There are several manufacturing errors of different criticality, severity, and occurrence. Correcting all of them is difficult and costly. In this paper, we propose a new hybrid approach to classifying manufacturing errors in an automotive plant and, consequently, to selecting the portfolio of processes that require more attention from the management of the company. Our approach consists of two steps. Firstly, we classify the errors in terms of priority, based on a set of criteria agreed with the management, using the multi-criteria decision-aiding method AHPSort II. The errors belonging to the highest priority class are the most urgent and critical for the company. Secondly, we define a multi-objective portfolio problem, selecting a set of the most critical processes based on the number of errors in each of these processes and on their priority. We adopted an interactive method for finding the most preferred portfolio of processes according to the stakeholder preferences. We applied this approach to a case study of the largest automotive company in Italy, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, showing how classical quality control tools can benefit from the integration of multi-criteria decision-aiding techniques.

Purpose: The paper focuses on how knowledge visualization supports the development of a particular multiobjective decision-making problem as a portfolio optimization problem in the context of interorganizational collaboration between universities and a large automotive company. This paper fits with the emergent knowledge visualization literature because it helps to explain decision-making related to the development of a multiobjective optimization model in Lean Product Development settings. We investigate how using ad hoc visual tools supports knowledge translation and knowledge sharing, enhancing managerial judgment and decision-making.Design/methodology/approach: The empirical case in this study concerns the setting up of a multiobjective decision-making model as a portfolio optimization problem to analyze and select alternatives for upgrading the lean production process quality at an FCA plant.Findings: The study shows how knowledge visualization and the associated tools work to enable knowledge translation and knowledge sharing, supporting decision-making. The empirical findings show why and how knowledge visualization can be used to foster knowledge translation and sharing among individuals and from individuals to groups. Knowledge visualization is understood as both a collective and interactional process and a systematic approach where different players translate their expertise, share a framework and develop common ground to support decision-making.Originality/value: From a theoretical perspective, the paper expands the understanding of knowledge visualization as a system of practices that support the development of a multiobjective decision-making method. From an empirical point of view, our results may be useful to other firms in the automotive industry and for academics wishing to develop applied research on portfolio optimization.

As the complexity of decision-making problems and the competitiveness in which companies find themselves carrying out their activities increase, the need to use tools that can help Decision-Makers (DM) make more informed and more effective choices increases. Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) represents a valid decision support tool capable of simplifying the process of choosing, ranking or sorting the alternatives that characterize the problem. This work aims to investigate with a structured content analysis if MCDMs are used in an extremely complex and competitive sector such as the automotive sector. The work also aims to describe and explore in the existing literature the role that entrepreneurs (our decision-makers) play in the construction of MCDM methods. The results show that MCDMs are widely used in different application areas in the domain of interest and that the decision maker is involved in several phases of construction of the MCDM methods.

This document proposes an innovative composite indicator to measure and control the performance of production processes. The aim is to provide a tool for controlling the efficiency of the processes, assessed in relation to the number and the impact of occurring “errors”, which can take into account the opinion of experts in the specific domain. This allows for the definition of a more realistic and effective decision support system. Our composite indicator is based on an integrated approach based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), and a new multi-criteria method such as Parsimonious Analytical Hierarchy Process (PAHP). The results obtained on a real test case, based on the automotive production domain, show that the composite indicator built with PAHP-DEA allows us to have clear evidence of the efficiency level of each process and the overall impact of errors on all the processes under evaluation. From a methodological point of view, we have for the first time combined the new thrifty AHP with the DEA. From an application point of view, this work introduces a new tool capable of evaluating the efficiency of production processes in an extremely competitive sector, exploiting the knowledge of the experts in the domain of errors, internal processes and the dynamics that occur.

Multi-criteria decision methods (MCDMs) are used as an effective tool to support decision makers (DMs) in critical decision processes. These methods are used in several fields of application by analyzing static decision-making problems in which it is assumed that the decision is made at a precise moment. By increasing the complexity of decision-making problems and operating in increasingly competitive production sectors, very often analyzing a decision-making problem in a static way is not enough. This paper deals with considering the temporal variable in the construction of a dynamic MCDM, which takes into account historical and current data in order to learn from the past; and prospective also allowing to have a forecasting perspective of future data through the use of techniques that work in this sense. Our approach was tested in a multinational company in the manufacturing sector. The results show that the use of dynamic approaches allows DMs to obtain more precise alternative rankings given the information they exploit from the past; furthermore, the use of the prospective model, integrated with the dynamic one, makes it possible to provide greater detail on the possible future rankings of the alternatives that update their positions based on the feedback received. The approach allows for drawing advantages from a management point of view as it defines a complete decision support tool for the choices related to the planning and control of production processes. Our approach can be implemented in corporate information systems. Furthermore, the involvement of the DM in the construction of the model helps to define a learning process that feeds the decision-making process by generating greater awareness of the DM on the choices to be made.