Providing products that are customized to meet a specific customer's unique needs is challenging for companies. Product configuration systems are tools that enables parts of these activities to be performed automatically. However, there is a lack of systems designed to ensure that the configured products are based on customer needs. Decision support systems based on Multi-criteria decision making methods have the potential to solve this problem. Yet, there is a lack of knowledge regarding various multi-criteria decision making methods. Moreover, there is a need to reduce the complexity of the methods by incorporating them into user-friendly software’s. This research therefore investigates how the architecture of a decision support system based on multi-criteria decision making methods could be structured to include customer needs and suggest product configurations based on them. Through a literature review various methods are analyzed. In collaboration with an aircraft towing tractor manufacturer as a representative of customizable products the architecture of the system is developed. The study shows that a system based on a combination of Analytical Hierarchy Process, Quality Function Deployment and Expert system can solve the problem. This is to the authors knowledge the first study to use this combination. It provides an approach of how to ensure that product configurations can be aligned with customer needs and that the consistency of these needs is assured.

Yes / Increasing reliance on digital technologies has led to a significant shift in how businesses operate, with many now relying heavily on digital platforms for effective planning, communication, sales, marketing, supply chain, and logistics management. In this context, knowledge sharing platforms enable academic–industry collaboration in which exchange of ideas, opinions, experience, and expertise brings collective intelligence in cooperative learning ecosystem thereby expediting decision making. However, establishing long-term commitment among the partners, allocation of time and resources for sharing tacit knowledge, collaboration among partners with different strategic priorities, and real-time knowledge sharing capabilities are essential for effective and rapid learning in knowledge sharing platforms. The present article will examine these benefits and challenges in knowledge sharing and its impact on supplier selection platforms in Asian automakers. The findings of this article will be helpful for researchers and practitioners intending to explore the role of cooperation in knowledge sharing and digital transformation amid competitive environment prevalent in the automotive industry. The potential supplier database is first examined for qualifying the capability requirements put forth in this article and further prioritized using a multicriteria decision-making technique and analytic hierarchy process. The article results reveal that the manufacturer has highly prioritized firms’ financial transparency for supplier evaluation followed by the suppliers’ cost control, quality control, and manufacturing capabilities. The article has significant theoretical and practical implications for developing robust supplier evaluation criteria for automobile industry and a digital ecosystem for original equipment manufacturers in making supplier related decisions.

本研究旨在建構國民小學校園閒置空間永續發展評估指標及權重體系，作為推動校園閒置空間再利用之參考依據。研究以文獻分析為基礎，初擬校園閒置空間永續發展評估指標，採專家問卷、模糊德爾菲問卷和層級分析法問卷為研究工具進行調查。研究對象共22位專家學者，資料分析首先利用改良「雙三角模糊數」之模糊德爾菲整合專家對指標重要性之看法並篩選評估因子，最後運用Expert Choice 2000軟體進行統計分析以建立各項指標之權重，完成國民小學校園閒置空間永續發展評估指標。 本研究獲得主要結論如下：國民小學校園閒置空間永續發展評估指標，含3大層面、8大指標共30個評估因子，其整體權重高低排序如下： 一、三大層面依權重高低排序為：環境面（41.5％）、經濟面（30.8％）、 社會面（27.7％）。 二、八大指標依權重高低排序為：價值效益（17.4％）、生態保育（15.5％）、健康環境（14.4％）、綠色消費（13.4％）、永續經營（12.4％）、環境規劃（11.6％）、社會教育的功能（11.2％）、社區發展（4.1％）。 三、三十個評估因子依權重高低排序前五名為：校舍動靜分區配置（9.1％）、保水設施（5.6％）、基地開發之干擾及衝擊（5.4％）、生物多樣性（5.4％）、室內物理環境（5.3％）。 最後，本研究依據研究結果提出建議，提供未來行政單位檢視校園閒置空間再利用評估及結果的有效性的參考。 / A Study of Evaluation Indicators on Sustainable Development for Vacant School Space in Elementary Schools Abstract The purpose of this study is to construct the evaluation indicators and their associated priority weights on sustainable development for elementary vacant school space. The results of the study can be the reference for promoting the reuse of vacant school space. At first, the study is based on the analysis of documents to establish relevant evaluation indicators about vacant school space. And this study adopts three research methods: expert survey, Fuzzy Delphi and AHP to survey. The research invites 22 education-related experts to form a team as the study object. First, in order to select the applicable indicators, the individual answers of experts are analyzed by “double triangle fuzzy technique”. By using this technique, opinions about important indicators evaluated by experts are integrated; and meantime, the factors are screened. Finally, Expert Choice 2000 software is used to process statistic analysis to set up priority weights of various indicators. In this way, the evaluation indicators on sustainable development for elementary vacant school space are established. The main conclusion which this study obtained is as follows: The evaluation indicators of sustainable development for elementary vacant school space include three dimensions, eight indicators, and thirty evaluation factors. The priority weights of all evaluation indictors are described in order as follows: 1.The priority weights of three dimensions are environmental dimension（41.5％）, economical dimension（30.8％）, and social dimension（27.7％） 2.The priority weights of eight indicators are valuing benefit（17.4％）, ecological conservation（15.5％）, healthy environment（14.4％）, green consumption（13.4％）, sustainable development management（12.4％）, environmental planning（11.6％）, the function of social education（11.2％）, and community development （4.1％）。 