Fuzzy ranking for concept evaluation in configuration design for mass customization

Aiming at configuration design for mass customization, this paper develops a fuzzy ranking methodology for concept evaluation. The fuzzy preference relation is applied to modeling the fuzziness on the level of a single criterion as well as on a global level. The ranking approach integrates linguistic terms and fuzzy numbers into the fuzzy preference model so as to characterize both intangible and tangible criteria. In addition, the information content is employed to synchronize diverse measures of design criteria into a common metric and connect customer satisfaction to the technical capabilities of a design. Moreover, the fuzzy line segment is employed to fuzzify the crisp measurements of tangible criteria in order to be compatible with the universe of discourse defined for the intangible criteria. Furthermore, a more rigorous procedure for determining subjective customer preferences, Saaty's analytic hierarchy process, is applied to the fuzzy analysis.