference to that event, this research aims to examine the usefulness of the evaluation tools that are currently employed and the positive effects that one of these techniques would have had, as support for the identification of the “winner” project, are highlighted. Therefore, an hypothetical examination/adjustment of the decision process of that competition through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is developed, analyzing the outputs obtained by the implementations of this technique on the final decision. In addition to confirming the usefulness of the evaluation tools for compound and conflicting decision processes, the results of this experiment led to a further understanding of the socio-cultural dynamics related to the original outcomes of the competition analyzed. View Full-Tex