Analytic hierarchy process as a decision-making tool for systematic layout planning, involving social responsibility criteria: A case study

Abstract

Layout planning is a significant business problem for companies, it involves reducing inventories, lead time and space usage, making the plant adaptable to future changes, and providing a healthy, convenient, and secure environment for employees. In convergence with these goals, decision-making becomes a vital activity to reach a reasonable choice. In this way, this study aimed to analyse the contribution of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to systematic layout planning (SLP) as a method of layout planning for company managers, involving social responsibility criteria. Firstly, a technical study was performed presenting possibilities of layouts from the tools for SLP planning. Next, the best proposal was selected using the AHP. The results show that layouts 4 and 2 are the ones that best meet the needs of the company under analysis. Already, layouts 5 and 1, because they have a very long flow of materials, have shown inferior results.