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JM2
10,1
118
Received 7 December 2012
Revised 18 May 2013
Accepted 30 July 2013
Journal of Modelling in
Management
Vol. 10 No. 1, 2015
pp. 118-136
© Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1746-5664
DOI 10.1108/JM2-12-2012-0042
ANP based sustainable concept
selection
Jayakrishna K., Vimal K.E.K. and Sekar Vinodh
Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology,
Tiruchirappalli, India
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report a study in which analytical network process (ANP)
was used for selecting the best concept from sustainability view point.
Design/methodology/approach – The concept selection in the sustainability viewpoint is a typical
multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem involving complex interrelationship among the
decision criteria. The formulated MCDM problem of sustainable concept selection was solved using
ANP. The sensitivity analysis was also being conducted to validate the results.
Findings – The interrelationship among the decision criteria was analyzed using ANP, and the best
alternative was selected based on the computation of Product Sustainability Weighted Index (PSWI).
The selected best alternative was subjected to implementation in the case organization.
Research limitations/implications – The study deals with the formulation of sustainable concept
selection as a typical MCDM problem and providing solutions using ANP. The best alternative “weight
reduction” was subjected to implementation. The developed MCDM problem also could be solved using
hybrid MCDM methods.
Practical implications – The study focuses on selecting the best sustainability concept for an Indian
automotive component manufacturing organization. Hence, the inferences being derived from the study
are practically feasible and contribute toward the improvement of product sustainability.
Originality/value – The formulation of a hierarchical model for sustainable concept selection as
MCDM problem and generating solution using ANP is the contribution of the authors.
Keywords Decision-making, Artificial intelligence
Paper type Case study
Notations
axy ⫽ score assigned to criteria x being compared with criteria y;
W1 ⫽ normalized values of weight;
CI ⫽ consistency index;
CR ⫽ consistency ratio;
RI ⫽ random consistency index;
n ⫽ matrix size;
Dmax ⫽ maximum eigen value;
Pj ⫽ the relative importance weight of criteria j;
ADkj ⫽ relative importance weight for sub-criteria k of criteria j for the dependency;
The authors would like to express our appreciation to Department of Science and Technology,
New Delhi, India, for the financial support for this study, under the project titled “Development of
a model for ensuring sustainable product design in automotive organizations” (Ref No. SR/S3/
MERC-0102/2009). This research study forms a part of this major research project.
Alkj ⫽ stabilized relative importance weight for sub-criteria k of criteria j for the ANP-based
independency; sustainable
S1kj ⫽ relative impact of weight reduction (Alternative 1);
S2kj ⫽ relative impact of parts reduction (Alternative 2); and
concept
S3kj ⫽ relative impact of alternate material change (Alternative 3). selection
1. Introduction
The manufacture and utilization of any engineering product carries with it
119
environmental penalties. There is always a growing recognition that the minimization
of these penalties must become a primary design objective (Sadiq et al., 2010).
Brundtland Commission, 1987, has defined sustainable development as the
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs. Ljungberg (2007) identified four vital
problems like over-consumption, resource utilization, pollution and over-population as
reasons for unsustainability at global level, and while developing any new product, it is
necessary to move between the three E’s (Ecology, Equity and Economy) to obtain a
suitable sustainable development. The principal environmental management issues
accentuate the original equipment manufacturers (OEM) to focus on their product
development process. In general, the environmental practices are reliant on wider
aspects to be integrated to achieve firm’s goal of waste elimination and lower
environmental impact. Therefore, the OEM’s must try to integrate environmental
aspects to ensure corporate survival and sustainable development. There are several
environmental aspects often taken into consideration like recycling, re-manufacturing and
reusing while designing and developing a product to make it eco-friendlier (Matsumoto,
2009). Some of the considerations on achieving product sustainability include reduction in
the weight of product, reduction in number of parts and selection of alternate materials. All
these three alternates often go hand in hand at times in designing and developing a
sustainable product. To quantify the level of impact of these alternatives in achieving
product sustainability, there exists a need to explore the interdependence relations among
the criteria and attributes formulating the triple bottom-line of sustainability. In this study,
attempt has been made in selecting the best alterative concept for achieving product
sustainability using analytical network process (ANP) approach.

2. Literature review
The literature has been reviewed from the perspectives of sustainability concepts and
application of ANP.

