Application of Multi-Attribute Decision-Making Methods for the Selection of Conveyor

Abstract In the present time of innovation, conveyor assume an exceptionally indispensable part and have huge significance for material handling in different enterprises. A conveyor is essentially utilized for moving any sort of material from one area to other. It is made with nearer precisions, hence the expense related with manufacturing is additionally high. In this manner, it should work with better productivity. The choice of the best conveyor is a crucial activity for designers. Designers need to recognize different variables that will influence the functionalities of the conveyor system to limit bottlenecks in the system. Therefore, an efficient methodology should be accomplished for the conveyor selection. Subsequently, the current work aims to the selection process of the best option for conveyor by using four decision making methods such as analytical hierarchy process, technique of order preference by similarity to ideal solution, compromise ranking method and Deng’s similarity based method. The selection is done among four alternatives based on six attributes viz: fixed cost each hour, variable cost each hour, conveyor speed, product width, product weight and flexibility. The analytical hierarchy process is used to determine weights of the attributes based on relative importance of each attribute. It is also observed that A3 conveyor is best suitable conveyor. Hence the above proposed strategies help decision-makers to examine and choose the best conveyor by considering the rank obtained of the alternatives.