Fuzzy Multiple Criteria Decision-making Approach Research Articles

Prioritization of ecopreneurship barriers overcoming renewable energy technologies promotion: A comparative analysis of novel spherical fuzzy and Pythagorean fuzzy AHP approach

In a challenging environment, renewable energy (RE) entrepreneurs promote and encourage the enactment of new technologies and concepts, but they face several hurdles in promoting them. A basic research gap exists in investigating the ecopreneurship obstacles to RE development by using multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approaches under uncertainty in a comprehensive study, this research thus intends to fill a research gap with the fuzzy MCDM approach to tackle the entrepreneurial obstacles to emerging economies' power generation growth, which can be divided into two parts. Firstly, a literature survey and discussion with experts were used to identify prospective obstacles. Secondly, a novel Spherical Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process was used to finalize obstacle weights. The results showed that the ‘Inadequate government or policy support’ category, with a final weight of (0.2093), is the most essential among the major categories, and ‘inadequate access to institutional finance’ becomes the second rank. Compared with Pythagorean fuzzy AHP, our suggested technique incorporates more details considering the uneasiness of the decision-making atmosphere. In contrast, the overall global orders of obstacles revealed that ‘Accessing credit’, with a final weight of (0.0737), is more important than the other twenty-six obstacles.

A Hybrid FMCDM Approach for the Evaluation and Selection of Homestays.

Due to the beautiful rural scenery, rural tourism has gradually become a popular trend as affected by urbanization in Taiwan. The purpose of this study is to develop an objective and systematic evaluation model for homestay selection in Taiwan. Specifically, this study combines three fuzzy multiple-criteria decision-making (FMCDM) methods of means-end chain (MEC), fuzzy decision making and trial evaluation laboratory (FDEMATEL), and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP). First, we use MEC to obtain important factors for homestay travelers to choose homestays, then we extract key influencing factors by FDEMATEL method, and finally, we rank these factors in importance by FAHP to provide travelers and managers with a reference. In addition, this study combines fuzzy theory to avoid the bias caused by human subjective judgment, so as to solve the problem of objectivity in the selection and evaluation model of homestay criteria. According to the results of our case studies, a clean environment, professional service staff, safe facilities and beautiful buildings are the key factors for consumers to choose homestays. The results of this study can provide a reference for homestay managers to understand the priorities of travelers and optimize customer service in Taiwan.

A hybrid fuzzy multiple criteria decision-making approach for comprehensive performance evaluation of tunnel boring machine disc cutter

Disc cutter performance evaluation and selection is one of the typical and challenging kinds of Multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) problems. To improve the construction efficiency as well as decrease cost of tunnel boring machine (TBM) project, it is essential to evaluate the cutter performance according to the geology and construction demand. This paper develops a novel hybrid fuzzy MCDM approach to address this kind of MCDM problems in the fuzzy environment. To determine more justified weights for criteriawith considerationofsubjective and objective weights, a hybrid weight-determining method that integrates fuzzy AHP, entropy weight (EW), and game theory (GT) is presented. The fuzzy comprehensive evaluation and fuzzy TOPSIS are combined to obtain the evaluation results with considerationofboth quantitative and qualitative criteria. The proposed approach is applied to a case study of disc cutter performance evaluation, and the final rankings of alternatives with the weights of the criteria are discussed. To verify the evaluated results, a comparative study is carried out with engineering practical data, the proposed approach, and some classical MCDM methods. Additionally, a sensitivity analysis is performed based on varying the criteria weights. The investigations show the proposed approach is reasonable, robust, and effective, which can be a precise decision-making aid to deal with many practical MCDM problems in a variety of engineering areas.

The Extend Customer Requirement Factors Based Service Level Evaluation for Manufacturing Enterprises

This study proposes a novel way to evaluate the enterprise customer service level (ECSL) for OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). First, a set of service level evaluating metrics is established based on the extended customer requirement factors (ECRFs), which covers the whole service product delivery process to fully reflect enterprise customers' service requirement. Then, the hybrid fuzzy multiple-criteria decision-making approach combining the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) are adopted. In the evaluating model, a fuzzy method is used to reflect the ambiguity in human thinking and decision making. The weight of each decision maker is determined by a two-layer way to make it more objective. The individual preferences are aggregated by AIP (aggregating individual priorities) way in the group decision-making process of the AHP to respect each decision makers' separate opinion. With the presented approach, ECSL can be evaluated and adjusted conveniently.