2.1 Literature review on sustainability concepts

The selection of materials for a certain product is of vital importance, whereas the
material determines the usage of our natural resources as well as the amount of energy
used for the production and use of the product (Ljungberg, 2007; Yagi, 1997). The
designers should also focus on the optimization of parameters like lesser weight,
low-cost design and minimal thermal distortion (Ashby and Jhonson, 2002). To
minimize the environmental load in life as a whole, “Eco-materials” are considered as a
major concept (Holloway, 1998; Yagi, 1993). Edwards (2004) investigated the
substitution of materials in the automotive industry and how technologies are limited by
available materials that can be handled by the strategic introduction of newer materials.
This study demonstrated the feasibility of researching retrospective product
JM2 development from materials perspective, mapped against forecasts, increasing the
10,1 quality of potential design decision-making and the possibility of successful new
product introduction to the market. Ermolaeva et al. (2004) in their study on material
selection focused on integrated structural optimization with environmental impact
assessment for an automotive structure. The compound objective function, consisting of
the mass, cost and environmental indices, was compared for the designs of material
120 combination for each choice. Wanner (2010) focused on selection of minimum weight
material for limited available space aimed at bringing in a free variable that describes
the shape variant and assisted the identification and ranking of feasible shape-material
amalgamations. Cui et al. (2011) in their work on design of lightweight multi-material
automotive bodies used novel material performance indices of thin-walled structural
parts for low-cost design with great product performance. The authors also suggested
the consideration of fabrication processes by taking technical and cost aspects into
consideration. Ayres (1997) suggested that the primary goal for manufacturing
industries is to reduce the costs of material and parts that constitute a major part of their
direct manufacturing activities, whereas the cost of disposal of worn out parts have
increased substantially, as increased legislation on reducing landfills have exacerbated
the problem. Ares and Serra (2008) developed procedures to identify environmentally
sustainable engineering projects for floodplain restoration and urban wastewater
management at the coastal floodplain of the Chubut River (Argentina). They considered
the basic hydrological knowledge, stakeholders’ interests and social acceptance and,
using scoring methods, identified a small set of highly ranked project alternatives to
achieve floodplain restoration and sustainable urban wastewater management in the
area and tested the obtained ranks for sensitivity and robustness to eventual bias in
the estimation of environmental scores. Vinodh and Jeya Girubha (2012) conducted the
study to select the best sustainable concept considering the criteria from social,
economical and natural perspectives by using Preference Ranking Organizational
Method for Enrichment Evaluation. The study showed that the change of material as the
best orientation, and it implied that the material change should be done at the first stage
to achieve sustainability with reference to the case product. Reza et al. (2010) conducted
sustainability analysis of flooring systems using AHP based multi-criteria
decision-making (MCDM) technique. This study uses the triple bottom line criteria to
bring out the sustainable flooring system among concrete, clay and expanded
polystyrene (EPS). The three criteria taken into consideration are economic concerns,
environmental concerns and socio-political concerns, and these are divided into 13
sub-criteria. Using life cycle analysis, it is found that EPS is the best sustainable flooring
system. Pourebrahim et al. (2010) evaluated the sustainability in coastal lands which
needs some critical criteria and indicators. By using innovative and reliable method, the
most important criteria and indicators were identified. The criteria are selected using
ANP to ensure sustainability in coastal land use planning. They integrated the social,
economic and environmental criteria within the planning framework to provide a
holistic approach for integrated coastal land use development. Hu et al. (2009) developed
product life cycle evolution system based on stochastic dynamic programming.
Sustainable product life cycle systems are attracting increasing attention because of
cost competition, resource constraints and environmental issues. This study focused on
decision-making in the product life cycle evaluation process after the product is released
to the competitive market. The major contribution is to consider the sequential
decision-making involved in product life cycle management systems from a ANP-based
quantitative perspective. In this study, Markov decision process is used for sequential sustainable
decision-making throughout the product life cycle management.
concept
selection
2.2 Literature review on applications of ANP
ANP has been used in selecting the performance objectives consistent with the strategic
objectives with the help of casual loop diagram illustrating the relevant relationships 121
and feedback among the model parameters in the process of aggregate analysis of
manufacturing system using a reusable system dynamics model (Tesfamariam and
Lindberg, 2005). In the study on selecting management systems for sustainable
development in small and medium enterprises through an integrated model, ANP was
used to find out the interdependencies among the criteria and constraints over the
resource availability for prioritization of projects (Tsai et al., 2009). ANP is competent of
measuring the relative importance that captures all indirect interactions in a network
and was applied in the process of identification of core technologies (Lee et al., 2009).
ANP can produce priorities of technologies with consideration of their direct and
indirect impact and was utilized in a systemic approach toward identification of core
technologies from the perspective of technological cross-impacts (Kim et al., 2011). Two
types of ANP including conventional and fuzzy logics were used to select the best
supplier in a supply chain of electronics switches manufacturing organization, as ANP
can handle all the attributes and alternates networked in a system to accept various
dependencies (Vinodh et al., 2011). The development of pairwise comparison matrices,
utilization of interdependencies among decision levels and development of more reliable
solutions are considered to be the unique features of ANP. ANP approach can be used for
selecting, evaluating, prioritizing and ranking, etc. if interdependent relationships
have substantial impacts on the decision model and have been used for developing an
expert selection system to choose ideal cities for medical service ventures combined with
Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (Ayag and Ozdemir,
2009). The relative weight of each criterion with dependence and feedback can be
calculated with the help of ANP, and the alternatives are then prioritized using
multi-criteria optimization and compromise solution Vlsekriterijumska Optimizacija I
Kompromisno Resenje in Serbian (VIKOR) method in developing a hybrid multi-criteria
model for the selection of outsourcing providers of a Taiwanese airline (Liou and
Chuang, 2010). The ANP model was developed for enterprise resource planning (ERP)
and trained with artificial neural network in selecting the most suitable ERP software
with the help of a single expert opinion (Yazga et al., 2009). With a
large number of complex factors to be considered in any MCDM based on independent
assumptions, ANP was used to select knowledge management strategies (Wu and Lee,
2007). The criteria collected using Delphi method was used in constructing ANP model
and found that the cost per unit and failure product cost are more deterministic in the
task of supplier selection with bundling problem using mixed integer programming
(Wu et al., 2009). To avoid the uncertainties with conventional ANP, it was put together
with fuzzy approach in conceptual design alternatives selection in a new product
development environment to reach the most satisfying needs and expectations of the
customers, as their voice will always vary with the engineering specifications of the
OEM (Chen et al., 2008). Combining the benefits of ANP with benefits, opportunities,
cost and risks concept the buyer–supplier relationship in an electronic components
JM2 manufacturer located in Taiwan was studied for the multiple factors affecting the
10,1 success of the relationship between the manufacturer and supplier based on the expert’s
opinion and performance ranking (Lee et al., 2009). ANP with fuzzy set theory was
developed to find out the indeterminate decisions made in selecting the supplier based
on vendor importance aspects (Razmi et al., 2009). The relations and dependencies
among the safety factors were studied using ANP by computing the weights of factors
122 and sub-factors necessary to calculate the faulty behavior risk significant in safety of the
work system which is vibrant and intricate (Dagdeviren et al., 2008). Even ANP has
some difficulties because of the computation of eigen values and limit values.
Ramanathan and Ganesh (1994) summarized two main approaches and offered a
general discussion on the two main methods of aggregation. The two basic aggregation
methods applied to this are the geometric mean and (weighted) arithmetic mean.
Based on the literature review, it is concluded that with the help of ANP, it is easier to
prioritize the criteria based on pairwise comparisons moderately than random values,
and it can also judge both tangible and intangible factors. ANP can easily convert
qualitative values to numerical values in uncomplicated and perceptive approach. With
these advantages, ANP was selected for the sustainable concept selection in our study.

