Fuzzy Analytic Network Process Approach Research Articles

A fuzzy ANP-based criticality analyses approach of reliability-centered maintenance for CNC lathe machine components

Calculation of the criticality score and its analysis are important for the reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) of CNC lathe machine components. The tools of a CNC lathe machine include complex critical part and sub-systems. The reliability of parts decline due to the independent system fault. To identify the essential components of CNC lathe machine tools, a system level component criticality analysis method is proposed. In this study, a comprehensive framework of criticality-based RCM implementation through experimentation of a CNC-lathe machine is proposed. The criticality of machine components were identified by investigating their dependency on the criteria and sub-criteria. Five main criteria were found effective for the criticality of the components which are the cost, complexity, sustainability, functional dependency, and safety impacts. Fuzzy analytical network process (FANP) approach was employed to evaluate criticality scores for eleven-component of a CNC lathe machine. This is a preliminary study and aims to contribute to the literature and practitioners in many ways. The primary focus of our method lies in its capability to predict criticality values for a manufacturing system in absence of historical maintenance data relying on the expertise/intuition of the operator(s) for decision making for the predictive maintenance of the system with the help of fuzzy ANP approach. It was found that the turret was the most critical component with a metric of 0.0641 which was also found to be over 3 times more critical than the least critical hydraulic system, which had a criticality metric of 0.0187. This novel FANP framework provides a credible solution to real-world RCM scheduling and can be applied to any manufacturing system-related application.

A 2-stage fuzzy ANP approach for selection procedure of the optimum variant of office plan

A 2-stage fuzzy ANP approach for selection procedure of the optimum variant of office plan

Prioritizing the Factors Affecting the Application of Industry 4.0 Technology in Electrical Appliance Manufacturing using a Fuzzy Analytical Network Process Approach

The fourth industrial revolution is a technological advancement that is posing new challenges in manufacturing and services. Industries must adopt innovations to create value-added for their products and services to gain a competitive advantage and increase production efficiency. Therefore, this research aims to study the factors that influence the application of Industry 4.0 technology for managing electrical appliance production by focusing on five major factors: the internet of things, cloud manufacturing, big data analytics, additive manufacturing, and cyber-physical systems, which can be further subdivided into 23 sub-factors. The fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) technique is used to prioritize the factors to develop criteria for selecting appropriate applications of Industry 4.0 technology in manufacturing. Besides, a questionnaire based on the FANP approach is used to collect data from 82 electrical appliance manufacturers to calculate the weight of each factor. Consequently, the Internet of Things is ranked first, followed by big data analytics and additive manufacturing. While the results have indicated the importance of sub-factors as data-driven, data collection, tracking, monitoring, and automation, respectively. The benefit of this research is that manufacturers of electrical appliances can use this research as a criterion for implementing Industry 4.0 technology for long-term effectiveness.

A Fuzzy-ANP Approach for Comprehensive Benefit Evaluation of Grid-Side Commercial Storage Project

With the increasing demand for clean and low-carbon energy, high proportion of renewable energy has been integrated into the receiving-end grid. The grid-side energy storage project can ensure the safe and stable operation of the grid, but it still faces many problems, such as high initial investment, difficult operation and maintenance, unclear profit model, lack of business mode. Therefore, it is of great significance to evaluate the comprehensive benefit of energy storage projects in order to guide the sustainable development of large-scale energy storage projects and power system. By studying the technical and economic characteristics of energy storage, this paper establishes a comprehensive evaluation system from four dimensions of energy efficiency, economic, social, and environmental benefit. Combined with typical business modes and determining the subdivision index system of different modes, the comprehensive benefit evaluation model of grid-side commercial storage project based on Fuzzy-Analytic Network Process (ANP) approach is established. Empirical analysis of a 100-megawatt storage project is carried out to evaluate the project benefits comprehensively, the potential problems of the market development and business mode of the grid-side large-scale storage project are discussed, and the future development orientation and suggestions are put forward.

Determination of the best strategies for development of organic farming: A SWOT – Fuzzy Analytic Network Process approach

Organic farming pursues sustainable agricultural development and improves the sustainability of food systems. Hence, policy makers and researchers around the world tried to develop it focusing on some factors and large areas. However, organic farmlands have been recently decreasing in some countries. The goal of this study is to determine the best strategies for development of organic farming based on comprehensive factors affecting organic farming, considering the interdependence among them under the uncertainty in the decision-making environment with a focus on Iran’s Khorasan Razavi province, a country suffering from a decrease in organic farmland. In this study, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis, fuzzy theory, and Analytic Network Process (ANP) method were utilized. Based on interview with 20 organic farming experts and the SWOT analysis, 28 factors affecting organic farming were identified and nine possible strategies for organic farming development were defined. The results of fuzzy and ANP methods indicated that developing consumers’ awareness programs is the best strategy with the priority of 0.276, followed by creating a competitive market for organic products, and planning to teach the principles of organic farming with the priority of 0.262 and 0.230, respectively. The findings provide guidelines for decision makers involved in organic farming development.

