An Application of Fuzzy Data Envelopment Analytical Hierarchy Process for Reducing Defects in the Production of Liquid Medicine

Abstract

This article demonstrated the application of the Fuzzy Data Envelopment Analytical Hierarchy Process (FDEAHP) to evaluate the root causes of critical defect problems occurring in the production of liquid medicine. The methodology of the research began by collecting the defect data by using Check Sheets, and ranking the significant problems by using a Pareto Diagram. Two types of major problems were found to occur, including glass fragments in the medicine and damaged lid threads. The causes of each problem were then analyzed by using Cause and Effect Diagrams. The significant causes were ranked by FDEAHP under three criteria, Severity (S), Occurrence (O) and Detection (D), followed by the framework of the FMEA Technique. Two causes with the highest Final Weight (FW) of each problem were selected to be improved, such as installing auxiliary equipment, using the Poka-Yoke system, setting the scale of the shaft and lathing the bushes of each bottle size. The results demonstrated a reduction in defects from 3.209% to 1.669% and showed that improving a few significant root causes, identified by an experienced decision maker, was sufficient to reduce the defect rate.