Title: Evaluating alternatives of product design: a multi criteria group decision making approach

Authors: Dira Ernawati; I. Nyoman Pujawan; I. Made Londen Batan; Maria Anityasari

Addresses: Department of Industrial Engineering, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, Kampus ITS Sukolilo Surabaya, Indonesia ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, Kampus ITS Sukolilo Surabaya, Indonesia ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, Kampus ITS Sukolilo Surabaya, Indonesia ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology, Kampus ITS Sukolilo Surabaya, Indonesia

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to present a multi-criteria decision model that can be used to evaluate alternatives of product design considering that an evaluator may have expertise in assessing an alternative design against a subset of criteria only. Comprehensive literature review leads us to the four aspects in evaluating a product design: customer preferences, manufacturability, supply chain aspects, and environment sustainability. More detailed criteria were defined. With the use of these criteria, we have developed a decision model taking into account that multiple evaluators are in charge of evaluating the designs, but not all evaluators have expertise in assessing the design against all criteria being used. A case study to illustrate the applicability of the model has also been conducted. With the case example, we show that the model is practical to use yet contributing to the body of literature in product development as well as in decision making fields.

Keywords: product design; multicriteria decision making; MCDM; group decision making; supply chain management; SCM; customer preferences; manufacturability; environmental sustainability; design alternatives; alternatives evaluation; product development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSOM.2015.067768

International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 2015 Vol.20 No.3, pp.271 - 288

Published online: 18 Apr 2015 *

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