Combining Fuzzy AHP and Fuzzy TOPSIS with Financial Ratios to Design a Novel Performance Evaluation Model

Financial performance evaluation is a very crucial process for industries in current highly competitive environment. Therefore, designing an accurate and appropriate performance evaluation framework is beneficial for insiders and also shareholders of a company. To evaluate financial performance, we need to consider some financial indicators that reflect the competitiveness of a company. There are many financial indicators and criteria that are vague and can be regarded as a fuzzy multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. In this paper, we developed a new financial performance evaluation framework to rank the companies in Iranian petrochemical industry based on fuzzy MCDM approach. To achieve this aim, firstly, the main criteria are identified by comprehensive literature review and experts’ opinion. Then, a hierarchical financial performance evaluation model is structured using main financial criteria and their sub-criteria. We used fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to determine the weights of the criteria. Then companies are ranked using fuzzy AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS comparatively. The results indicate that the obtained ranks of the companies by these methods are almost the same with respect to their own sectors.

An integrated fuzzy analytic hierarchy process and fuzzy multiple-criteria decision-making simulation approach for maintenance policy selection

Selecting a proper maintenance strategy in an attempt to preclude failures is of critical significance in system engineering due to its fallbacks in the safety and economics of plants operation. This process is a typical multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem that involves both tangible and intangible parameters that are often in conflict with each other. In this paper, an integrated analytic hierarchy process (AHP)–fuzzy MCDM approach is proposed to perform a comprehensive comparison between different maintenance policies. For this purpose, various criteria are taken into account that are different in nature, as some give a crisp value obtained from simulation, some are defined in linguistic terms based on experts’ opinions and some are in the form of triangular fuzzy numbers. The AHP method is used to determine the importance weights of the criteria. Subsequently, a distance-based fuzzy MCDM approach is employed to rank different maintenance policies and select the most appropriate one. Moreover, the fuzzy technique for the order of prioritization by similarity to ideal solution is used for verification of the proposed integrated approach. Lastly, the impact of each criterion on the rankings is examined. Four commonly implemented maintenance policies, namely condition-based, time-based, failure-based and opportunistic, are considered in this study. Also, a real-world example is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed approach. The most significant feature of this approach lies in its capability in incorporating data in the forms of linguistic variables, triangular fuzzy numbers and crisp numbers into the evaluation process.

Solving Fuzzy MCDM by Subtracting Benefit Criteria from Cost Criteria

This paper suggests a fuzzy MCDM (multiple criteria decision-making) approach, where ratings of alternatives versus criteria and weights of criteria are assessed in fuzzy numbers or linguistic values represented by fuzzy numbers. Criteria are classified into cost and benefit ones. In the proposed method, the ratings assigned by decision makers to each alternative versus each criterion and the weights assigned by decision makers to each criterion are averaged. The averaged cost and benefit ratings are further normalized into comparable scales respectively. The membership function of subtracting the summation of weighted normalized benefit ratings from that of weighted normalized cost ratings for each alternative can be developed by interval arithmetic of fuzzy numbers. The fuzzy number ranking method of centroid is then applied to determine the ordering of the alternatives. A numerical example of robot selection demonstrates feasibility of the proposed method.

Parting curve selection and evaluation using an extension of fuzzy MCDM approach

Parting curve selection and evaluation plays an important role in mold design. Multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) is an effective tool for evaluating and ranking problems involving multiple criteria. In order to select suitable parting curve, several criteria need to be taken into account. Therefore, this paper proposes an extension of fuzzy MCDM approach to solve parting curve selection problem. In the proposed model, the ratings of alternatives and importance weights of criteria for parting curve selection are expressed in linguistic terms. The membership functions of the final fuzzy evaluation value in the proposed model are developed based on the linguistic expressions. To make the procedure easier and more practical, the normalized weighted ratings are defuzzified into crisp values by using a new maximizing set and minimizing set ranking approach to determine the ranking order of alternatives. An example of parting curve evaluation and selection is given. The results show that the proposed approach is very effective in selecting the optimal parting curve for the molded part. Finally, this paper compares the proposed approach with another fuzzy MCDM approach to demonstrate its advantages and applicability.

