A novel hybrid approach for product concept evaluation based on rough numbers, shannon entropy and TOPSIS-PSI

Abstract

This work aims to help the designers to make decisions in the early stage of new product development. Design concept evaluation is very critical in design process, it may affect the later stages. However, facing to uncertain circumstance, mostly, the raw data in early stage are subjective and imprecise. This work proposes a novel approach to solve this problem. The whole work is based on rough numbers, Shannon entropy, technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution method and preference selection index method. Firstly, rough numbers and Shannon entropy are integrated to determine the weight of evaluation criteria based on their interrelationships. After that, a novel technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution method improved by rough numbers and preference selection index method is proposed to evaluate and rank the alternatives. Then, a comparative case is carried out with proposed method and two other methods in this study. The comparation of evaluation processes indicates that the proposed method’s advantage. Compared the other methods, proposed approach is objective, simple and do not need additional input. The results of three methods are similar. It means that the proposed method is not only effective and efficient in design concept evaluation, but also can save time and cost in the early stage of new product development.