Measuring the influence values of lean criteria on leanness

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of lean criteria on leanness as well as prioritize them, taking the relationships between dimensions into consideration for manufacturing enterprises.Design/methodology/approachThis study considers leanness over quality, cost, delivery and innovation (QCDI) performance dimensions. Twenty eight criteria related with these dimensions were determined that are focused on manufacturing organizations and then fuzzy analytic network process (ANP) approach was used to determine the influence value of each criterion on leanness.FindingsThe existing literature shows a lack of studies on systematically measuring the impact of lean criteria on leanness. To fill the gap, this paper presents a fuzzy ANP approach. Firstly interactions between the performance dimensions were configured. Then, according to the relationship, weights were obtained while taking the network structure that allows dynamic multidirectional relationships for interdependencies among performance dimensions into consideration. This provides a more accurate approach for determining the impact value on leanness performance in real-life decision-making environments.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitation of this study is that only manufacturing enterprises have been considered. Different criteria may need to be developed for service organizations.Practical implicationsThis study gives a real insight to lean practitioners in the manufacturing system. Due to the fact it is difficult to achieve all the criteria at the same time for a company, this study is significant for manufacturers, indicating which criteria should primarily be focused on in order to achieve leanness.Originality/valueApplying fuzzy ANP on interrelated QCDI performance dimensions to evaluate the impact of lean criteria on leanness is the novelty of this study in the related literature. The fuzzy ANP approach is thought to be a more suitable approach to obtain more realistic and accurate results with the power to cope with ambiguity. This study provides a systematic measurement of the influence of lean criteria, also considering interdependencies between performance dimensions. Another contribution of this study is adding innovation to the performance dimensions that are commonly known as quality, cost and delivery to assess leanness in a comprehensive manner.

E7 Bankacılık Sektöründe Müşteri Beklentilerinin Bulanık ANP Tabanlı Analizi

This study aims to analyze the customer expectations in E7 banking industry. For this purpose, 8 different criteria are selected and weighted by using fuzzy ANP approach. The results show that pricing policies ease of access and security are important factors that affect customer satisfaction in banking industry. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that banks should charge affordable prices because the customers give significance to the cost in banking activities. Another important point is that banks should open enough branches and ATMs in critical locations since the ease of access is an essential issue for the customers. Finally, these banks should invest in IT development so that there should not be any risk about the security. By considering these issues, it can be much easier for the banks to meet the expectations of the customers.

Portfolio selection: a fuzzy-ANP approach

This study developed specific criteria and a fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) to assess and select portfolios on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Although the portfolio selection problem has been widely investigated, most studies have focused on income and risk as the main decision-making criteria. However, there are many other important criteria that have been neglected. To fill this gap, first, a literature review was conducted to determine the main criteria for portfolio selection, and a Likert-type questionnaire was then used to finalize a list of criteria. Second, the finalized criteria were applied in an FANP to rank 10 different TSE portfolios. The results indicated that profitability, growth, market, and risk are the most important criteria for portfolio selection. Additionally, portfolios 6, 7, 2, 4, 8, 1, 5, 3, 9, and 10 (A6, A7, A2, A4, A8, A1, A5, A3, A9, and A10) were found to be the best choices. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

An integration of a QFD model with Fuzzy-ANP approach for determining the importance weights for engineering characteristics of the proposed wheelchair design

A wheelchair design with a nested seat back and hand-rest was proposed and ergonomically analyzed, with the objective of decreasing the likelihood of poor and awkward body postures for both the disabled user and his/her companion. The proposed design was validated by integrating a Quality Function Deployment (QFD) framework with a Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP) to determine the degree of importance of the engineering characteristics. In this study, the influence of this integration on determining weights that prioritize engineering characteristics (ECs) was highlighted by taking into consideration the mutual dependence between customer needs (CNs) and ECs and the inner dependence amongst them. This study focused on utilizing FANP methodology, in which triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs) were used to represent the degree of importance of CNs and ECs, since human judgments of the intensity of preference for these attributes are subjective, vague, and uncertain. Regarding the importance weights for engineering characteristics of the proposed wheelchair design, it has been found that the quality of material scores the highest weight compared to other ECs, with an overall importance weight of 0.43. This result differed from that one obtained using the QFD model without integration, in which the method of design came in first position. The integrated approach proved to be a promising tool in solving fuzzy decision-making problems in different fields and in several applications such as product development and design for ergonomics. As the FANP approach is not popular in the product development/selection field, this study will expand its employment by decision makers in facilitating the evaluation process where there are interrelated factors under an uncertain environment.