3. Methodology
The study begins with the literature review on product sustainability concepts, ANP and its
applications. Based upon the literature review, a theoretical model was developed to best suit
the case study. All necessary data have been gathered from the organization to conduct the
study, ANP was selected as the tool to select the best alternative to attain product
sustainability and all necessary calculations were made to select the consistent alternative
based on the computed PSWI; this was followed by the sensitivity analysis to validate the
results. The results were also practically validated to examine its feasibility in real-time
scenario. The methodology followed during the study is shown in Figure 1.

4. Case study
This section deals with the details about the case company, case problem of the study
and ANP approach for the selection of best alternative to achieve product sustainability.

4.1 About the case company and product

The case study has been carried out in an automotive component manufacturing
organization located in Trichy, Tamilnadu, India (hereafter designated as XYZ). XYZ is
the manufacturer of hydraulic power rack and pinion steering gear assembly, integral
power steering and power steering column assembly deliberately used for transmitting
the input torque in drive mechanism. XYZ aspires to improve environmental
friendliness in their product design and development practices. The organization has
put into practice world class approaches such as ISO 14,000 environmental management
System and TS 16,949 automotive quality management system in supply chain.

4.2 Case problem

As XYZ proposed to implement sustainability in their product, there aroused a major
confusion in adopting the appropriate alternative in achieving product sustainability
and the need to find out the level of adoption of that particular alternative could bring
upon in practice. The stakeholders of XYZ finally decided to use an MCDM approach
and selected ANP as the tool for effective decision-making.
 Literature review on product sustainability concepts and ANP-based
ANP applications sustainable
concept
Development of theoretical model for best alternate selection selection

Identification of suitable organization to conduct the case 123

study using ANP

Collection of necessary data to conduct the study

Application of ANP for selection of best alternate for product

sustainability

Calculation of Product Sustainability Weighted Index

(PSWI) and selection of best alternate

Validation by sensitivity analysis

Figure 1.Research methodology Figure 1.

