Super Decisions Software Research Articles

APPLYING ANP TO ANALYZE THE ROLE OF DESIGN IN THE FURNITURE INDUSTRY

This study was carried out due to the severe dearth of research on the role of design in furniture production and the furniture market in Iran. Accordingly, this research proposes a decision making model to select the best solution for the role of design in this industry. The four possibilities that can be considered as potential solutions include using fashion design in furniture production (S1), using engineering design in furniture production (S2), using a combination of fashion and engineering designs in furniture production (S3), and applying the leading country’s design capability with an outsourcing approach in furniture production (S4). The Analytic Network Process and Super Decision software were used to synthesize and analyze the model. It was found that all of the calculated decisions were influenced by the strategic criteria. A value-weighted competency model was calculated in the first stage with the influence of strategic criteria on the model. Hierarchical design decisions were made for each of the competencies and their subsets (298 sub-criteria and 31 middle indices). Paired comparison matrices associated with the degree of importance of each of the competencies were achieved in the second stage. In the final stage, subsets of the competency’s weights and their sub-options were identified with the combination of the competencies and the best solution was obtained.

Penentuan Dosen Berprestasi Menggunakan Metode Analytical Network Process


 Higher education is a subsystem that includes a program of national education diploma, bachelor, masters, specialist and doctoral degrees held by college both academy, high school and university. College are obliged to provide education, research and community service. One element in the administration of higher education are the lecturer. Lecturers are academic personnel responsible for planning and executing the learning process, assess learning outcomes, conduct coaching and training, and conduct research and community service. Based on the Law of the Republic of Indonesia Number 14 Year 2005 on Teachers and Lecturers, Article 51 Paragraph (1) Item b, the professor is entitled to promotions and awards in accordance with academic performance. This study used the ANP method (Analytical Network Process). By using Superdecision software. The criteria used in this study is the teaching, research and community service The results of this research is the relationship between teaching, research and community service related to the outstanding faculty in the election where the percentages in selecting outstanding faculty teaching performance at the first level = 22%, Personality = 18%, Teaching = 21%, 21% Research = , Devotion community = 16%

English

As teacher competencies and skills play a major role in their performance and thus the achievement of school and educational goals, teachers need to equip themselves with a variety of competencies to educate children who are potentially future leaders of the community. In this context, the present study aimed to find the correlation between each of the main dimensions of professional competencies and the main components of Teacher Development (TD) in elementary schools. The study designed an applied research and used a survey method. The statistical population includes all primary school teachers in Isfahan province (N = 1150). Using a multi-stage and proportional cluster sampling method, the sample size was 94 teachers. Data were collected by studying literature, interviewing experts and a questionnaire. The data were analyzed using correlation test and Analytical Network Process (ANP) technique using SPSS and Super Decisions software. The results of the research show that the dimension skill has the greatest impact on TD, and the dimensions attitudes and behaviors, personality traits, knowledge, and ability are respectively in the second to fifth grades, as the most relevant dimensions of professional competence in primary school TD. Key words: Teacher development (TD), professional competence, primary school, Analytical Network Process (ANP).

Strategic Priorities to Improve Effectiveness of Anti-smoking Interventions for the Korean Military: An Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process.

As South Korea remains technically at war with the North, higher smoking prevalence in the military might adversely affect the South Korea's military power and contribute to lifetime smoking in men with mandatory military service. This study was to identify priorities among the anti-smoking strategies to improve the existing smoking cessation programs for the Korean military. The analytic hierarchy process model with a goal, decision criteria, and sub-criteria as well as candidate strategies, was developed following a literature search and expert group discussion. A survey for pairwise comparison was conducted to determine the priority of the (sub-)criteria and strategies by 14 experts. The Super-Decisions software was used to determine the priorities and to analyze their consistency ratios and sensitivities. The study was approved by the ethics committee of the Korea Ministry of Health and Welfare. Eight candidate strategies were developed to improve the effectiveness of military anti-smoking interventions as follows: (1) development of outcome enhancement plans for smoking cessation programs for the military, (2) development of differentiated smoking cessation programs for specific groups, (3) building of community network for continuity and accessibility of anti-smoking project, (4) building of industry-academia-government networks for anti-smoking project, (5) improvement of the perception of and strengthen the reward for smoking cessation, (6) development of a training system for army clinicians for the delivery of smoking cessation services, (7) creation of a certification system for smoking cessation programs, and (8) development of an evaluation system of project performance for smoking cessation. Through the analytic hierarchy process survey, the military specificity and its sub-criterion of practicality were selected as the top concerns of decision criteria for the anti-smoking strategies among the decision criteria of outcome improvement, military specificity, publicness, and economic efficiency. The most important strategy was to improve the perception of and strengthen the reward for smoking cessation. This strategy was most focused on the creation of an anti-smoking environment and improvement of the effectiveness of the projects. The creation of a training system for army clinicians for the delivery of smoking cessation services ranked second. In conclusion, motivating smoking cessation and utilizing well-trained army clinicians were found to be the most important anti-smoking strategies for the Korean military. This study might provide valuable insights for policy makers to reduce tobacco use in the Korean military.

