Amy H. I. Lee

A fuzzy AHP and BSC approach for evaluating performance of IT department in the manufacturing industry in Taiwan

In this ever-changing world, information technology (IT) is a must for the survival of a company, and the functions of IT department is becoming increasingly important. The assessment of IT department is critical to understand how the department contributes to organizational and strategic goals. Because IT department performs many tasks that cannot simply be measured by monetary units, evaluation methods that solely rely on financial measures are not adequate. The objective of this study is to construct an approach based on the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) and balanced scorecard (BSC) for evaluating an IT department in the manufacturing industry in Taiwan. The BSC concept is applied to define the hierarchy with four major perspectives (i.e. financial, customer, internal business process, and learning and growth), and performance indicators are selected for each perspective. A fuzzy AHP (FAHP) approach is then proposed in order to tolerate vagueness and ambiguity of information. A FAHP information system is finally constructed to facilitate the solving process. The results provide guidance to IT departments in the manufacturing industry in Taiwan regarding strategies for improving department performance. The constructed information system is suggested to be a good tool for solving other multiple-criteria decision-making problems.

Developing new products with knowledge management methods and process development management in a network

When managing the problem of new product development (NPD), a firm needs to cooperate with or compete with its strategic partners in a network to survive in the industry. This paper first discusses the critical success factors (CSF) of NPD in a network, and then simplifies 37 CSFs into 10 items within 3 groups by factor analysis and Delphi method. While analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is capable of dealing with the NPD managerial problems by generalizing subjective judgment of experts, it cannot deal with the inter-relationship among factors or the usually imprecise and vague human judgment. To compensate this deficiency, analytic network process (ANP) incorporated with sensitivity analysis, instead of the popular fuzzy AHP model, is proposed, and a firm can make a decisive evaluation by applying the model. However, developing new products with strategic partners in a network is positively associated with efficiency and effectiveness and negatively with innovation. In order to lead a firm to operate efficiently, effectively and innovatively, the product lifecycle management (PLM) including suitable knowledge management (KM) and process development management is advised for the execution of the selected NPD mix. Balanced scorecard (BSC) using ANP with sensitivity analysis is then suggested to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed procedure and models.

Priority mix planning for semiconductor fabrication by fuzzy AHP ranking

Abstract With today’s keen competition, semiconductor market has changed from producer-oriented to customer-oriented. To be successful, companies need to consider both customer satisfaction in demand and the ultimate profit goal of companies. Semiconductor fabricators today must face an environment with multi-product types and multi-priority orders. Since semiconductor fabrication has a very complicated production process, the production planning of different products types and priority levels is an even more difficult task to experts. The objective of this study is to construct an analytical approach under a fuzzy subjective judgment environment, in which fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method with entropy weight is utilized to deal with uncertainty, to generate performance ranking of different priority mixes. The results provide guidance to experts in a fab regarding strategies for accepting orders with the consideration of manufacturing efficiency in the aspects of product , equipment efficiency and finance .

An evaluation framework for product planning using FANP, QFD and multi-choice goal programming

Technological innovation and satisfaction of customer needs are the keys to survival and success for firms, especially in global competitive high-tech industries. Since new products are usually a source of new sales and profits, the success of new product development (NPD) is essential to maintain a competitive edge and to make a decent profit in a longer term. Therefore, how to develop products that deliver the quality and functionality customers demand while generating the desired profits becomes an important task for the manufacturers. In this paper, a framework with two phases is constructed for facilitating the selection of engineering characteristics (ECs) for product design. In the first phase, quality function deployment (QFD) is incorporated with the supermatrix approach of analytic network process (ANP) and the fuzzy set theory to calculate the priorities of ECs with the consideration of the interrelationship among factors and the impreciseness and vagueness in human judgments and information. In the second phase, multi-choice goal programming model is constructed by considering the outcome from the first phase and other additional goals, such as NPD cost and manufacturability, in the attempt to select the most suitable ECs. A case study of the product design process of backlight unit (BLU) in thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) industry in Taiwan is carried out to verify the practicality of the proposed framework.

A fuzzy AHP evaluation model for buyer–supplier relationships with the consideration of benefits, opportunities, costs and risks

With increasingly fierce global competition, firms in various industries need to build a cooperative buyer–supplier relationship to survive and to acquire reasonable profit. Even though the literature on various types of collaboration between firms is abundant and the works on supplier selection models are numerous, the research that provides a mathematical model for the selection of the most appropriate form of buyer–supplier relationship is very limited. Existing buyer–supplier evaluation models usually only consider the benefits from the relationship, but not the opportunities, costs and risks that may need to be confronted. The main objective of this study is to propose an analytical approach to evaluate the forms of buyer–supplier relationship between a manufacturer and its supplier. A fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model, which applies fuzzy set theory and the benefits, opportunities, costs and risks (BOCR) concept, is constructed to deal with uncertainty and to consider various aspects of alternatives. Multiple factors that affect the success of the relationship are analysed by incorporating experts’ opinions on their priority of importance, and a performance ranking of the buyer–supplier forms is obtained. A case study of selecting the most appropriate buyer–supplier form between a TFT-LCD manufacturer and its colour filter supplier is presented, and the proposed model is applied to facilitate the decision process. The proposed model is a general form that can be tailored and applied by firms that are making decisions on buyer–supplier relationship.