Derivation of inferences
Methodology

4.3 Hierarchical model

A theoretical hierarchical model was developed based upon the literature review (Ayag
and Ozdemir, 2009; Vinodh et al., 2011), as shown in Figure 2. The basic structure of
hierarchical model consists of goal, determinants or control criteria, criteria and
sub-criteria. The conceptual model consisting of the core dimensions and performance
indicators to achieve the goal will be modeled. The core dimensions are also called as
major criteria. In this present study, major goal (Level I) is to achieve the product
sustainability by selecting the best available product development options. The
conceptual model consists of three major criteria, also called the triple bottom line of
sustainable development (Level II) (Jamali, 2006). Level II interaction defines the
importance of each criterion in selection of alternatives. Each and every criterion
consists of various sub-criteria (Level III) which also has interaction within them. Level
III interactions shows how each sub-criteria interact with other sub-criteria within the
group with respect to their criteria. The interrelationship between these sub-criteria
(Level IV) are also clearly shown in Figure 2. The various levels of interaction has been
shown in Table I. As a sample, economic criteria consist of four sub-criteria, namely,
financial health (FH), economic performance (EP), potential financial benefits (PFB) and
trading opportunities (TO). There exists a mutual interaction between all the four
enablers, as shown in Figure 2. In this study, there exist three alternatives (Level V) such
as weight reduction, parts reduction and alternate material selection, among which the
JM2 Sustainable product Level I - Goal

10,1 development

Economic (ECO) Environment (ENVI) Social (SOC) Level II - Criteria

124

Financial Health (FH) Air Resources (AR) Internal Human

Economic Performance
(EP)
Potenal Financial
Benefits (PFB)
Trading Opportunies
(TO)
Resources (IHR)
Water Resources (WR)
External Populaon (EP)
Land Resources (LR)
Stake Holder Populaon Level III - Sub Criteria
Mineral and Energy (SHP)
Resources (MER)
Macro Social
Performance (MSP)

FH AR IHR

TO EP ME WR MS EP Level IV - Interacons
R P
PF LR SH
BR P

Figure 2.
Framework of ANP Weight Reducon (WER) Parts Reducon (PR) Alternate Material Change Level V - Alternaves
relative model (AMG)

Level Elements Interactions

I Goal Criteria and sub-criteria levels

II Criteria level Interactions among criteria with respect to goal
Table I. III Sub-criteria level Interactions among sub-criteria within the group
Various levels of IV Sub-criteria level Interactions between sub-criteria with respect to sub-criteria within the group
interactions V Alternative level Interactions between alternative with respect to sub-criteria

best alternative has to be selected for achieving product sustainability in the case
organization. The fifth-level interaction shows how the sub-criteria play a role in
alternative selection. The criteria, sub-criteria and alternatives used in the ANP
framework model of this case study are presented in Table II.
Elements Codes Definition
ANP-based
sustainable
Criteria ECO Economic concept
ENVI Environment
SOC Social selection
Sub-criteria FH Financial health
EP Economic performance
PFB Potential financial benefits
125
TO Trading opportunities
AR Air resources
WR Water resources
LR Land resources
MER Mineral and energy resources
IHR Internal human resources
EP External population
SHP Stakeholder population Table II.
MSP Macro social performance Criteria, sub-criteria
Alternatives WER Weight reduction and alternates used
PR Parts reduction in the ANP
AMG Alternate material change framework model

4.4 ANP methodology

The case study has been carried out by using MCDM technique, ANP. The steps
involved in ANP approach is shown in Figure 3. This includes definition of criteria,
sub-criteria and formulation of network between them. Then, pairwise comparison
matrices are developed, and inconsistency of those matrices is checked, followed by the
computation of un-weighted super matrix, weighted super matrix and limit matrix.
After the formulation of limit matrix, sensitivity analysis is performed at criteria level,
and the PSWI is calculated to select the best possible alternative to achieve product
sustainability.
4.4.1 Criteria, sub-criteria and alternatives definition. As the first step, criteria which
have influence over the decision being made is to be described. Economy, environment
and society are considered to be the three pillars or dimensions of sustainability and
needs to be addressed in representing any project, policy or product (Heijungs et al.,
2010). Improving social, economic and environmental indicators of sustainable
development desires a huge concentration in any modern organization both in
developed and developing countries of the world (Ortiz et al., 2009). Even with the
willingness of organizations to put into effect sustainability practices, it involves a high
risk of obstacles in their implementation, as the multi objectives of triple bottom line
(TBL) are often found to be conflicting (Petrini and Pozzebon, 2009). To select the best
alternative to achieve product sustainability, various sub-criteria have been infused in
this model. Vinodh (2011) had an investigation on assessment of sustainability using
multi-grade fuzzy approach and listed out several criteria in enabling environment,
economic and social sustainability; those criteria were adopted in this study after
consultation and approval with the participants comprising of experts across the
hierarchical level of the case organization. The alternatives taken into account in this
study are weight reduction, parts reduction and alternate material change. Reducing the
weight of the product means reducing the quantity of landfill in the end of life of the
JM2 Definition of criteria and sub-criteria and alternates
10,1
Formulation of network among the clusters of criteria, sub-
criteria and alternates

