Title: Multiple-criteria location selection for wood kiln operations using AHP/TOPSIS

Authors: Rahim Mohebbi Gargari; Majid Azizi; Charles D. Ray; Asghar Tarmian; Azam Dokht Safi Samghabadi

Addresses: Department of Wood and Paper Science and Technology, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran ' Department of Wood and Paper Science and Technology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Iran ' Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, College of Agricultural Sciences, Pennsylvania State University, USA ' Department of Wood and Paper Science and Technology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Iran ' Department of Industrial Engineering, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: This study attempted to determine a suitable combination of multiple-criteria selection techniques for the best location for wood drying kiln operations in Iran. Utilising field studies across the wood-drying industry, limitations of existing selection-method criteria were identified, and a hierarchy of decision-making factors and weights was designed utilising AHP to overcome those limitations. The alternatives were then prioritised using fuzzy TOPSIS. Results indicate that a location in the province of Mazandaran is the best solution. In validation, the results from fuzzy TOPSIS were compared with the results from interview questionnaires in relation to priority alternatives. This validation demonstrates that the results of the fuzzy TOPSIS were confirmed in the resultant order with an acceptable rate of error. Moreover, the Spearman rank correlation coefficient of the results of alternative priorities with two methods of fuzzy TOPSIS and the interview questionnaires (99.23%) indicated that there was a strong positive correlation between the results.

Keywords: multiple-criteria decision making; location selection; analytic hierarchy process; AHP; wood-drying kiln; TOPSIS; validation; Spearman rank correlation coefficient.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBSR.2021.115991

International Journal of Business and Systems Research, 2021 Vol.15 No.4, pp.448 - 467

Received: 27 Mar 2019
Accepted: 04 Nov 2019
Published online: 06 Jul 2021 *

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