3.The priority weights of thirty evaluation factors are the allocation of noisy and quiet areas of school（9.1％）, facilities of water content（5.6％）, the disturbance and impact of the development about vacant school space（5.4％）, ecological variety（5.4％）, and biological surroundings indoors（5.3％）. Finally, according to the research results, some suggestions are offered to educational administration to review the effects and evaluation results of reusing vacant school space in the future.

全民健保醫療給付範圍的相關決策缺乏資訊公開性與參與性，引發許多醫療給付的糾紛案件，加上醫療資源有限，醫療需求隨國內人口平均餘命提升而增加，醫療資源優先配置的問題更顯其重要性。本研究建立一個合理的醫療資源優先配置決策程序評估架構，以改善目前國內資源優先配置決策程序，使用Daniels & Sabin(1997)所提出的「要求合理性的課則」（Accountability for Reasonableness）作為評估架構的主要構面，採用文獻分析法與層級分析法建構出一個完整的評估架構並且比較指標間的相互權重，接著使用深度訪談法試圖探索評估指標相對權重背後所代表的意涵。研究結果顯示醫事團體代表強調相關性與決策修正機會，政府代表則注重公開性與執行力，兩者對於醫療資源優先配置決策程序的期待有相當大的落差。基於研究發現，本研究主張應該增加協商機會以減少決策成員間的認知落差，帶動社會大眾對於資源優先配置的認識與參與，並針對目前決策程序的公開性、相關性、決策修正機會與執行力進行改善。 / The lack of information publicity and participation in the payment system of National Health Insurance (NHI) in Taiwan has been a critical issue. Besides numerous insurance payment disputations, the limited health resources and increasing health demand all call for an immediate solution to the problem of health resource priority setting in NHI.. This study aims to establish a systemic evaluative framework to improve on the health resources priority settings. In answer to the need, analytical hierarchy process and in-depth interviews have been conducted to develop a framework based on Accountability for Reasonableness. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the surveys indicate some criteria and the meaning of the relative weight of each criterion. The results show a discrepancy between the governmental representatives and the healthcare organization ones on the expectation of health resources priority settings. The former focus on relevance, revision and appeals while the latter emphasize publicity and enforcement. According to the findings, this study suggests that an increase of negotiation is necessary to eliminate the discrepancy between the two groups. The government also need to introduce the public the idea of health resources priority settings and to modify the current procedure based on the four factors in Accountability for Reasonableness.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:53:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LunardoAS.pdf: 501752 bytes, checksum: 4b92e4de82be9123f2141ed76a6436df (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-08-16 / This thesis carries through an application of Analysis of Multicriterion Decision with use of the method of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in the problematic one of taking of decision of the adoption of electronic collecting in the system of urban transport in the country, a subject that has been controversial. A modeling of criteria and alternatives is carried through and applied a questionnaire based on method AHP the excellent actors in the system of urban transport - Leading of the Managing Agency Public Municipal theatre of Urban Transports, Controller of Company of Bus, Controller of Labor union, Controller of Union of Companies, Communitarian Leader. The considered alternatives were: the maintenance of the current state with collectors, the implementation of electronic collection without collectors, and the implementation of electronic collection with collectors. The used criteria were: job, impact in the fare, control of the system, easiness of use, information. The study was carried through in the city of Natal, RN, where if the adoption of electronic collection argues and where this implementation in some bus lines between Natal and Parnamirim exists, city that integrates the region of the great Natal. The main results of the method evidence in a dimension, the viability of use of method AHP with questionnaire by means of validation of the judgments with analysis of variance beyond proper the normal mechanisms of analysis of consistency to the method, and in another one, the contribution of the analysis boarding multicriterion to become the judgments more clearly. The main results of the analysis help to show that although to models of criteria and distinct judgments of the actors, the method evidenced that it has inclination the adoption of the electronic collection on the current situation, even so with divergences between the maintenance or not of the collector. The research points to the possibility of accomplishment of the application of the AHP in successive rounds of judgments / Esta Disserta??o de Mestrado realiza uma aplica??o de An?lise de Decis?o Multicrit?rio com uso do m?todo de Processo de Hierarquia Anal?tica (Analytical Hierarchy Process AHP) na problem?tica de tomada de