126
Development of pair wise comparison matrices

Improving the inconsistency of the comparison matrices

Construction of un-weighted super matrix

Constructionof weighted super matrix

Constructionof Limit super matrix

Sensitivity analysis

Figure 3.
Steps involved in Computation of PSWI
ANP approach

product, as over consumption of any resource will always lead to drastic impact on
nature with an increasing growth rate of 5 per cent (Meadows et al., 1992). Reducing the
number of parts used in any product both in its assembly or sub-assembly will pave the
way toward less complex assembly and disassembly practice with the reduction in time
and cost spent which will also ensure remanufacturing aspect of the product in the long
run (Gungor, 2006). Moreover, both weight reduction and reduction in the number of
parts create low demand for transportation, thereby saving a lot of energy being spent.
With the development in advanced materials, the time to shift to alternate materials
from the conventional materials becomes the need of the hour.
4.4.2 Formulation of network. The relationships in a network of ANP must have
directions depending on the influence between the clusters (Sarkis et al., 2007). The
interrelation ship between the various criteria, sub-criteria and alternatives are
well-established by the linkage provided by the network formation. The first step in
network development is the process of clustering; in this model, the clusters are
represented as levels across the model, and the criteria forms the nodes of the cluster, as
shown in Figure 2. The second step involves linking the criteria/nodes with each other,
reflecting their interrelationships either internally or externally. An internal linkage is
like a loop on those subsequent levels. External linkages are made between criteria from
the influencing one to the dependent one. The linkage in this ANP model is shown using ANP-based
solid lines. sustainable
4.4.3 Development of pairwise comparison matrices. For determining the relative concept
importance between elements, the expert panel consisting of executives from different
departments of the organization were asked to provide their subjective value judgments
selection
through a series of pairwise comparisons. Each comparison score was collected on the
basis of a 9-point Likert’s scale, where a score of 1-9 are of equal importance and the 127
extreme importance of one factor over another. Pairwise comparison matrices are
formed between each couple of criteria with respect to the influencing criteria.
Influencing criterion is the criterion to which the other criteria are dependent. Similarly, the
pairwise comparison matrices are framed between the control clusters and their dependent
clusters. The comparison of each of the criteria or cluster with the other corresponding,
dependent criteria or cluster results in a matrix with eigen vector presenting the final
priorities concerning the control criterion. If axy is the score assigned to criteria x being
compared with criteria y, the normalization of the comparison matrices is represented as
shown in equation (1). In a similar pattern, all pairwise matrices were developed. As an
example, Table III shows the pairwise comparison between the Cluster II/Level II with
corresponding sub-criteria of environmental sustainability.

W1 ⫽
关兺 兴 axy
axy
(1)

冤 冥
兺 共
兺 兲
n a1y
y⫽1 n
x⫽1 xya
n
兺 共
兺 兲
n a2y
y⫽1 n
x⫽1 xya
W⫽ n
.
.
兺 n
y⫽1
共兺 兲 a3y
n
x⫽1 xya
n

Table III.
ENVI AR WR LR MER Pairwise comparison
between the clusters
AR 1 3 5 7 with corresponding
WR 0.33333 1 3 5 sub-criteria of
LR 0.2 0.33333 1 3 environmental
MER 0.14286 0.2 0.33333 1 sustainability
 冤冥
JM2 W1
10,1 W2
W⫽ . (2)
.
Wn
128 The pairwise comparison matrix for relative importance between the sub-criteria FH
and other criteria (EP, PFB and TO) is shown in Table IV.
4.4.4 Improving the inconsistency of the comparison matrices. The consistency ratio
(CR) is defined as the direct measure of the consistency of pairwise comparisons. It is the
ratio between consistency index (CI) and random consistency index (RI) [equation (3)].

