An integrated fuzzy multi criteria group decision making model for handling equipment selection

The problem of handling equipment selection plays a significant role in the total cost of a mining project; so that it can affect the activity and continuity of the project and is a strategic problem. In this study, an integrated model based on two fuzzy multi-criteria decision making techniques for handling equipment selection is proposed. The proposed evaluation model is derived from group decision making, fuzzy set theory, analytical hierarchy process (AHP), and Technique to Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methods. The fuzzy AHP (FAHP) method is utilized to calculate the relative importance of the evaluation criteria, then, fuzzy TOPSIS (FTOPSIS) is applied for evaluating the feasible handling equipment in order to select the best handling system among a pool of the possible alternatives. The model is applied for a real world case study to demonstrate the capability and effectiveness of the proposed model. To investigate the result sensitiveness to the changes of the criteria weights, a sensitivity analysis is finally conducted.