DefinePK

Abstract

The selection of a manufacturing technology may have major implication on the business performance and the whole supply chain. In particular for innovative sector dealing with no standardized materials and technologies, technology selection is a main issue. Moreover, selecting a manufacturing technology may not depend only on its technical merit, but on supply chain-related factors such as availability of raw materials, capacity, suppliers, workers among others. This paper explores the factors affecting manufacturing technology selection with respect to the supply chain using the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process, which has proven to be a powerful tool when dealing with problems affected by uncertainty. This work uses a case study involving a leading enterprise in the high performance textile industry to select between two different lamination technologies taking into account 12 factors. Results show the validity of the used procedure in understanding which factors are the most important when it comes to selecting a manufacturing technology with respect to the supply chain. Factors such as service level/on time deliveries and supply chain performance proven to be the most import factors for the company studied, followed by return on investment, hire/train staff with new skills and environmental impact.