Evaluating real estate using a fuzzy MCDM approach

This paper suggests a fuzzy multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach for the evaluation of real estates. The suggested approach considers both quantitative and qualitative criteria as well as different importance of the criteria. The final evaluation values from the suggested fuzzy MCDM approach are still fuzzy numbers. A ranking method is needed to defuzzify these fuzzy numbers to complete the approach. In this paper, Chen’s maximising set and minimising set is improved to resolve its ranking inconsistencies via numerical comparison. The improved ranking method is then applied to defuzzify the final fuzzy evaluation values to help perform decision making. Formulas for the ranking procedure can be clearly developed, which bridge the fuzzy MCDM model and the defuzzification process to complete the approach. The suggested approach can be regarded as a decision making system, which is flexible and can be customised to the needs and requirements of the interested parties.

Evaluating Suppliers via a Total Integral Value based Fuzzy MCDM Approach

This study presents a total integral value based fuzzy multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) approach for evaluating suppliers, where the membership function of the final fuzzy evaluation value of each alternative can be developed and the procedure for ranking these final fuzzy evaluation values can be clearly formulated based on total integral value to facilitate efficient decision making. The suggested approach assesses the ratings of alternatives versus subjective criteria and the importance weights of all criteria using Iinguistic values represented by triangular fuzzy numbers. A method based on t-score probability is suggested to normalize the suitability values of alternatives versus objective criteria. The proposed method preserves the property that the range of normalized values under quantitative criteria belongs to [0,1]. Finally, a numerical example of the evaluation and selection of suppliers is presented to demonstrate the computational process and feasibility of the proposed approach.

Hub location selection of third-party logistics service on multiple countries consolidations for ocean freight forwarders by using fuzzy multiple criteria decision- making (MCDM) approach

Since a good location will effectively help expand agglomeration economy effects and increase competitive advantages, there is a need to proceed with a study on effects from various perspectives and evaluate proper location objectively. Hence, the main purpose of this paper is to use a fuzzy multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach to select a hub location of third-party logistics service on multiple countries consolidations for ocean freight forwarders. At first, some concepts and methods used to develop a fuzzy MCDM algorithm are briefly introduced. Secondly, a step-by-step fuzzy MCDM algorithm is proposed. Finally, a numerical example with a hierarchy structure of seven criteria, forty-two sub-criteria, and three alternatives is illustrated by using the proposed fuzzy MCDM approach. Furthermore, this paper with its methods can be employed as a practical tool for business application, as well as the market players can modify this algorithm to evaluate hub location selection in the future. The proposed model not only releases the limitation of crisp values, but also facilitates its implementation as a computer-based decision support system in a fuzzy environment. Key words: Hub location selection, multiple countries consolidation, third-party logistics service provider, fuzzy multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM).

Fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making for evaluating mutual fund strategies

Investors often need to evaluate investment strategies according to their own subjective preferences based upon various criteria. This situation can be regarded as a Fuzzy Multiple Criteria Decision-Making (FMCDM) problem. The purpose of this study is to propose an FMCDM approach with fuzzy integral. This approach relaxes the independence assumption among criteria for the evaluation of the Multiple Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) problems, which is oftentimes the basic assumption in applying hierarchical system for evaluating the strategies of selecting investment style. We also employ Triangular Fuzzy Numbers (TFNs) to represent the decision-makers’ subjective preferences on the criteria, as well as for the criteria measurements to evaluate mutual funds investment style. To achieve this objective, first, we employ factor analysis to extract four independent common factors from those criteria. Second, we construct the evaluation frame using hierarchical system composed of four common factors with 16 evaluation criteria, and then derive the relative weights with respect to the considered criteria. Third, the synthetic utility value corresponding to each mutual fund's investment style is aggregated by the fuzzy weights with fuzzy performance values. Finally, we compare with empirical data and find that the model of FMCDM predicts the rate of return very accurately in certain ranges of λ, hence the nonadditive fuzzy integral technique is an effective method for evaluating mutual funds’ strategy.

