An integrated approach to machine selection problem using fuzzy SMART-fuzzy weighted axiomatic design

In respond to new market requirements and competitive positioning of manufacturing companies selecting optimal machines that are consistent with manufacturing goals is of crucial importance. As it involves multiple conflicting criteria and inherent ambiguity and vagueness, election of a suitable machine can be regarded as a fuzzy multi-criteria decision making problem. In this study, for the first time in the literature, an integrated approach consisting of fuzzy simple multiattribute rating technique (SMART) approach and fuzzy weighted axiomatic design (FWAD) approach is proposed to determining the optimal continuous fluid bed tea dryer for a privately owned tea plant operating in Turkey. The weights of the evaluation criteria are calculated via fuzzy SMART and then FWAD is utilized to rank competing machine alternatives in terms of their overall performance. In the FWAD application phase, five experts have determined functional requirements (FRs) and have rated alternatives. Therefore, individual fuzzy opinions were required to be aggregated in order to set up a group consensus. A group decision analysis, referred to as the least squares distance method is used to aggregating the ratings of FRs and alternatives. It is concluded that the proposed hybrid methodology is a robust decision support tool for ranking machine alternatives under fuzzy environment and furthermore, it can be exploited for other fuzzy decision making problems, as well.