ELECTRE I Method Using Hesitant Linguistic Term Sets: An Application to Supplier Selection

Assessment of occupational health and safety risks in a Turkish public hospital using a two-stage hesitant fuzzy linguistic approach

Occupational health and safety (OHS) risk assessment studies have gained importance recently as a result of increasing occupational accidents and occupational diseases. The health sector has a greater risk than many sectors for occupational accidents and occupational diseases. Although the health sector is one of the priority sectors in Turkey, OHS practices have not been fully implemented in this field. For this reason, this study adopts a two-stage approach to assess the OHS risks in the health sector by combining the Fine-Kinney and multi-criteria hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set (HFLTS) methods. The proposed method was applied to the OHS risks in the operating room of a public hospital in Turkey. As a solution to the problem, first, the potential hazards and related risks in the operating room were determined by the experts. In this first stage, 44 hazards were determined from the opinions of experts and records of past incidents. Parameter weights were then determined using the multi-criteria HFLTS method. The multi-criteria HFLTS method was used to evaluate seven hazards to be categorized as substantial-risk or higher according to the Fine-Kinney method, taking into account parameter weights. Sensitivity analysis was then carried out. Finally, actions were taken to mitigate the risks.

A Decision Support Tool for Supplier Evaluation and Selection

The supplier selection process is considered one of the most relevant decisions in supply chain management due to its effect on the product quality and on buyer performance. Supplier selection is often unstructured, and is generally based on the lowest-price proposal. However, this type of selection involves a high risk, sometimes resulting in project delays, poor quality of acquired goods, and large financial losses. Price is undoubtedly an important criterion when choosing a supplier; however, other equally important criteria must be considered. Therefore, supplier selection should be formulated as a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. This study uses the PROMETHEE-GAIA (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment of Evaluations—Geometrical Analysis for Interactive Assistance) method to classify and select suppliers in an agrifood company. One of the advantages of this method is that it allows decision-makers to set their preferences considering all the relevant criteria simultaneously, and their relative importance. The case study demonstrates that PROMETHEE constitutes a flexible MCDM tool for supplier evaluation and selection, rank the different alternatives, and provide valuable insights. The results show that the supplier selection process has a strong point related to the existence of two groups of suppliers, one focused on economic criteria and other related to the innovative capacity. However, a flaw emerges, as little relevance is associated to the environmental criterion.

Site selection for waste vegetable oil and waste battery collection boxes: a GIS-based hybrid hesitant fuzzy decision-making approach

The amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) has been increasing rapidly in the urban centres of developing countries during the last few decades; however, municipal solid waste management (MSWM) remains inadequate. One of the largest aspects of cost of the MSWM system is the collection of waste. This paper describes a methodology that combines geographic information systems (GIS), hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set (HFLTS), and the full multiplicative form of multi-objective optimization by ratio analysis (MULTIMOORA), to determine suitable locations for waste collection boxes (named AYPIKUT), which have been designed specifically for collection of domestic waste vegetable oil and waste batteries. It takes as case study, Atakum, a district of Samsun city, Turkey. As a solution to the problem, first, a total of 88 items have been identified for consideration by seven criteria elicited from the insights of experts, and spatial analyses were performed. Multi-criteria HFLTS was then used to determine weights of the criteria. Population density was the most significant criterion affecting the selection process, and proximity to housing complexes with more than 150 dwellings was the least important. According to the weights of the seven criteria, and three rules determined by the experts, 15 AYPIKUT locations were identified using GIS. As a final step, the alternative locations (A1-A15) were ranked with the MULTIMOORA method. A5 was the most suitable site, and A6 was the least suitable site for an AYPIKUT. The results indicated the ability of the proposed model to select the suitable locations for waste collection box.

Evaluation of landfill sites using GIS-based MCDA with hesitant fuzzy linguistic term sets

There are many criteria to be considered in environmental, social, and economic issues for the landfill site selection (LSS). Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods are often used to solve complex decision-making problems such as LSS. However, decision-makers (DMs) may hesitate during the evaluation of the landfill sites with possible incorrect evaluation concerns. Therefore, the inclusion of the hesitant fuzzy linguistic term sets (HFLTS), which considers the hesitations in the preferences of DMs, is suitable for the solution of the problem. On the other hand, geographic information systems (GIS) is an important decision support tool that can analyze different types of spatial data. The aim of this study is to evaluate landfill sites. To do so, the applied approach includes the processes of identifying appropriate alternative sites for landfills by combining HFLTS-based MCDA method and GIS and evaluation of alternative sites with Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). The applicability of the proposed approach is tested on Samsun city, Turkey. As a result, scenario analysis, which is dominated by environmental criteria, provides better results dominated by social-economic criteria. Consequently, 12 alternative locations are selected and evaluated for the LSS. Atakum and Canik districts of Samsun city are determined as very suitable locations for landfill sites.