decis?o da ado??o de bilhetagem eletr?nica no sistema de transporte urbano no pa?s, um assunto que tem sido controverso. ? realizada uma modelagem de crit?rios e alternativas e aplicado um question?rio baseado no m?todo AHP a atores relevantes no sistema de transporte urbano Dirigente do ?rg?o Gestor P?blico Municipal de Transportes Urbanos, Dirigente de Empresa de ?nibus, Dirigente de Sindicato de Trabalhadores, Dirigente de Sindicato de Empresas, L?der Comunit?rio. As alternativas consideradas foram: a manuten??o do estado atual com cobradores, a implementa??o de bilhetagem eletr?nica sem cobradores, e a implementa??o de bilhetagem eletr?nica com cobradores. Os crit?rios utilizados foram Emprego, Impacto na Tarifa, Controle do Sistema, Facilidade de Uso, Informa??o. O estudo foi realizado na cidade de Natal, RN, onde se discute a ado??o de bilhetagem eletr?nica e onde existe essa implementa??o em algumas linhas entre Natal e Parnamirim, cidade que integra a regi?o da Grande Natal. Os principais resultados do m?todo evidenciam em uma dimens?o a viabilidade de uso do m?todo AHP com question?rio mediante valida??o dos julgamentos com an?lise de vari?ncia al?m dos mecanismos normais de an?lise de consist?ncia pr?prios ao m?todo, e em outra a contribui??o da abordagem de an?lise multicrit?rio para tornar mais claro os julgamentos. Os principais resultados da an?lise ajudam a mostrar que apesar de modelos de crit?rios e julgamentos distintos dos atores, o m?todo evidenciou que h? domin?ncia final da ado??o da bilhetagem eletr?nica sobre o estado atual, embora com diverg?ncias entre a manuten??o ou n?o do cobrador. A pesquisa aponta para a possibilidade de realiza??o da aplica??o do AHP em rodadas de julgamentos sucessivas

Waste resulting from healthcare activities is hazardous due to its potential risk of infection to healthcare workers, waste workers and the public. Many tools and approaches have been applied in waste management in developed countries, but are not suitable for application in developing countries due to their complexity and extensive data and resource requirements. WasteOpt was therefore developed and applied as an appropriate decision-making tool in the developing country context. WasteOpt comprises of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), costing and Life cycle management (LCM). The purpose of this study was to identify environmentally sound technologies (ESTs) that minimise the risk of infection by healthcare waste (HCW) in rural clinics. Rural clinics were selected because apart from financial constraints, they are challenged by the lack of procedure, infrastructure and technologies to develop reasonable waste management plans that can be implemented within a practicable time frame. WasteOpt was applied to aid in identifying ESTs in relation to the infection risks and costs of the technologies. Experts in waste management in Lesotho were involved in a workshop for the ranking of technologies. The overall weighting values of the rankings were converted to risk factors for individual options and for alternatives (combination of options). Risk factors were classified as low, medium and high risk. The technologies within a single class were differentiated by analysing the cost of acquiring and running the technology to qualify as ESTs. The ESTs identified for Lesotho are Engineered containers, Refrigerated engineered facility, engineered wheeled transport, detailed procedures, multi chamber incinerator, engineered pit and landfill. Ten (10) clinics in Lesotho were also assessed as case studies using the WHO RAT. The RAT was first modified to include questions on financial management at the clinics. The calculated risk factors were applied to the case studies to assess the risk under which healthcare workers operate in those clinics. The additive minimum risk for the overall life cycle of waste was 4.0 (excluding central treatment and disposal). The clinic workers were found to be at a risk of between 1.1 x 10-4 and 7.8 x 10-5, which proves that rural clinics in Lesotho are still using inappropriate technologies. In terms of financing for waste management, public clinics were found to have little decision-making powers over funds and had less accountability measures. CHAL clinics which are managed by churches in Lesotho had more control of funds and exhibit more accountability. All clinics had no targets for saving funds from waste management activities. WasteOpt can be applied as a decision-making tool for HCW in Lesotho since it overcomes the barriers that inhibit environmentally sound management of HCW in developing countries. In conclusion: WasteOpt can be applied as a decision-making tool for different types of waste by replacing HCW options with respective ones and designing a relevant questionnaire for qualitative data capture. WasteOpt can then be applied in a developing country to aid sustainable waste management decision-making. Informed decision-making helps resource poor managers to select cost-effective but low-risk options, which will be sustainable in the future. / Dissertation (MSc (Environmental Technology))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Chemical Engineering / unrestricted

