An integrated approach for performance enhancement in automobile repair shops

Abstract

Performance management has been a topic of interest for academicians and practitioners. This paper aims at integrating fuzzy logic, data envelopment analysis (DEA) and fuzzy failure mode and effects analysis (fuzzy FMEA) for enhancing the performance in automobile (car) repair shops. A questionnaire with linguistic terms has been used to collect the data related to customer's perceived service quality and the perceptions are quantified using triangular fuzzy numbers. The weights for the service quality parameters considered are gained through analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Fuzzy perceived quality score is then calculated by combining the fuzzy numbers of criteria with the corresponding weights. Then the service performance is measured using DEA by considering both quantitative and qualitative measures. The results from DEA model provide the relative efficiency measure and efficient input/output targets for each repair shop. For further improvement of the service process, fuzzy FMEA is used to prioritise the potential failure modes. Based on the calculated fuzzy risk priority numbers (FRPN) remedial actions can be initiated.