Using AHP and TOPSIS to evaluate welding processes for manufacturing plain carbon stainless steel storage tank

摘要

Purpose: In the plain carbon stainless steel storage tank manufacturing industry, there are many types of welding processes used. When selecting the most appropriate welding process is usually done intuitively by the manufacturer depending on its own pre-experiences or common applications in similar companies. However, this approach has a shortsighted view since it generally ignores many conflicting criteria effecting the suitable welding process selection. To overcome this problem, this study aims to evaluate important criteria and alternative welding processes by using some of multi-criteria decision-making approaches to come up with better manufacturing decisions. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a combined methodology of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Since both of these techniques require experts' contributions, a group meeting is held with the experts from academia and industry. Findings: The study identified the important criteria for welding selection process in storage tank manufacturing. With the help of experts in the domain, both weights of decision criteria and ranking of alternative welding processes were determined. Research limitations/implications: Since the techniques used in the study depend on expert's contribution, the expert knowledge on the welding process is critical. When the expert changes the resulting decision may also change. Therefore, the selection of the expert(s) must be done carefully. Practical implications: The findings of the study are valid for the specific case of the storage tank manufacturing. The study helps manufacturers to understand the framework of welding process selection and make them aware of various techniques (e.g., AHP and TOPSIS). The approach may also be welcomed by other welding applications.Originality/value: The main contribution of the study is mostly on the practical side. To the authors' best knowledge, this paper is one of few studies investigating the selection of welding process for a plain carbon stainless steel storage tank manufacturing. It may help to increase the attention of researchers on multi-criteria decision-making applications in the welding field.