Sustainability performance assessment of industrial corporation using Fuzzy Analytic Network Process

Abstract Nowadays, sustainability is one of the leading value-increasing strategies of industrial corporations. In order to implement a sustainable strategy, it is necessary to assess the sustainability performance. Nevertheless, this still represents a relevant gap in the literature and practice. There are a number of frameworks and tools for sustainability performance assessment. Most of them are based on a set of indicators. However, in many corporations the sets are applied and kept disaggregated. Due to this deficiency, aggregated sustainability assessment approaches are often explored by researchers and practitioners. One of the main approaches is the use of multi criteria decision making methods which transform multiple indicator values to a single dimension. Since there are many complex interdependencies among the used sustainability key performance indicators and their relations are uncertain, Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP) appears to be an appropriate tool for aggregated assessing the sustainability performance. The aim of this paper is to develop and verify a methodology for aggregated sustainability performance assessment of an industrial corporation using the FANP approach. Based on analysis of the existing FANP approaches and discussion of their advantages and disadvantages, Logarithmic Fuzzy Preference Programming Methodology was selected for this purpose. Our developed methodology provides a comprehensive aggregated sustainability performance assessment system based on combining three evaluation methods (basic evaluation, trend evaluation, and categorization), and Action matrix, which defines appropriate corrective actions level to achieve the sustainability performance targets. A case study from metallurgical industry was used to verify the developed methodology and to identify critical points and recommendations for its implementation.

Evaluation of watershed health using Fuzzy-ANP approach considering geo-environmental and topo-hydrological criteria

Assessment of watershed health and prioritization of sub-watersheds are needed to allocate natural resources and efficiently manage watersheds. Characterization of health and spatial prioritization of sub-watersheds in data scarce regions helps better comprehend real watershed conditions and design and implement management strategies. Previous studies on the assessment of health and prioritization of sub-watersheds in ungauged regions have not considered environmental factors and their inter-relationship. In this regard, fuzzy logic theory can be employed to improve the assessment of watershed health. The present study considered a combination of climate vulnerability (Climate Water Balance), relative erosion rate of surficial rocks, slope weighted K-factor, topographic indices, thirteen morphometric characteristics (linear, areal, and relief aspects), and potential non-point source pollution to assess watershed health, using a new framework which considers the complex linkage between human activities and natural resources. The new framework, focusing on watershed health score (WHS), was employed for the spatial prioritization of 31 sub-watersheds in the Khoy watershed, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. In this framework, an analytical network process (ANP) and fuzzy theory were used to investigate the inter-relationships between the above mentioned geo-environmental factors and to classify and rank the health of each sub-watershed in four classes. Results demonstrated that only one sub-watershed (C15) fell into the class that was defined as ‘a potentially critical zone’. This article provides a new framework and practical recommendations for watershed management agencies with a high level of assurance when there is a lack of reliable hydrometric gauge data.

Sustainable electricity generation mix for Iran: A fuzzy analytic network process approach

Electricity supply in Iran has been heavily dependent on fossil fuels. In light of the government’s emphasis on reducing the consumption of conventional energy sources, combined with the worldwide attention to environmental issues, it is necessary for Iran to revise its current energy mix policy in power sector and move towards a more diversified energy portfolio. This paper aims to contribute to energy management studies through developing a new framework for assessing the mix of energy sources for producing electricity in Iran from the perspective of sustainable development. Multiple qualitative and quantitative criteria with conflicting nature need to be taken into consideration for evaluating competing energy options for electricity production in Iran. In order to address this issue and also to consider the complex interdependence among criteria and alternatives, this paper adopts a fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) method. Seven criteria and nineteen sub-criteria are defined and structured in the form of benefits, opportunities, costs and risks (BOCR) to evaluate the share of six energy resources. The results indicate that the best energy mix for the power sector in Iran is as follows: renewable energies (31.6%), natural gas (25%), coal (12.3%), fuel oil (12.6%), nuclear (8.7%) and gas oil (9.7%).