Fuzzy MCDM approach to evaluate service strategies of customer value for global shipping carrier-based logistics service providers

The key purpose of this research is to develop a fuzzy multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) algorithm to evaluate service strategies of customer value (CV) for global shipping carrier-based logistics service providers (GSLPs) based on the shippers’ perspective in Taiwan. At first, a literature review was introduced. Subsequently, a proposed fuzzy MCDM algorithm is developed. Finally, the systematic approach is to perform the empirical survey via questionnaires. The result shows providing customization is the most suitable service strategy of CV for GSLPs. Differentiation, and providing long-term product values are ranked in the second and third places. The strategy of service operation and delivery system is the lowest ranked. It is suggested that the customization of services should be paid more attention by the GSLPs. Key words: Customer value, shipping, fuzzy multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM).

A NEW FUZZY ADDITIVE RATIO ASSESSMENT METHOD (ARAS‐F). CASE STUDY: THE ANALYSIS OF FUZZY MULTIPLE CRITERIA IN ORDER TO SELECT THE LOGISTIC CENTERS LOCATION

The main approaches which are applied to select the logistic center are the methods of gravity center, analytic hierarchy process, similarity to ideal solution, fuzzy ranking, assessment, etc. Multiple Criteria Decision‐Making (MCDM) combines analytical and inductive knowledge, describing a domain problem, which can be fuzzy and/or incomplete. The fuzzy MCDM (FMCDM) approach can explain the problem more appropriately. The purpose of the paper is to select the most suitable site for logistic centre among a set of alternatives, to help the stakeholders with the performance evaluation in an uncertain environment, where the subjectivity and vagueness of criteria are described by triangular fuzzy numbers. The paper presents a newly‐developed ARAS‐F method to solve different problems in transport, construction, economics, technology and sustainable development.

A Hybrid Fuzzy MCDM Approach To Thesis Subject Selection

One of the most significant decisions that a doctoral student may make in the beginning of his/her research career is the selection of a thesis subject. There are also a number of conflicting criteria, including supervisor reputation, convergence of interest, student’s interest and motivation, etc, which should be considered as a part of the appropriate thesis subject selection process. For this purpose, multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) methods have been found to be useful approaches to solve this kind of problem. This paper devises a fuzzy hybrid analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) approach to the problem of thesis subject selection. Fuzzy AHP is used to calculate the weight of each criterion, and fuzzy TOPSIS is proposed to prioritize thesis subjects from the best to the worst ones. The application of fuzzy set theory allows incorporating the vague and imprecise linguistic terms into the decision process.

Fuzzy MCDM approach to R&D project evaluation in Taiwan's public sectors

PurposeEstablishing a performance‐oriented evaluation in public sectors is the key to successful administrations. However, because of lacking relative comparable measuring standards, it is difficult to measure the relative performance of one unit while comparing to other units with regard to the multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) of performance evaluation. This paper aims to focus on the performance ranking of research and development (R&D) projects in Taiwan's public sectors.Design/methodology/approachThe algorithm in this paper is based on the concept of fuzzy set theory and the hierarchical structure analysis. The analyzing method adopts the methods of standard normal distribution, linear transformation, and fuzzy MCDM, carrying on the analysis of multiple criteria of the performance evaluation.FindingsThis paper constructs linguistic values to the subjective judgments and analyzes the ranking results of the performance evaluation with respect to 45 R&D projects of one of Taiwan's electric power companies. Thus, the paper demonstrates a successful way of evaluating R&D projects in the public sector.Originality/valueIn this paper, a decision algorithm based on the fuzzy set theory is proposed to solve the performance evaluation of R&D projects in public sectors. In order to solve the difficulties of measuring one unit of the relative performance of quantitative criteria comparing to the other units, the method of standard normal distribution is adopted while measuring the quantitative criteria. The concept of linguistic values and fuzzy numbers are used in this paper since they could easily be used to describe the subjective measurement of the appropriateness of alternatives and the importance weightings of criteria.