MESMEG / Department of Mining and Environmental Geology / Giyani Greenstone Belt is known to host significant amount of gold of which about 10 tonnes were extracted from the belt in the 19th century. Due to increased gold price and mining practices that make it economic to mine low-grade ore deposits, major gold deposits within the belt have been the main targets for exploration while Nebulas Prospect remain unnoticed. To make the Nebulas Prospect attractive for investment, its gold mineralization potential needed to be investigated. The main purpose of this study was to conduct assessment of the probable gold mineralization in the Nebulas Prospect and its economic viability. The specific objectives were to establish the gold mineralized zones within the Nebulas Prospect, develop a geological model showing the geometry and placement of gold in the subsurface, establish gold grade distribution and its economic implication, and select the most appropriate and practical mining method for exploitation of the established gold deposit. The research approaches used in achieving these objectives comprised of knowledge driven predictive modelling of Nebulas Prospect to derive prospectivity map demarcating the area with the potential of hosting gold mineralization. Magnetic survey was conducted in geological permissive areas, thereby establishing boundaries of mineralization, both lateral and vertical. Geological and subsurface gold grade distribution were carried out by means of trenching and pitting. The integration of the geological, geophysical and geochemical data using Geosoft 8.5 and ArcGIS 10.5 assisted in development of a gold deposit model that model illustrates distribution and concentration of gold. Results of the investigation reveals that Banded Iron Formation (BIF) dominates the southern part of the study area while quartz vein and schist dominate the northern part. The application of knowledge driven predictive modelling established mineral prospectivity map for Nebulas Prospect, which narrowed the potential area for further investigation. The area located outside the boundary of prospective area indicated low mineralization potential compared to highly mineralized zone within geological permissive boundary. The two mineralize zones which exits in the Nebulas Prospect are separated by pegmatite intrusion which is observed from magnetic data presentation. The gold is hosted within BIF, schist and quartz vein. The highest concentration observed value of 10.65 g/t is hosted in serpentine schist and lowest significant of 1.24 g/t in BIF. The gold grades are higher in schists than in BIF and quartz veins. The Nebulas Prospect present significant measured iv gold mineral resource with substantial economic potential. The evaluation of the technical aspects of the Nebulas Gold Deposit, which include grade and tonnage was estimated through longitudinal vertical section method. The gold hosted within Banded Iron Formation (BIF) comprise a measured gold resource of 6957.6 t at an average weighted grade of 2.22 g/t Au. However, the gold mineralization hosted within tremolite-mica schist, serpentine schist and quartz veins comprise a measured gold resource of 3919.37 t with average grade of 3.8 g/t Au. The Nebulas Gold Deposit contain a significant grade and tonnage. At an assumed currently economically mineable cutoff grade 1 g/t Au, Nebulas Prospect has a measured resource of 10877 t at a weighted average grade of 2.79 g/t Au. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) was used to prioritize the factors affecting mining method selection and ranking of potential mining method, technically appropriate for the established gold deposit in Nebulas Prospect. Open pit mining method was identified as appropriated for extraction of the Nebulas Gold Deposit. / NRF

This research aimed to design a support system to facilitate the decisionmaking process in terms of selecting the acceptance of Integrated ICT (Information and Communication Technology) Laboratory assistants using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methods. The AHP method was used for the process of determining the weight of each criterion determined from the Integrated ICT Laboratory, Budi Luhur University, while the TOPSIS method was used to determine the ranking based on the calculated values. The method used in this research was the waterfall method consisting of 4 stages, including the needs analysis stage, design, testing and implementation. For testing, User Interface Testing was used which aimed to determine whether the functionality of interface elements such as buttons and hyperlinks contained on each page was working properly. In addition, validation testing was also carried out which aims to determine whether the validations in the system had been running well. The results showed that the decision support system designed using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method had been tested to determine the weight of each criterion needed in the assistant selection process, it was attendance with 0.284, Competence 0.143, Project 0.414, Hardware 0.089 and interview with 0.070. Meanwhile, the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was able to determine the ranking based on the results of calculating the criteria values for each assistant candidate and the 2 people who occupied the top rankings were declared to have passed the selection. The test results showed that all system elements functioned as designed.