Maintenance policy selection: a fuzzy-ANP approach

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) model to select the maintenance policy of an acid manufacturing company.Design/methodology/approachFour maintenance strategies of Corrective Maintenance (CM), Time-Based Maintenance (TBM), Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) and Shutdown Maintenance (SM) are investigated to be considered for seven equipment of the case study. These equipment are almost new and include boiler, molten sulfur ponds, cooling towers, absorption tower, converter, sulfur fuel furnace and heat exchanger. Chang’s extended analysis has been employed to deal with fuzzy data and analyze the fuzzy decision matrices. The proposed approach is applied to a sulfuric acid production plant and the suitable maintenance policy is found for all seven equipment of the company.FindingsBased on the obtained results, the CBM policy is appropriate for high-risk (cooling tower) and high added value equipment (absorption tower). In addition, TBM is selected for boiler and converters while SM is selected for molten sulfur ponds. Finally, high-cost, low-risk and low added value equipment (sulfur fuel furnace and heat exchanger) are more appropriate with CM policy.Originality/valueThis research presents a novel idea to consider cost, risk and added value in the context of maintenance policy selection. From the methodological and theoretical features, this research offers new insights in this area since, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no comparable study has been conducted before.

Implementation of Green Procurement in Supplier Selection of PT Kubota Indonesia with Fuzzy Analytical Network Process Approach (FANP)

Industry globalization and consumer concern for environmental issues compel the industry to make adjustments to the green industry concept including green procurement activities such as supplier selection. One of the industries in the diesel engine exporting company, PT. Kubota Indonesia, must be able to meet market demands related to Green Industries. one of the Green Industry Concepts that teaches companies to broaden their perspectives on corporate environmental concerns is Green Procurement. This concept emphasizes companies to use suppliers who also have a concern for the environment. When conducting the supplier selection process PT. Kubota Indonesia only emphasizes on the criteria for quality, price and timely delivery. In addition, delays in orders received at the company make this company have to choose suppliers. The results of this study were to determine the criteria and sub-criteria weights used by PT. Kubota Indonesia selects suppliers according to the concept of Green Procurement, ranks and selects suppliers using Fuzzy Analytical Network Process (FANP). The most important criteria are quality criteria and the best supplier recommended is PT. Three Pamindo T

A decision modelling approach for selection of biological nutrient removal systems for wastewater

This paper proposes a decision model built on a hierarchical network for optimal selection of biological nutrient removal systems (BNR) in wastewater treatment plants. BNR is an important component of a sustainable wastewater management wherein resource recovery from wastewater becomes an integral part of the municipal wastewater treatment plants (WTP). However, selection of the most appropriate technology or systems requires a multiple criteria analysis. This study focuses on the following criteria namely 1) Economic aspect; 2) Technical aspect; 3) Environmental Aspect; and 4) Space Requirement. The following alternatives were then evaluated: 1) 3 Stage Pho-redox (A2O); 2) 5 Stage Bardenpho (5BP); 3) University of Cape Town (UCT); 4) Virginia Initiative Plant; 5) Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR); 6) Membrane Bioreactor (MBR). A fuzzy ANP approach with Monte Carlo simulation was used to derive the overall priorities of these alternatives. This decision modelling approach addresses the uncertainty and complexity involved in the selection of appropriate BNR in Metro Manila’s WTP.

Evaluating Airline Service Quality Using Fuzzy DEMATEL and ANP

A hybrid fuzzy MADM method is proposed in this paper for evaluating airline service quality. Fuzzy set theory is used since it helps in measuring the ambiguity of concepts associated with human being’s subjective judgment. After reviewing service quality evaluation models especially in the airline industry, SSQAI model was adopted as a construct for evaluating airline service quality in Iran. Fuzzy DEMATEL was applied to determine the degree of influence and impact of criteria on each other and extract cause and effect relations between them that helped in ranking criteria based on the degree of relationship. Then, ANP network map was constructed based on the relation map generated from Fuzzy DEMATEL analysis. Fuzzy ANP approach assisted in prioritizing criteria based on the need for improvement and enabled in a more accurate measurement in decision-making process taking the advantage of using linguistic variables. Fuzzy DEMATEL results demonstrate that expertise, Problem-solving, and conduct has the most influence on other factors and in opposite Valence, Waiting Time, Comfort are the factors which get the most impact from other factors and according to Fuzzy ANP analysis Valence, Convenience, Problem-solving, and Safety&Security are the factors with most priorities that need improvement.

