A Novel Enhanced Russell Graph Efficiency Measure in Network DEA

Hitherto, the presented models for measuring the efficiency score of multi-stage decision-making units (DMUs) either are nonlinear or require to specify the weights for combining their divisional efficiencies. The nonlinearity leads to high computational complexity for these models, especially when used for problems with enormous dimensions, and also assigning various weights to the divisional efficiencies causes to obtain different efficiency scores for the multi-stage network system. To tackle these problems, this study contributes to network DEA by introducing a novel enhanced Russell graph (ERG) efficiency measure for evaluating the general two-stage series network structures. Then, the proposed model is extended into the general multi-stage series network structures. This study also describes the managerial and economic implications of measuring the efficiency score of the multi-stage DMUs and provides two numerical and empirical examples for illustrating the use of our proposed model.

Extension of a Hybrid MABAC–DANP Method Under Gray Environment for Green Supplier Selection

Nowadays, environmental problems have attracted the attention of many craftsmen and researchers. They have developed various policies and practices to protect the environment throughout the supply chain. Since suppliers are one of the supply chain partners, paying attention to these policies by them will be very effective in keeping the supply chain green. In today’s dynamic environment, there is uncertainty in all decisions of the organizations. The wood and paper industry also faces uncertainty in choosing green and environmentally friendly suppliers. These uncertainties must be taken into account when selecting suppliers. Decision-making techniques will cover uncertainty if developed in a gray environment. Many techniques have been developed in a gray environment. But using a combination of DANP and MABAC techniques in a gray environment will be very useful because of the benefits of each. Therefore, using the combination of DANP and MABAC in a gray environment in order to select a green supplier in the wood and paper industry is a gap that is felt and in this paper we try to overcome it. The research findings show that the identified criteria will be very effective in selecting the green supplier and Gray DANP–MABAC can be used for managers’ decisions in the wood and paper industry.

A Metadata Framework for Asset Management Decision Support: A Water Infrastructure Case Study

A water utility requires myriads of data for effective decision-making. As the sources and ranges of data are becoming increasingly complex, the use of a metadata framework can play a significant role in effective data management. Using case study method, this research analyzed data needs of a water supply system in a small town in South Australia and designed a demo portal of a metadata framework. As part of the case study, the project team undertook a broad investigative approach using focus group (interviews), observation, exploration of potential data sources, identification of knowledge leaders and information technology systems. The metadata framework comprised two separate but interconnected metadata groups, (1) metadata elements to describe the metadata source and (2) metadata elements to describe the datasets held in each data source. The metadata framework was populated to describe data sources and data held in each of the sources. The data catalogue created by this process showed that it was accomplishable and appropriate to describe data sources and datasets via a metadata framework.

Application of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methods in Sustainable Manufacturing Management: A Systematic Literature Review and Analysis of the Prospects

Due to increasing environmental regulation and customers’ demand for environmentally friendly products, organizations have been required to adopt sustainable manufacturing practices by implementing clean technology (Cleantec) to manufacture green products. By adopting environmental practices, organizations can also achieve qualitative and quantitative benefits that help them remain competitive in the market while meeting governmental environmental policies, such as lowering energy and the cost of materials. The significant number of articles addressing sustainability in manufacturing published in the past few years attests to the importance of the topic. However, not many studies have been developed to understand the decision-making process in sustainable manufacturing. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to conduct a systematic literature review on the application of multi-attribute decision-making (MADM) methods in sustainable manufacturing. A total of 158 papers, published between 2009 and 2018, met the criteria set in the research methodology. The 158 papers were then analyzed and classified into seven categories: (i) SM domain, (ii) activity within the organization, (iii) decision goals, (iv) decision-makers involved (group or individual), (v) uncertain data, (vi) SM aspects (social, environmental, and economic), and (vii) MADM methods. Among the results, we identified that AHP is the most applied MADM method and, regarding the activities of the organization, MADM methods have been the most frequently applied to strategy management and supply chain. We also identified a tendency to consider uncertain and imprecise data in the decision-making process. Another result is that all the three domains — economic, environmental and social — were considered in most of the papers, followed by the combination of the economic and environmental perspectives. In the conclusion, some recent trends and future research directions are highlighted.