In an ever-changing world as ours, the population increases rapidly. There will be great challenges for urban planning when it comes to finding effective, optimized and sustainable solutions. The city planners must find the most optimal way of land usage and one way of reaching this can be obtained through a land-suitability analysis. Land-suitability analysis can be described as a combination of both Geographic information system (GIS) and Multi-criteria analysis (MCA) and is used to obtain the most optimal position for a specific land usage, e.g. residential areas. GIS and MCA can both be used separately but can also be used as described in a combination. The aim of this study is to compare two different municipalities, Nordanstig and Sundsvall, and how the weighting of social functions in planning housing projects differs in them. Another purpose is to compare two different MCA weighting methods and how they affect the final results. The methods used were Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and Fuzzy AHP (FAHP). Using the output of the poll and the interviews from the representatives of the two municipalities weights were computed. The purpose of the study is to find suitable locations where residential areas can be built. The result of the study shows that the officials ranked the weights of the social functions in a new residential area differently. The respondent from Sundsvall ranks public transportation as the most important factor, while the respondent from Nordanstig ranks larger road/railway the highest. The final results end up in the same urban areas in both AHP and Fuzzy AHP methods. The main differences between them are the sizes of the areas and their exact extents. The biggest area was achieved through Sundsvall’s FAHP weighting and was located in the urban area of Gnarp. The area was about 118.5 hectare in size. To check whether the results can be considered appropriate a sensitivity analysis has been performed, using inverted weights taken from the poll and the interviews. / I en värld där befolkningen ökar kraftigt och är i ständig förändring, där ställs samhället och dess beslutsfattare inför stora utmaningar. En av dessa utmaningar är att planera samhällen på ett effektivt och optimerat sätt, som även innefattar hållbara lösningar. Med en strävan att på bästa sätt använda marken i staden, samhället och landet så kan en lämplighetsanalys användas. En lämplighetsanalys är en kombination av att använda Geografisk informationssystem (GIS) och multikriterieanalys (MKA) för att få fram den mest lämpliga platsen som för exempel ett bostadsområde. Både GIS och MKA är var för sig viktiga delar i samhället som även kan användas i kombination. Studiens syfte är att jämföra två kommuner, Nordanstig och Sundsvalls kommun, och deras olika viktning av samhällsfunktioner vid bostadsplanering. Det andra syftet är att jämföra hur två olika MKA metoder påverkar de slutliga resultaten. De två olika metoderna är Analytisk hierarkisk process (AHP) och Fuzzy AHP. Med hjälp av enkät och intervjuer av representanterna från kommunerna så tas vikter fram. De tillfrågade var tjänstemän från de två kommunerna, en från vardera kommunen. Målet med studien är att få fram områden där bostadsområden kan byggas, med hjälp av en multikriterieanalys. En bostadsplanering som tar in hållbarhets aspekter tidigt strävar mot att bidra till ett miljövänligare samhälle, aspekter som busshållplatser och park och fritid. Resultatet visar att de olika tjänstemännen rangordnar kriterierna olika på vad som är viktigast när det kommer till samhällsfunktioner i ett nytt bostadsområde. Representanten från Sundsvall rangordnar Kollektivtrafiken högst och representanten från Nordanstig rangordnar Större väg/järnväg högst. Slutresultatet visar att placering av bostadsområdet hamnar vid AHP metoden ungefär vid samma orter som vid Fuzzy AHP metoden. Det som skiljer är storleken på de olika områden och deras mer exakta utbredning. Det största området blir enligt Sundsvall viktning till FAHP och beläget i tätorten Gnarp, ytan blir då ca 118,5 ha stor. För att kontrollera om resultatet kan anses vara lämpligt har en känslighetsanalys gjorts, genom inverterade vikter tagna från enkäten och intervjuerna.

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