A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Model Based on Fuzzy Logic and AHP for the Selection of Digital Technologies

The presence of Industry 4.0 national plans and the ever-increasing international competition are forcing companies to embark on digitalization projects of their industrial plants. Time and money, however, are a constraint and, in addition to that, there is a considerable lack of works in the academic literature with regards to specific models for the selection of digital technologies. Starting from our methodological framework, we developed a multi-criteria decision-making model for the digitalization of industrial plants. The model is based on both Fuzzy Logic and AHP and is combined with an existing hierarchical classification of digital technologies in an attempt to highlight the advantage of adopting similar and easily interconnectable technologies. Finally, the model is applied to a simple case study to test its validity.

Automated summary

The increasing international competition and the presence of Industry 4.0 national plans are driving companies to embark on digitalization projects for their industrial plants. However, there is a considerable lack of specific models for the selection of digital technologies in academic literature. Therefore, researchers have developed a multi-criteria decision-making model based on Fuzzy Logic and AHP, combined with an existing hierarchical classification of digital technologies, to test its practical validity.