A fuzzy ANP model for supplier selection as applied to IC packaging

Supplier selection has been a popular topic since the selection of the most appropriate supplier for cooperation is being increasingly important for the success of an enterprise. The problem is multi-criteria in nature, and a variety of multi-criteria decision making methodologies have been proposed. However, most of them did not take into account the interrelationships among the critical success factors and the fuzziness of the data involved in deciding the preferences of the factors. The objective of this research is to propose a fuzzy analytic network process model to evaluate various aspects of suppliers. With the consultation with the experts, the proposed model can consider the feedback and interdependency of factors in a network, and the factors are pairwise compared under an uncertain environment. The weights of factors can be calculated, and the final priority of suppliers obtained. Semiconductor industry becomes increasingly globalize competitive nowadays, and a good supply chain relationship is essential for a company to survive and to acquire reasonable profit. Thus, a case study of IC packaging company selection in Taiwan is presented, and the proposed model is applied to facilitate the decision process. The priorities of the factors and the ranking of the suppliers can be a recommendation or reference for decision makers when making a supplier evaluation and selection decision.

Developing new products in a network with efficiency and innovation

When managing a new product development (NPD) problem, a firm needs to consider the cooperation with its strategic partners in a network because surviving independently in the industry is almost impossible. However, due to the large variances among partners in terms of leadership, management, IT infrastructure and organizational cultures, it may lead to poor communication and cooperation and slow responses. A severe impact on the process and outcome of NPD may result. To facilitate buyer–supplier cooperation, suitable knowledge management and product development process management need to be adopted to match the characteristics of the selected NPD mix. In this paper, a supermatrix analytic network process (ANP) model with sensitivity analysis is first developed to select the most appropriate NPD mix. A balanced scorecard (BSC) using ANP with sensitivity analysis is used next to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model in the execution of NPD process.

An integrated decision making model for district revitalization and regeneration project selection

The main purpose of this research is to propose an effective hybrid process for evaluating district development directions concerning district revitalization and regeneration (DRAR) prospects along with simultaneous positive and negative conflict criteria and their interdependence. Accordingly, the fuzzy Delphi method (FDM), the interpretive structural modeling (ISM), and the analytic network process (ANP) with benefits, opportunities, costs, and risks (BOCR) are integrated to construct a project selection model regarding the DRAR. A real case in Jiufen in Taiwan is studied using the proposed model to evaluate four feasible development directions, and the results verify the applicability of the novel MCDM method. This hybrid process can not only transform complex interaction of district reviving factors into simple quantitative evaluation, but its result can also be guidance for determining future development direction. Highlights? This paper proposes a hybrid process to evaluate district development directions. ? The process concerns district revitalization and regeneration prospects. ? The fuzzy Delphi method and the interpretive structural modeling are used. ? Analytic network process with benefits, opportunities, costs and risks is adopted. ? A case is studied using the model to evaluate feasible development directions.

A DEA window analysis on the product family mix selection for a semiconductor fabricator

In a competitive market, semiconductor fabricator must face an environment with multi-product types, multi-priority orders and demand changes in time. Since semiconductor fabrication has a very complicated production process, the above-stated characteristics make the production planning even more difficult. This paper applies data envelopment analysis (DEA) to find a set of product family mix that is efficient for the company to produce. To ensure long-term effectiveness in productivity and in profit gaining, window analysis is adopted to seek the most recommended set of product family mixes for manufacturing by measuring the performance changes over time. With this method, the performance of a mix in one period is compared not only with the performance of other mixes but also with its own performance in other periods. The proposed mechanism can provide guidance to the fabricator regarding strategies for aggregate planning so as to improve manufacturing efficiency.

Photolithography Control in Wafer Fabrication Based on Process Capability Indices With Multiple Characteristics

Photolithography, typically taking about one- third of the total wafer manufacturing costs, is one of the most complex operations and is the most critical process in semiconductor manufacturing. Three most important parameters that determine the final performance of devices are critical dimension (CD), alignment accuracy and photoresist (PR) thickness. Process yield, a common criterion used in the manufacturing industry for measuring process performance, can be applied to examine the photolithography process. In this paper, we solve the photolithography production control problem based on the yield index SPK. The critical values required for the hypothesis testing, using the standard simulation technique, for various commonly used performance requirements, are obtained. Extensive simulation results are provided and analyzed. The investigation is useful to the practitioners for making reliable decisions in either testing process performance or examining quality of an engineering lot in photolithography.