Integrated AHP and fuzzy TOPSIS Approach for the Selection of a Rapid Prototyping Process under Multi-Criteria Perspective

Abstract

Rapid prototyping (RP) is a promising technology that has been implemented in many spheres of industry, particularly in the area of new product development due to its unique characteristics of fabricating functional prototypes timely and efficiently. Recent years have seen various rapid prototyping (RP) processes such as stereolithography(SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS), fused deposition modelling(FDM), and laminated object manufacturing (LOM) which can fabricate three dimensional(3D) solid models directly from the computer aided design (CAD) data without any tooling and human intervention. However, selection of an optimal RP system for the end use of a part is a tedious work due to involvement various criteria or objectives in the decision making process and it is often necessary to compromise among possibly conflicting factors. Thus, the multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) becomes a useful approach to solve this kind of problem. This study proposes an integrated Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method for the selection of rapid prototyping system that involves multiple, usually conflicting attributes.The proposedmethod enables decision analysts to better understand the complete evaluation process and provide amore accurate, effective, and systematic decision support tool.