A Fuzzy MODM Approach for Decision Making in the Manufacturing Environment

Abstract

The multiple objective decision making (MODM) refers to an approach of problem-solving that is employed to solve problems involving selection from among a finite number of alternatives. A MODM method is a procedure that specifies how attribute information is to be processed in order to arrive at a choice. The selection of alternative for mechanical designs is an important task. Different approaches have been proposed to fulfill this job, so far. However, most of them work well with only quantitatively measurable properties of alternatives. Sometimes the values of attributes of the given alternatives are qualitative. Therefore, here a simplified fuzzy logic approach is used to provide a powerful tool for easy dealing with the qualitative properties of alternatives. The manufacturing organization has to select right manufacturing methods, product and process designs, manufacturing technologies, and machinery and equipment. The selection decisions become more complicated as the decision makers in the manufacturing environment have to choose a best possible option by considering large number of alternatives based on a set of conflicting criteria. To aid these selection processes, various multi-objective decision making (MODM) methods are now available. This paper presents the application of an almost new MODM method, i.e., the multi-objective optimization on the basis of ratio analysis method to solve different decision making problems as frequently encountered in the real-time manufacturing environment.