Behavioral Risky Multiple Attribute Decision Making with Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Ranking Method and TOPSIS Method

Considering the decision maker’s psychological state will influence their evaluation result in the risky multi-attribute decision-making problem, and the uncertainty of evaluation information. In this paper, we will propose a behavioral risky multiple attribute decision making with interval type-2 fuzzy ranking method and TOPSIS method. The interval type-2 fuzzy set is used to express the uncertainty of evaluation information, the prospect theory is applied to describe people’s psychological state in the processing of risk decision making. First, we define a new ranking method for interval type-2 fuzzy set to compare the interval type-2 fuzzy evaluation information and the expectation. Second, we give a relative distance for interval type-2 fuzzy set to get the distance between the interval type-2 fuzzy evaluation information and expectation. Third, we use the prospect theory, the new defined ranking method and the new defined distance formula to obtain the comprehensive prospect value. Fourth, we use the improved TOPSIS method and the comprehensive prospect value to rank the alternatives. Based on the above-mentioned steps, we give the solution for risky interval type-2 fuzzy multiple attribute decision-making problem, which named as the behavioral risky multiple attribute decision making with interval type-2 fuzzy ranking method and TOPSIS method. Finally, we use an example to show the rationality of this method.

Input Quantity Decision and Coordination Mechanism with Two Production Chances and Yield Uncertainty

Conducting a second production run can improve the company’s capability of meeting the market demand. Few works examine optimal input quantity decisions under the mode with two production chances considering demand and yield uncertainty. We propose a vendor-managed inventory (VMI) supply chain with one supplier and one retailer. The supplier has two production chances and faces yield uncertainty in each production run. It is necessary for the supplier to make trade-offs between the cost and benefit of the second production run, then decide whether to conduct the second production run. We investigate the supplier’s optimal input quantity decision in each production run and obtain the supply chain members’ expected profits. As a comparison, the mode with one production chance is also developed. We find that two production chances can help improve the performance of the supply chain under yield uncertainty. A revenue-sharing contract is introduced to coordinate the supply chain with two production chances, and efficient profit allocation is achieved through adjusting the revenue-sharing ratio and the wholesale price. An extension is conducted for a sensitivity analysis of unit punishment cost on the supplier’s input quantity decisions.

Enhanced Inventory Management Using Blockchain Technology Under Cloud Sector Enabled by Hybrid Multi-Verse with Whale Optimization Algorithm

Inventory cost control is an essential factor in supply chain management. If the supplier’s inventory is insufficient, then the chance to trade the product will be reduced. The manufacturer’s inadequate material inventory will have an effect in termination of production, delays, and a waste of resources and time. On the other hand, postponed transportation will certainly raise costs such as transportation costs and cancellation of orders. Therefore, the operation costs of enterprises will be more, which will lower profits. In conventional supply chains, inventory costs control is not feasible for the view of the entire supply chain. The main intent of this paper is to plan for intelligent inventory management using blockchain technology under the cloud sector. The inventory management of the supply chain includes “multiple suppliers, a manufacturer, and multiple distributors”. The proposed inventory management models consider some significant costs like “transaction cost, inventory holding cost, shortage cost, transportation cost, time cost, setup cost, backordering cost, and quality improvement cost”. This multi-objective cost function is minimized by a novel hybrid optimization algorithm; the concept of WOA is integrated to produce the new algorithm which is termed as Whale-based Multi Verse Optimization (W-MVO) algorithm. For securing the data of distributors, using blockchain technology in a cloud environment helps from the leakage of data to other unauthorized users. Once the cost is reduced in all aspects based on the proposed hybrid optimization algorithm, the distributer will store the concerning data in the blockchain under the cloud sector, where each distributer holds a hash function to store its data, which cannot be restored by the other distributers. The valuable performance analysis over the conventional optimization algorithms proves the effective and reliable performance of the proposed model over the conventional models.

An Improved Fuzzy TOPSIS Method with a New Ranking Index

Owing to vague concepts frequently represented in decision data, the crisp values are inadequate to model real-life situations. In this paper, the rating of each alternative and the weight of each criterion is described by linguistic terms which can be expressed in triangular fuzzy numbers. Next, we focus on fuzzy TOPSIS (FTOPSIS) method. We show that, however, the conventional FTOPSIS is interesting, but it suffers from some flaws. The shortcomings of classical FTOPSIS are shown and some solutions are given. Further, a new similarity index is proposed and then is illustrated using numerical examples. By treating the separations of an alternative from the fuzzy positive ideal solution (FPIS) and the fuzzy negative ideal solution (FNIS) as “cost” criterion and “benefit” criterion, respectively, we reduce the original fuzzy multiple criteria decision making (FMCDM) problem to a new one with two criteria. Illustrative examples are given to show the advantages of the proposed approach.