CI
CR ⫽ (3)
RI
Dmax ⫺ n
CI ⫽ (4)
n⫺1

For the CI, the deviation from consistency can be computed using the equation (4). Here
Dmax is the highest eigen value of the resultant matrix, and n represents the matrix size.
Normally, the value of RI is taken as 0.58 from RI table. The value of CR should not
exceed 0.100. As an example, the sample calculation of eigen vector for comparison
matrix for various sub-criteria under economic criteria is shown in Table V.
Sample calculation:

Dmax ⫽ 4.155

Table IV.
Pairwise comparison
matrix for relative FH EP PF TO
importance between
the sub-criteria EP 1 1 3
financial health and PF 1 1 5
other criteria TO 0.33333 0.2 1

ENVI AR WR LR MER Eigen vector (V)

AR 1.000 3.000 5.000 7.000 0.669

Table V. WR 0.333 1.000 3.000 5.000 0.669
Eigen vector for LR 0.200 0.333 1.000 3.000 0.307
comparison matrix of MER 0.143 0.200 0.333 1.000 0.104
various sub-criteria Dmax 4.155
under CI 0.051
“environmental” RI 0.580
criteria CR 0.089
 4.155 ⫺ 4 ANP-based
CI ⫽
4⫺1 sustainable
⫽ 0.051 concept
selection
RI ⫽ 0.58
0.051 129
CR ⫽
0.58
⫽ 0.089

4.4.5 Construction of un-weighted super matrix. The un-weighted super matrix is the
matrix containing the priorities from the pairwise comparisons. After calculating the
eigen vectors of all the pairwise matrices together, they are substituted in the super
matrix block Vxy framed between dependent elements of cluster x with influencing
elements of cluster y. The constructed un-weighted super matrix is shown in Table VI:

冤 冥
W11 W12 . . W1n
W21 W22 . . W2n
W⫽ . . . . . (5)
. . . . .
Wn1 Wn2 . . Wnn

4.4.6 Construction of weighted super matrix. The major difference between the
un-weighted super matrix and the weighted super matrix is that the former does not
exhibit probabilistic behavior and the summation of the columns will not be one. To
obtain the weighted super matrix, the un-weighted super matrix is multiplied with the
priority weights produced from the clusters/levels attained by comparison matrix. The
constructed weighted super matrix is shown in Table VII.
4.4.7 Formulation of limit super matrix. The weighted super matrix is constructed by
taking into account only indirect dependencies, whereas the limit matrix is computed
using both direct and indirect dependencies. The limit matrix is obtained by raising the

FH EP PFB TO AR WR LR MER IHR EP SHP MSP

FH 0.000 0.637 0.731 0.188

EP 0.405 0.000 0.188 0.081
PFB 0.481 0.258 0.000 0.731
TO 0.114 0.105 0.081 0.000
AR 0.000 0.188 0.637 0.188
WR 0.435 0.000 0.258 0.081
LR 0.487 0.081 0.000 0.731
MER 0.078 0.731 0.105 0.000
IHR 0.000 0.637 0.279 0.435
EP 0.731 0.000 0.649 0.487 Table VI.
SHP 0.188 0.258 0.000 0.078 Un-weighted super
MSP 0.081 0.105 0.072 0.000 matrix
JM2 FH EP PFB TO AR WR LR MER IHR EP SHP MSP
10,1
FH 0.382 0.382 0.382 0.382
EP 0.220 0.220 0.220 0.220
PFB 0.307 0.307 0.307 0.307
TO 0.091 0.091 0.091 0.091
130 AR 0.273 0.273 0.273 0.273
WR 0.214 0.214 0.214 0.214
LR 0.303 0.303 0.303 0.303
MER 0.210 0.210 0.210 0.210
IHR 0.341 0.341 0.341 0.341
Table VII. EP 0.402 0.402 0.402 0.402
Weighted super SHP 0.175 0.175 0.175 0.175
matrix MSP 0.082 0.082 0.082 0.082

weighted super matrix to powers until it converges to give the stabilized values. The
formulated limit matrix is shown in Table VIII.
4.4.7 Computation of desirability index. The desirability index is calculated using
equation (6) (Ayag and Ozdemir, 2009):

j k

Di ⫽ 兺 兺P A
j⫽1 k⫽⫺1
j
D
kj Akj1 Sikj (6)

where Pj is the relative importance weight of criteria j; ADkj, relative importance weight
for sub-criteria k of criteria j for the dependency; Alkj, stabilized relative importance
weight for sub-criteria k of criteria j for the independency; S1kj, relative impact of weight
reduction (Alternative 1) on sub-criteria k of criteria j of product sustainability selection
network; S2kj, relative impact of parts reduction (Alternative 2) on sub-criteria k of
criteria j of product sustainability selection network; and S3kj is the relative impact of
alternate material change (Alternative 3) on sub-criteria k of criteria j of product

