Attribute based specification, comparison and selection of electroplating system using MADM approach

The problem of electroplating selection has been of concern to users for many years. The selection process is becoming more and more difficult due to the availability of large variety of electroplating configurations and manufacturing plants/products. The methods proposed so far consider only physical parameters (thickness, hardness, adhesion, etc.). In order to have precise information about the selection process, the performance of electroplating plays a vital role. The objective of this paper is to propose a methodology by which selection of electroplating product/plant can be made easy. This selection procedure will help the user to select the system most suited for his operational needs. Moreover, the paper discusses how the electroplating suppliers, designers and maintenance personnel will also be benefited. The identification and codification of attributes based on n-digit alpha numeric code is presented here. The 3 stage selection procedure allows rapid convergence from a very large number of options to manageable shortlist of potentially suitable electroplating option using 'elimination search' based on a few pertinent attributes. Then the selection procedure ranks them by employing a multiple attributes decision making (MADM) method using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach. It helps the decision maker(s) to organize the problem to be solved, and carry out analysis, comparisons and ranking of the alternatives. Magnitudes of different attributes are used to generate parameters of the hypothetical ideal electroplating, with all the candidate electroplating compared and ranked. This ranking gives the best available electroplating for particular application. The methodology is presented with the help of illustrated example of gold plating, which shows that it can benefit the designers, users or manufacturers. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.