Trade credit evaluation for Taiwan's broadband communications equipment manufacturers

Selecting trade credit instruments has profound impacts not only on the sellers/exporters but also on the buyers/importers. In this paper, we propose a fuzzy multiple-criteria-decision-making (MCDM) structure to trade credit evaluation. By considering the telegraphic transfer (T/T) advance, the letter of credit (L/C), the documentary collection, and the open account (O/A), a fuzzy MCDM approach is applied for the first time to investigate the trade credit offer. We use Taiwan's broadband communications equipment manufacturers in business in 2007 as an example. The results of our investigations differ according to three scenarios. This study provides an aggregate, comprehensive, and scientific framework on trade credit evaluation. This framework not only includes three objectives (risk, cost, and firm policy), but also four alternatives (T/T advance, LC, documentary collection and O/A) for the decision maker to use when considering strategic trade credit offers.

A hybrid fuzzy MCDM approach to machine tool selection

The selection of the appropriate machine tools for a manufacturing company is one of the important points to achieving high competitiveness in the market. Besides, an appropriate choice of machine tools is very important as it helps to realize full production quickly. Today’s market offers many more choices for machine tool alternatives. There are also many factors one should consider as part of the appropriate machine tool selection process, including productivity, flexibility, compatibility, safety, cost, etc. Consequently evaluation procedures involve several objectives and it is often necessary to compromise among possibly conflicting tangible and intangible factors. For these reasons, multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) has been found to be a useful approach to solve this kind of problem. Most of the MCDM models are basically mathematical and ignore qualitative and often subjective considerations. The use of fuzzy set theory allows incorporating qualitative and partially known information into the decision model. This paper describes a fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) based methodology for evaluation and selection of vertical CNC machining centers for a manufacturing company in Istanbul, Turkey. The criteria weights are calculated by using the fuzzy AHP (analytical hierarchy process).

Selecting distribution centre location using an improved fuzzy MCDM approach

A distribution centre (DC) is usually supplied by manufacturing factories and in turn it supplies the consumers. To reduce transportation costs and enhance operation efficiency, selecting a suitable DC location has become a very important issue for both manufacturing and distribution industries. Recently, Chen [1] proposed a fuzzy MCDM (multiple criteria decision-making) approach to selecting the location of a distribution centre. Despite its merits, two limitations were found in his works, i.e. follows: (1) the final fuzzy evaluation value Pi was treated as a triangular fuzzy number. This is not correct because it may not produce a triangular shape and (2) the difference of two final fuzzy evaluation values, i.e. Pi−Pj, was regarded as a triangular fuzzy number. This is also incorrect. Obviously, Pi−Pj may not produce triangular shape because Pi and Pj may not be triangular fuzzy numbers. To resolve the above limitations and enhance the applicability of the fuzzy MCDM to the DC location selection problem, an improved fuzzy MCDM approach is proposed. In this work, the membership functions of Pi and Pi−Pj are developed to construct an improved fuzzy preference relation, which is further employed with the Chen ranking procedure to complete the proposed method. Finally, a numerical example demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed method.

An interval arithmetic based fuzzy MCDM approach for technology transfer strategy selection in biotechnology

This work suggests an interval arithmetic based fuzzy multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) approach for technology transfer strategy selection in biotechnology, where the ratings of various strategies versus different criteria and the importance weights of different criteria are assessed in fuzzy numbers and/or linguistic terms represented by fuzzy numbers. The membership function for the final fuzzy evaluation value of eac technology transfer strategy can be developed. The ranking method of an area between the centroid point and original point is applied to help complete the proposed model. Detailed analysis for the multiplication of two positive triangular fuzzy numbers is also presented. A numerical example demonstrates the computational process of the proposed method.