Criteria Sub-criteria Pj AKJD AKJ1 S1kj S2kj S3kj WER PR AMG

ECO FH 0.637 0.383 0.382 0.731 0.188 0.081 0.068 0.018 0.008
EP 0.637 0.383 0.220 0.481 0.405 0.114 0.026 0.022 0.006
PFB 0.637 0.175 0.307 0.731 0.188 0.081 0.025 0.006 0.003
TO 0.637 0.060 0.091 0.435 0.487 0.078 0.002 0.002 0.000
ENVI AR 0.258 0.565 0.273 0.637 0.258 0.105 0.025 0.010 0.004
WR 0.258 0.262 0.214 0.731 0.188 0.081 0.011 0.003 0.001
LR 0.258 0.118 0.303 0.481 0.405 0.114 0.004 0.004 0.001
MER 0.258 0.055 0.210 0.435 0.487 0.078 0.001 0.001 0.000
SOC IHR 0.105 0.425 0.341 0.637 0.258 0.105 0.010 0.004 0.002
EP 0.105 0.282 0.402 0.435 0.487 0.078 0.005 0.006 0.001
SHP 0.105 0.213 0.175 0.481 0.405 0.114 0.002 0.002 0.000
Table VIII. MSP 0.105 0.080 0.082 0.731 0.188 0.081 0.001 0.000 0.000
Limit super matrix Desirability index 0.179 0.077 0.026
sustainability selection network. Table IX shows the desirability index computed for ANP-based
various sub-criteria based on all the three criteria. sustainable
4.4.7.1 Sample calculation. The desirability index for “weight reduction” (Alternate 1)
considering the sub-criteria “financial health” is shown below:
concept
selection
⫽ 0.637 ⫻ 0.383 ⫻ 0.383 ⫻ 0.731
⫽ 0.068 131
4.4.8 Computation of PSWI. PSWI is the normalized values of the calculated total
desirability index. The final priorities of the alternatives are the PSWI values, based
upon which the final decision is to be made. The computed values of PSWI are shown in
Table IX. From the corresponding ranking of PSWI in Table VIII, it was evident that the
weight reduction is the best alternate for achieving product sustainability.

5. Results
As a standard, results of any research work need to be validated. The following sub-sections
deals with the substantiation of the outcomes of ANP approach carried out in previous
sections to empirically indicate that the use of ANP approach is effective and efficient.

5.1 Sensitivity analysis

In this section, the case study is evaluated by the change in alternative criteria data to
evaluate the model, i.e. the validity of response to parameters and conditions in which
the network model is cross-checked. In this case study, sensitivity analysis is carried out
in eight levels from no change to 35 per cent with a consecutive increment of 5 per cent
each time. The results of the sensitivity analysis are shown in Figure 4. From the
linearity of the results obtained, it is evident that a small change in relative importance
does not create any impact over the decision made.

5.2 Questionnaire-based statistical validation

To practically determine the feasibility in the selected alternative, a feedback
session was conducted in the case organization to a group of executives, and the
feedback collected is shown in Table X. The detailed statistical analysis of the
feedback of the executives and their responses were entered in Software Package for
Social Sciences. This package was used to conduct “t” test to examine the acceptance
of “improvement in product sustainability after the selection and adoption of the
alternate chosen”. The test value assigned which affirm that “90 per cent of the
executives’ opinions favored the successful improvement in product sustainability
in practice at 95 per cent confidence interval”. As the significant (two-tailed) values
are greater than 0.05, this null hypothesis was accepted. From Figure 5, it is clear

Alternate Total desirability index PSWI

WEG 0.179 0.634 Table IX.

PR 0.077 0.273 Desirability index
AMG 0.026 0.093 and PSWI for the
Total 0.283 1.000 alternates
JM2
10,1

132

Figure 4.
Results of sensitivity
analysis

Sl. No Questions E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 Mean responses

1 To what extent do you believe that selected 10 9 8 7 8 8.4

alternate could enable product sustainability?
2 To what level do you believe that the selected 8 7 9 8 10 8.4
alternate will in help in improving the
sustainability of your organization?
Table X. 3 To what extent do you believe that the ANP 10 9 8 9 8 8.8
Responses of the approach used could guide the modern managers
executives to derive sustainable design and decisions?

that this validation study indicates the feasibility of improvement in product

sustainability after the selection and adoption of the alternative chosen with a
success rate of 90 per cent in practice. The contemporary mangers also accepted the
usage of ANP approach as an effective MCDM tool with respect to selection of best
alternate for achieving product sustainability.
Based on the sensitivity analysis and questionnaire-based statistical validation, it is
evident that the ANP approach is found to be practically feasible in real-time industrial
scenario for effective concept selection to achieve product sustainability.

