USING THE ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS FOR DECISION MAKING IN ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS: SOME CHALLENGES

Abstract

In many industrial engineering applications the final decision is based on the evaluation of a number of alternatives in terms of a number of criteria. This problem may become a very difficult one when the criteria are expressed in different units or the pertinent data are difficult to be quantified. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is an effective approach in dealing with this kind of decision problems. This paper examines some of the practical and computational issues involved when the AHP method is used in engineering applications. Significance: In many engineering applications the final decision depends on the evaluation of a set of alternatives in terms of a number of decision criteria. This may be a difficult task and the Analytic Hierarchy Process seems to provide an effective way for properly quantifying the pertinent data. However, there are many critical issues that a decision maker needs to be aware of.