Application of multi-attribute decision-making methods for the selection of conveyor

Abstract

In the present time of innovation, conveyor is an exceptionally indispensable part and has huge significance for material handling in various process and manufacturing industries. It is made with precisions, and the expenses are relatively high and should work with better productivity. The selection of the best conveyor is a crucial task, and the designers need to recognize different attributes that will influence the functionalities of the conveyor system to limit bottlenecks in the system. Researchers have worked on strategies for finding the best optimum solution for various selection problems, but conveyor selection using selected methods is not reported. Therefore, the present work aims to the selection process of the best option for conveyor by using four selected decision-making methods such as analytical hierarchy process, technique of order preference by similarity to ideal solution, compromise ranking method and Deng’s similarity-based method. The selection is done among four alternatives based on six attributes, viz. fixed cost each hour, variable cost each hour, conveyor speed, product width, product weight and flexibility. The analytical hierarchy process is used to determine weights of the attributes based on relative importance of each attribute. It is observed that A3 conveyor is best suitable conveyor. Hence, the proposed strategies help manufacturers to examine and choose the best conveyor.