An Integrated Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach for Six Sigma Project Selection

Selecting an appropriate six sigma project is one of the most important problems for a manufacturing company because it impacts the manufacturing costs. Besides, an appropriate choice of Six Sigma projects is very important as it helps to improve quality, reduce variation, and eliminate waste of a manufacturing system. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to provide a good insight into the use of an integrated decision-making methodology in the evaluation of Six Sigma projects. For this purpose, we integrate three multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods by applying a modified Delphi method, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS) methodologies. After the evaluation criteria of Six Sigma projects are determined by a Modified Delphi method, the weights of criteria are calculated by applying the AHP method. The FTOPSIS method is then employed to achieve the final ranking results. A real case application along with a sensitivity analysis is presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. The research question for this methodology is how we can develop an integrated MCDM model to select six sigma projects. © 2010, the authors.