Strategic Part Prioritization for Quality Improvement Practice Using a Hybrid MCDM Framework: A Case Application in an Auto Factory

Abstract

Quality improvement practice (QIP), as a competitive strategy, is increasingly vital for auto factories to improve the product quality and brand reputation. Quality activity on selected automotive parts among a variety of competing candidates is featured by prioritization calculation. It arouses our interest how to select the appropriate auto part to perform quality improvement action based on the collected data from the after-sale source. Managers usually select the QIP part by the rule of thumb that is based on the quantitative criterion or the subjective preference of individuals. The total quality management (TQM) philosophy requires multiple stakeholders' involvement, regarded as a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) issue. This paper proposes a novel hybrid MCDM framework to select the best quality improvement solution combining the subjective and objective information. The rough set-based attribute reduction (RSAR) technique was employed to establish the hierarchy structure of influential criteria, and the decision information was collected with triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs) for its vagueness and ambiguity. In addition, the novel hybrid MCDM framework integrating fuzzy DEMATEL (decision making trial and evaluation laboratory) method, the anti-entropy weighting (AEW) technique and fuzzy VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) was developed to rank the alternatives with the combined weight of criteria. The results argue that the optimal solution keeps a high conformance with Shemshadi's and Chaghooshi's methods, which is better than the existing determination. Besides, the result analysis shows the robustness and flexibility of the proposed hybrid MCDM framework.

Fuzzy extended VIKOR-based mobile robot selection model for hospital pharmacy

“…The defuzzification technique is widely used to make comparisons between the two TFNs by converting the TFNs into crisp values. 15 However, the defuzzification may cause a loss of information, leading to unreliable comparison of the results between the TFNs. To avoid this situation, the degree of possibility-based comparison method between the two TFNs is employed.…”

Research on Quality Cost Model (QCM) based on Quality Improvement Procedure (QIP) in an Auto-factory

“…Recently the continuous quality improvement procedure (CQIP) has been proposed in self-brand automotive firms to promote its quality performance [2]. CQIP's implementation must take the cost related to quality activities into account, because the aim of quality improvement is not only to improve the ability for meeting client's requirement but also to minimize the cost paid for the effort.…”

“…CQIP's implementation must take the cost related to quality activities into account, because the aim of quality improvement is not only to improve the ability for meeting client's requirement but also to minimize the cost paid for the effort. The competitive strategy for self-brand automotive firms is towards quality-oriented with lower cost, instead of discounted cost-oriented strategy [2,3]. The prerequisite of the QIP practice is that the profit of quality advancement must have the overwhelmed advantage than cost investment for QIP activities.…”

Quality Improvement Procedure (QIP) based on 8D and Six Sigma Pilot Programs in Automotive Industry

“…The quality improvement is a continuous process and is proven to be effective to increase productivity and profitability, as well as quality cost reduction 11 . Many quality improvement initiatives have been implemented in self-brand auto factory to help quality managers to convert mistakes to success by giving life to learning from customers' feedback 12,13 .…”

“…The main quality information comes from global quality research system (GQRS) and maintenance database. In the second stage, the objective CCC and part should be established by Pareto analysis or MCDM technique 12 to conduct pilot program. The analysis of failure causes or complaint sources are performed based on fishbone diagram technique subsequently.…”