The development of hydraulic oils for the new fuel-efficient hydraulic hybrid vehicles with ANP method

PurposeThis paper aims to use this method to explore a new approach and possible technical optimal design for lubricant formulation.Design/methodology/approachThe component of the developed oil was determined based on the physical and chemical properties of the base oil and the tribological properties. The analytic hierarchy process (ANP) method and SuperDecisions software were used for hydraulic oil modeling and calculation while taking performance index, work circumstance and economy into consideration.FindingsThe hydraulic oil formulation can be optimized using the ANP method, where the technical performance, economy and working circumstances of the hydraulic oils were taken into consideration in the evaluation system. The experiment analyzed and scored and screened the hydraulic oil formula in an objective and comprehensive manner.Originality/valueThe experiments showed that the newly developed hydraulic oils could meet the performance requirements for new energy vehicles equipped with hybrid hydraulic engines.

Mixed strategy to allocate resources with air pollution treatment in China: based on the analytic network process and large-group decision-making method.

The resource allocation of air pollution treatment in China is a complex problem, since many alternatives are available and many criteria influence mutually. A number of stakeholders participate in this issue holding different opinions because of the benefits they value. So a method is needed, based on the analytic network process (ANP) and large-group decision-making (LGDM), to rank the alternatives considering interdependent criteria and stakeholders' opinions. In this method, the criteria related to air pollution treatment are examined by experts. Then, the network structure of the problem is constructed based on the relationships between the criteria. Further, every participant in each group provide comparison matrices by judging the importance between criteria according to dominance, regarding a certain criteria (or goal), and the geometric average comparison matrix of each group is obtained. The decision weight of each group is derived by combining the subjective weight and the objective weight, in which the subjective weight is provided by organizers, while the objective weight is determined by considering the consensus levels of groups. The final comparison matrices are obtained by the geometric average of comparison matrices and the decision weights. Next, the resource allocation is made according to the priorities of the alternatives using the super decision software. Finally, an example is given to illustrate the use of the proposed method.

Multiple Criteria Decision-Making Approaches for Forest Sustainability (Case Study: Iranian Caspian Forests)

The aim of this research is to investigate the sustainability of economic, social and environmental aspects in Iranian Caspian forests. To do so, questionnaires were used for data collection. The questionnaires were distributed among the forestry experts in Guilan province, north of Iran. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Network Analysis (ANP) were used for prioritizing the indicators of sustainable forest management. Investigated criteria and indicators are derived from the Near Middle East Process. The Expert Choice and Super Decision software were used for data analysis. The results of this study showed that the wood products sub-criterion and conservation of biological diversity have been known the most important criteria in the sustainable forest management in the study area using of AHP and ANP. Furthermore, the priorities of the other indicators are different in AHP and ANP. This could be due to the reciprocity relations in the ANP and this method has more strengths than AHP.

Strategy for Sustainable Solid Waste Management in Central Java Province, Indonesia

This study aims to determine the best strategy for sustainable solid waste management in Central Java Province, Indonesia. A well-managed waste will deal with current and future waste problems. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) is used to assess and structure the views of the key person. Super Decisions software is used for the purposes of the analysis. The assessment revealed that recycling is the best strategy for managing sustainable solid waste in Central Java Province with reference to economic aspects, environmental aspects, social aspects and technological aspects.

Competitiveness attributes of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the global market (case study: garment SMEs in Tri Tunggal Village, Lamongan)

The center of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of garment in Tritunggal Village, Lamongan produces t-shirts, jackets, sport costumes and school uniforms, and other garment products. The SMEs have a potential opportunity to develop their marketing strategy so that they can compete with similar industries and obtain profit from the national market. This study aims to identify main criteria of marketing strategy to compete with other garment industries at the national level. The criteria determine the improvement of competitiveness of the SMEs. A review of literature was conducted to identify the criteria. Then, three respondents from the SMEs and the government were asked to score the criteria based on their preferences, using a questionnaire. Purposive sampling was used to choose the respondets Responses were selected and weighted using Analytical Network Process (ANP) and Super decision software was used to obtain the highest weight of criteria. Outputs of the software show that the role of government in developing garment industry has the highest weight, which is 0.11665. The results of this study could help the SMEs and the government plan a strategy in improving the SMEs’ capability in entering the global market.