A probabilistic fuzzy analytic network process approach (PROFUZANP) in formulating sustainable manufacturing strategy infrastructural decisions under firm size influence

This paper explores the probabilistic fuzzy analytic network process (PROFUZANP) approach in identifying the content of manufacturing strategy infrastructural decisions that attempt to integrate a sustainability and classical manufacturing strategy framework, in the presence of firm size as a relevant component in decision-making. Linguistic variables with equivalent triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs) are used to elucidate the judgment of elements in pairwise comparison in the framework of the analytic network process (ANP). The ANP effectively handles the complexity of decision-making brought about by the subjectivity and relationships among components of the decision model. Integration of expert judgments conducted by introducing a normal probability distribution in each pairwise comparison with mean equal to the geometric mean of the judgment and standard deviation equal to a predefined perturbation of judgment around the mean. Pre-selected experts in manufacturing strategy and sustainability were asked to elicit judgment in pairwise comparison. Results show that the content of the infrastructural decisions of manufacturing strategy remains constant regardless of the types of firm size. However, the priority of each decision to the goal, which can be translated as the priority of implementation of each policy, varies between large firms and SMEs. The main contribution of this paper is a novel approach that holistically captures the judgmental uncertainty of individual decision-makers and the uncertainty of group decision-making.

A new fuzzy approach to identify the critical risk factors in maintenance management

Maintenance is carried out to prevent the occurrence of events that lead to malfunction and interruption of the production process or the operation of the concerned equipment. One of the main approaches in maintenance is to identify the risk of equipment failure mode. Whereas by reducing the high risk of failure mode the reliability and availability of equipment enhanced and the cost of shutdown reduced, identifying the risk of failure is important. In this paper, a fuzzy hybrid approach, including failure mode and effective analysis (FMEA), decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory technique (DEMATEL), and analytic network process (ANP), is presented to select an appropriate maintenance policy through identifying the risk of failures. The authors aim to develop a risk-based method for selecting a proper maintenance strategy to have available and reliable tamping equipment in railway of Iran. Because of considering the same weight of risk factors, failure occurrence, failure severity, and failure detection ability in FMEA, the traditional FMEA method cannot correctly predict the system’s behavior. So, in this paper, the risk factors as fuzzy variables are proposed and evaluated using fuzzy linguistic terms and fuzzy ratings. In a case study, the present approach is utilized for evaluation and determination of the risk of failure modes for a railway company. At first, fuzzy FMEA is used to identify the main risk and sub-risk of failure modes. Second, fuzzy DEMATEL method is used in order to put forward the interrelationship among the main risks which are determined through fuzzy FMEA. Then, the weights of the sub-risks are calculated by fuzzy ANP approach on the basis of cause–effect relationships that are exposed through DEMATEL method. Finally, the weights of sub-risks are determined by multiplying the weights which have been obtained from fuzzy FMEA to the weights of ANP supermatrix. The weights of sub-risks were determined on the basis of these examined dependencies, and these weights were used for a tamping machine to determine maintenance policy. Finally, some strategies and suggestions have been drawn concerning the needs to reduce the risks and improve the equipment’s availability.

The Impact of Firm Size in the Formulation of Sustainable Manufacturing Strategy Infrastructural Decisions Under Uncertainty

This paper adopts a fuzzy analytic network process approach in identifying the impact of the presence of firm size on the content of the manufacturing strategy infrastructural decisions that integrates the classical manufacturing strategy framework and the notion of sustainability. Linguistic variables with equivalent triangular fuzzy numbers were used to elucidate judgment of elements in pairwise comparison matrices within the context of the analytic network process. Analytic network process effectively handles the complexity of the decision-making problem resulting from the subjectivity and interrelationships inherent among decision components. Domain experts in manufacturing strategy and sustainability were asked to elicit judgment in pairwise comparisons. Results show that the content of the infrastructural decisions of manufacturing strategy remains constant regardless of the presences of firm size component. However, the priority of each decision to the goal which can be translated as the priority of implementation of each policy varies with the presence of firm size.

An integrated fuzzy DEMATEL-fuzzy ANP approach to nominate diagnostic method and measuring total predictive performance score

Proper conditional-based maintenance program supplies outstanding benefits to industrial plants. In order to obtain such advantages, a comprehensive model should be taking into account, which embraces viability, implementation and performance assessment of the program. In this paper, a three-stage strategy is exerted, which first enables the feasibility study of the program’s set-up, then allows the selection of the most satisfactory predictive technique based on a hybrid fuzzy DEMATEL-fuzzy ANP approach. The entered weights to the ANP super matrix and computations in relation to consistency ratio and limited matrix are implemented via SuperDecisions software. Subsequently effectiveness of the predictive maintenance program (PMP) evaluated bearing in mind the strategic and maintenance guidelines of a corporation using simple average weighting method (SAW). The case study mentioned has shown, that in this particular case, the vibration analysis is the most suitable predictive technique, followed by the ultrasonic.