6. Conclusions and future research directions

Sustainability issues are nowadays viewed with great attention among government,
consumers and corporations around the world. To facilitate the active manufacturers in the
task of transformation to sustainability, the concept selection for this changeover becomes
vital. In this study, ANP approach was used for the selection of the best suitable alternate
concept in achieving product sustainability. Based on the calculation of PSWI, it was found
that the alternate “weight reduction” was better in comparison with other two alternates.
Although ANP is time-consuming and involves intensive computations in case of complex
problems with huge number of criteria and clusters, ANP provides better solutions
compared to other MCDM techniques as interdependencies are being taken into account
(Chen and Chen, 2010). As there prevailed, a need for strategic decision over the selection of
alternate concept for attaining product sustainability, the use of ANP approach was
 One-Sample Statistics ANP-based
N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean sustainable
E1 3 9.3333 1.15470 0.66667 concept
E2 3 8.3333 1.15470 0.66667 selection
E3 3 8.6667 0.57735 0.33333
E4 3 8.0000 1.00000 0.57735
133
E5 3 8.6667 1.15470 0.66667
One-Sample Test

Test Value = 9

95% Confidence Interval of the

Mean Difference

t df Sig. (2-tailed) Difference Lower Upper

E1 0.500 2 0.667 0.33333 −2.5351 3.2018

E2 −1.000 2 0.423 −0.66667 −3.5351 2.2018
E3 −1.000 2 0.423 −0.33333 −1.7676 1.1009 Figure 5.
E4 −1.732 2 0.225 −1.00000 −3.4841 1.4841 Results of statistical
E5 −0.500 2 0.667 −0.33333 −3.2018 2.5351
validation

rationalized by making a valuable decision. This study also made a first of its kind using
ANP for alternate concept selection in making the product sustainable. The study reported
in this article has been validated using two approaches, and its practical feasibility in
implementation is proved by the contemporary mangers in decision-making. Because of
impreciseness and vagueness on the choice of stakeholders and impreciseness to capture the
judgments of stakeholders of conventional ANP, it can be integrated with tools which can
overcome this ambiguity.
The methodology for sustainable concept selection proposed in this study
enables the contemporary managers to scientifically select the best alternative
among the available group of alternatives. Besides the selection of best alternatives,
the approach will enable the managers to understand the various levels of
interactions prevailing in the organization. This helps the practicing managers to
completely understand the prevailing situation in economic, social and
environmental orientations. In this context, modern managers need to be equipped
with these kinds of scientific approaches to clearly understand the position of
organization before taking a decision. The approach has practical feasibility and
enables the formulation of sustainable concept selection as a typical MCDM
problem, studying the hierarchy and the interactions between the sub-criteria and
selecting the best alternative. This will provide an additional skill set to the modern
managers to be responsive to the dynamic market changes.
The current study can also be extended by further breaking down the criteria or
cluster for more precise decision-making and developing the model with additional
sustainable concept alternates for quite a number of products and validating their
results. In future, fuzzy set theory can also be infused to tackle vagueness and
uncertainty. Also, exclusive decision/expert support system can be developed to reduce
time consumption and also to equip with historical data.
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About the authors

Jayakrishna K. is working as Junior Research Fellow at National Institute of Technology,
Tiruchirappalli (NIT-T), India. He is also currently pursuing his PhD in the area of Sustainable
Manufacturing. He has published papers in peer-reviewed national and international journals and has
presented many papers at international conferences. His current research interests include Sustainable
Manufacturing, Lean Manufacturing, Agile Manufacturing, Remanufacturing and Rapid Prototyping.
Vimal K.E.K. is a research scholar in the department of Production Engineering at NIT-T, India. He
received his MTech in Industrial Engineering from NIT-T and BE from P.S.G. College of Technology,
Coimbatore, India. His area of research interests include Sustainable Manufacturing and Lean
Manufacturing.
Sekar Vinodh is an Assistant Professor in Production Engineering Department of NIT-T, Tamil
Nadu. He completed his PhD from P.S.G. College of Technology, Coimbatore. He has been awarded
Highly Commended Paper Award and Outstanding Paper Award by Emerald Publishers, UK, for the
year 2009 and 2011. He is the recipient of Institution of Engineers (India) Young Engineer Award for
the year 2013-14. He has published over 50 papers in International Journals and 60 papers in
proceedings of the leading national and international conferences. His research interests include Agile
Manufacturing, Lean Production and Sustainable Manufacturing, Total Quality Management and
MCDM. Sekar Vinodh is the corresponding author and can be contacted at:
vinodh_sekar82@yahoo.com

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