Service Station Evaluation Problem in Catering Service of High-Speed Railway: A Fuzzy QFD Approach Based on Evidence Theory

Xin Wu,Lei Nie,Meng Xu

doi:10.1155/2015/404926

Xin Wu, Lei Nie + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/404926

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Abstract

Catering Service of High-Speed Railway (CSHR) starts at suppliers, includes distribution centers and service stations in cities, and ends at cabinets in high-speed trains. In Distribution System Design (DSD) Problem for CSHR, it is critical to evaluate the alternatives of service stations, which is termed as Service Station Evaluation Problem in Catering Service of High-speed Railway (SSEP-CSHR). As a preparation work for DSD, SSEP-CSHR needs to be solved without detailed information and being accompanied with uncertainty. Fuzzy Quality Function Deployment (F-QFD) has been given in the literatures to deal with vagueness in Facility Location Evaluation (FLE). However, SSEP-CSHR that includes identifying and evaluating stations requires not only dealing with the vague nature of assessments but also confirming them. Based on evidence theory, this paper introduces the framework to give the truth of proposition “x is A.” Then it is incorporated into a two-phase F-QFD with an approximate reasoning to enable the truth of the decisions to be measured. A case study that refers to 85 alternative stations on Chinese high-speed railway will be carried out to verify the proposed method. Analysis shows that the proposed evaluation method enhances scientific credibility of FLE and allows decision makers to express how much is known.

Highlights

In China, the significance of Catering Service of High-Speed Railway (CSHR) has emerged with the rapid development of high-speed passenger rail line’s construction
This paper is an effort to improve the scientific credibility and practicability of Fuzzy Quality Function Deployment (F-Quality Function Deployment (QFD)) and to offer a qualitative approach for station selection problem (SSEP)-CSHR based on the two-phase F-QFD with an approximate procedure based on evidence theory
This paper illustrates that the usage of evidence theory allows an approximate reasoning based on various types of body of evidence (BOE) to be incorporated into F-QFD

Summary

Introduction

In China, the significance of Catering Service of High-Speed Railway (CSHR) has emerged with the rapid development of high-speed passenger rail line’s construction. The process of the service starts at suppliers, includes distribution centers and service stations in various cities, and ends at cabinets in high-speed trains (see Figure 1). That is, places to catering foods, play an essential role as link-ups between suppliers and trains in food distribution system. The performance of each station for catering is extremely important for CSHR to maintain a continuous supply and rapid distribution. For a new institute to establish a distribution system to support CSHR, it is an inevitable decision to evaluate alternative sites of service station as a preliminary work for other further decisions in CSHR. Service station Evaluation Problem (SSEP-CSHR) becomes a critical issue in CSHR

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