Assessment of Magetan regency’s road performance based on pavement and off pavement components

Roads are made up of both pavement and off pavement components. In many cases, only road pavement is subjected to maintenance, leaving out accessory road components even though these components also contribute to overall road performance. Hence, the assessment of both road pavement and road components is vitally important in keeping roads safe and enhancing their overall performance. This study was conducted to know the performance of a select road as well as relevant handling recommendations. The research was carried out on 16 road sections of Magetan Regency, East Java Province with a total length of 85.60 km. The Kabupaten Road Management System (KRMS) Software was used in gathering precise road performance information. Weighting of road components was done using AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) while priority handling was determined using Analysis Network Process (ANP) with Super Decision software. A camera was used for the observation of both road and off pavement conditions. From research results after analyzing 16 Straight Line Diagrams, all road segments were in good condition. However, routine maintenance recommendations have been provided after a 16 Strip Map Diagram analysis of road segments. The first priority is Genengan-Lembeyan road segment followed by the Tamanarum-Lembeyan road.

A hybrid multi-criteria assessment framework to prioritise power generation technologies in Iran

This paper develops a hybrid multi-criteria assessment framework to determine Iran's energy status and prioritise different alternatives of power generation technologies based on both renewable and non-renewable resources with emphasis on sustainable development criteria. This issue is investigated by a hybrid model named as FANP-BOCR that integrates various concepts including analytic network process (ANP), benefits, opportunities, costs and risks analysis (BOCR) and fuzzy sets theory. Comprehensive analysis of strategic criteria and various sub-criteria under benefits, opportunities, costs and risks sub-network is done to evaluate the most suitable power generation technologies in Iran. The calculation has been done by Super decision software. The results show that, in the benefits, opportunities and costs networks, the most preferred three alternatives are hydroelectric, wind and natural gas combined cycle (NGCC). But in the risk network; NGCC, natural gas combustion turbine (NGCT) and natural gas steam turbine (NGST) have the highest priority.

A hybrid multi-criteria assessment framework to prioritise power generation technologies in Iran

This paper develops a hybrid multi-criteria assessment framework to determine Iran's energy status and prioritise different alternatives of power generation technologies based on both renewable and non-renewable resources with emphasis on sustainable development criteria. This issue is investigated by a hybrid model named as FANP-BOCR that integrates various concepts including analytic network process (ANP), benefits, opportunities, costs and risks analysis (BOCR) and fuzzy sets theory. Comprehensive analysis of strategic criteria and various sub-criteria under benefits, opportunities, costs and risks sub-network is done to evaluate the most suitable power generation technologies in Iran. The calculation has been done by Super decision software. The results show that, in the benefits, opportunities and costs networks, the most preferred three alternatives are hydroelectric, wind and natural gas combined cycle (NGCC). But in the risk network; NGCC, natural gas combustion turbine (NGCT) and natural gas steam turbine (NGST) have the highest priority.

Formulation of marketing strategy for an automobile firm by multi-criteria decision-making tool

A marketing strategy due to poor decision-making strategy can have significant impact on a firm's operational performance. The objective of this paper is to highlight a case study of an automotive firm in South India on reformulating an automotive firms marketing strategy. First, a causal analysis of the firm's poor performance is made and a strategic plan for revival was framed. Next, a marketing strategy was reformulated using multi-criteria decision-making techniques, ANP and TOPSIS. Superdecision software is used to undertake ANP analysis and subsequently TOPSIS analysis was done to rank the different marketing strategies. Four major marketing strategies, differentiation strategy, market niche strategy, segmentation strategy and product variety marketing strategy were studied and discussed. Segmentation strategy is best suited for the firm. The sub-criteria which support the segmentation strategy are advertisement capabilities or promotion capabilities. Specific recommendations for segmentation strategy are made.

Cost optimization for public school building projects during design stage using value engineering

During the past ten years, various systems of building components have been applied in public school projects in Iraq, with no systematic method used for selection and evaluation, but only based on the designer’s experience. This paper displays evaluation and selection techniques based on value engineering methodology to find the optimal cost for school building projects in Iraq during design stage. The most important criteria for performance, constructability and sustainability criteria, which based on the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design used in this assessment were obtained from a survey of 49 professional designers and consultants, adoption of the Super Decisions Software Program, which uses analytical hierarchy process (AHP) for determining the relative importance of the main criteria and sub-criteria, that allows the decision-makers to evaluate the suitable alternatives of design for the external wall system in Iraq’s school buildings was built.

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This paper proposes a methodology for evaluating the portfolio of projects of a program funded by the Fondo de Ciencia Tecnologia e innovacion, case study: “Investigacion Tecnico-Social de Oleaginosas Promisoras con miras a su Desarrollo Agroindustrial”. To this end, different methods of evaluating projects presented in the specialized literature, taking into account the specificities of the case study were studied. The Process of Hierarchical Analysis (AHP) was selected as the best option, giving a weighting to the criteria and sub-criteria proposed in the hierarchical structure and a scoring for the 15 sub-projects that make up the portfolio. For the mathematical development of the methodology proposed Super Decisions Software was used. The weights were calculated in Excel and the Survey Monkey tool for gathering the information is used. The three sub-criteria with more weight were respectively: human resources, technical feasibility and articulation of actors and the criteria were: feasibility, resources and benefits. Among the projects with the best final scores were social projects.

