A robust evaluation of sustainability initiatives with analytic network process (ANP)

Abstract

This paper presents a methodology on evaluating sustainable manufacturing initiatives using analytic network process (ANP) as its base.The evaluation method is anchored on the comprehensive sustainable manufacturing framework proposed recently in literature. A numerical example that involves an evaluation of five sustainable manufacturing initiatives is shown in this work. Results show that sustainable manufacturing implies enhancing customer and community well-being by means of addressing environmental issues related to pollution due to toxic substances, greenhouse gas emissions and air emissions. To test the robustness of the results, two approaches are introduced in this work: (1) using Monte Carlo simulation and (2) introducing structural changes on the evaluation model. It suggests that the results are robust to random variations and to marginal changes of the network structure. The contribution of this work lies on presenting a sustainable manufacturing evaluation approach that addresses complexity and robustness in decision-making.