A Hybrid MCDM Approach Based on ANP and TOPSIS for Facility Layout Selection

Abstract

Facility layout selection is a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem, since it has a strategic impact on the efficiency of manufacturing system. In view of the interdependency among selection criteria, analytic network process (ANP) is proposed to analyze the structure of the facility layout selection problem and determine the weights for each criterion. A network structure is constructed that shows all elements and clusters and their interactions. Limit priorities are also calculated which help decision maker evaluate the relative importance among criterion in the alternative selection process. Moreover, a hybrid MCDM approach that employs ANP and technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) method to rank the optimal facility layout alternatives. Finally, an application of a new aeronautic component assembly workshop facility layout selection is conducted. To further illustrate the advantage of the proposed approach, the difference between ANP-TOPSIS and AHP-TOPSIS methods are compared and discussed. Results have demonstrated the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed method.