Selection of optimum plant layout using AHP-TOPSIS and WASPAS approaches coupled with Entropy method

Abstract

Layout design and selection often have notable effects on the performance of the manufacturing industry. This research investigates the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach to find out the optimum plant layout design. The proposed methodology is demonstrated through the real-life setting for the gearbox manufacturing industry. Manual and computerized layout generation approach is used efficiently and accordingly, six layout designs are generated. The approach takes into account qualitative as well as quantitative performance criteria for the selection of layout design. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is applied to obtain the weight of qualitative measures. Ranking of alternatives is obtained through the application of Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and Weighted Aggregated Sum-Product Assessment (WASPAS) both integrated with the Entropy method. Empirical findings indicate that the rank acquired using the TOPSIS method is perfectly parallel to those acquired through the WASPAS method, which confirms the applicability and potential of these methods. Also, the effect of the parameter λ in WASPAS method on performance score is stable. At the same time, this paper analyses the rank reversal phenomenon and proves that the ranking proposed by TOPSIS satisfies ranking stability.