Industrial landfill site selection using Analytical Hierarchy Process (Case study: Razi industrial town of Isfahan-Iran)

Suitable landfill site selection is a significant step in the integrated management of solid waste. Because of some dangerous industrial waste, landfill site selection is more important. The selection process should be considered different criteria. The purpose of this study was to determine the appropriate location of industrial waste landfill Razi complex by using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). In this study, three locations were proposed as site of landfill. Socio-economic (such as distance of industries, availability, cost of site preparation and access to soil cover) and physical factors (for example: dominant wind direction, soil permeability and ground-waters flow direction) were considered in the decision process. The Super Decisions software used to develop decision-making process. Based on the results, 2nd alternative( mountain of Fish Pool) that is the current landfill site of Razi industrial town with a score of 0.593, based on software output, was chosen as the best alternative for disposal of Razi industrial wastes of Razi town-Isfahan. Inconsistency rate in this study, 0.039 was obtained.

Prediction of User Behaviour on the Basis of Key Determinants of Sustainability for Wall Paints Used in Construction with the Help of the Analytic Hierarchy Process

The choice of a product according to criteria, such as price, applicability, quality, environmental safety, health etc. requires knowledge on its properties, e.g. as available in product descriptions, instructions for use, and for some categories of products, such as wall paints, in Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS). Professional experts have the abilities to analyse and assess this information, but non-expert users may lack such capabilities. Even so, they reveal their preferences through purchasing decisions. Hence, it is important to develop a research methodology to understand their decision-making. In this paper, such a methodology is developed, based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process and the use of the SuperDecisions software for the case of indoor wall paints. The outcome is a model which can be used for the purpose of analysing and understanding nonexpert users’ behaviour when selecting such an indoor wall paint.

Value stream mapping approach and analytical network process to identify and prioritize production system’s Mudas (case study: natural fibre clothing manufacturing company)

The current research has been done to identify and prioritize the Mudas of the production line of a natural fibre clothing manufacturing company; in this way, value stream mapping has been used to identify the Mudas, then analytical hierarchy method has been used to screen the Mudas. In the first step, necessary information to design value stream of production process has been obtained by observation, measurement and interview; afterward, according to the obtained information and by forming a focus group, Mudas in the production line have been identified and prioritized according to seven categories of Mudas. In order to prioritizing the Mudas by the usage of analytical hierarchy method, the Super Decision software has been applied. Then, according to the obtained priorities, suggested map of the future value system has been drawn and some suggestions have been presented to eliminate Mudas and move towards the lean manufacturing.

A combined approach of AHP and TOPSIS methods applied in the field of integrated software systems

Adopting the most appropriate technology for developing applications on an integrated software system for enterprises, may result in great savings both in cost and hours of work. This paper proposes a research study for the determination of a hierarchy between three SAP (System Applications and Products in Data Processing) technologies. The technologies Web Dynpro -WD, Floorplan Manager - FPM and CRM WebClient UI - CRM WCUI are multi-criteria evaluated in terms of the obtained performances through the implementation of the same web business application. To establish the hierarchy a multi-criteria analysis model that combines the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) and the TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) methods was proposed. This model was built with the help of the SuperDecision software. This software is based on the AHP method and determines the weights for the selected sets of criteria. The TOPSIS method was used to obtain the final ranking and the technologies hierarchy.

GIS-based land suitability evaluation for building height construction using an analytical process in the Mashhad city, NE Iran

In the present study, a GIS-based land evaluation for building height construction was done considering to environmental factors in Mashhad city, NE Iran. By preparing effective criteria and sub-criteria, final super-matrix of weight values was achieved by using analytic network process in super decisions software. Then by corresponding the weights of each criteria cluster to spatial layers in GIS, a land suitability evaluation (LSE) map was produced for building height construction. The examined results revealed that among 13 municipality districts of Mashhad, about 2 districts (8 and 9) have a low suitability and about 9 districts (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12 and CBD) have a moderate suitability for building height construction. Among the districts, districts 5 and 10 with high suitability values were the suit regions for height development due to low potential of natural hazards and ecological pollutions. Based on the assessment of LSE map, the low suitable prone of districts 8 and 9 comprising seismic faults, steep slopes and high potential of flood risk in the southwestern Mashhad were correspond with increasing trend of tower building constructions approximately to 40% of existing towers. This current trend is severely in opposite of natural sustainability in these areas.