Improvement projects with an environmental focus: A novel approach for prioritization

Abstract

Employment of a systematic approach for prioritization of improvement projects and addressing the voice of the stakeholders are imperative for organizations in the current business circumstances. This study suggests a novel approach that employs multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods for project prioritization. A combination of step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) method and house of quality (HOQ) is used in the calculation of the importance of criteria, followed by utilization of criteria importance in COmplex PRoportional ASsessment of alternatives with grey relations (COPRAS-G) for selection of the final project. It considers environmental effects alongside traditional criteria. Innovation in this study is in the combination of the MCDMs with HOQ and prioritizing projects considering the impact on the environment. The advantages are efficiency and simplicity. The practical focus of the approach is illustrated using a case example. The approach is used for the prioritization of projects that apply the Define–Measure–Analyze–Improve–Control (DMAIC) framework in a Six Sigma organization. The evaluation of three DMAIC projects suggested taking up Project C. The illustration has shown applicability in real-life situations. Thus, the novel approach identifies an environment-friendly project that satisfies the stakeholders the most. The utilization of Grey MCDM method makes the approach suitable for use in an uncertain environment.

Keywords:

• Complex proportional assessment of alternatives with grey relations (COPRAS-G)
• Define–Measure–Analyze–Improve–Control (DMAIC)
• house of quality (HOQ)
• multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM)
• project
• quality management system (QMS)
• Six Sigma
• step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA)

Acknowledgements

The corresponding author wishes to thank the Centre for Research, Anna University for awarding Anna Centenary Research Fellowship. The authors thank the reviewers for their valuable comments to improve the article. The authors thank Dr. R. Baskaran, Dr. P. Mohamed Ali, and Dr. G. Rajesh for their guidance and support.

Data availability statement

Not applicable.

Code availability

Not applicable.

Financial/non-financial interests

The authors have none to disclose.

Conflicts of interest/competing interests

The authors have none to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

The authors did not receive funds, grants, or other support for the study.

Notes on contributors

Ambika M. Raja

Ambika M. Raja is a research scholar and PhD candidate at the Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Management Sciences, College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University, India. She holds a BTech and an MS from Anna University. She worked in the industry for over a decade and taught for a couple of years before pursuing research. Her interests include total quality management, Lean Six Sigma, decision-making, project management, and operations management.

Ramasamy Raju

Dr. R. Raju is a Professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University. He has over 28 years of experience in the industry. He has held positions of repute in the university and guided 25 PhD scholars. His research interests include total quality management, facilities design, Lean Six Sigma, work design, production management, and operations research.

Rajkanth Raju

Rajkanth Raju, Manager at Ford Motor Company, holds a Masters’ and PhD from IIT Madras. At Ford, he currently leads the Manufacturing and IIOT analytics team. He has also worked in Tiger analytics and Ramco Systems before joining Ford motor company. His research interests are in the area of Manufacturing & Supply Chain, Optimization, Data analytics, Lean and quality management. He has presented and published in reputed international journals and conferences.

Sanjeev S. Raja

Sanjeev S. Raja is a Dual Degree student at the Department of Engineering Design, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India. He has interests in automotive engineering, decision-making, data science, operations management, and green manufacturing.