A method for evaluating environmental performance of machining systems

Abstract

Effective evaluating environmental performance of a machining system is critical for continuous environmental improvement and a long-term survival of intense competition. Manufacturers face difficulties during the environmental performance evaluating process due to vague and subjective considerations. To help enterprises economically and effectively improve environmental performance, a new method for evaluating environmental performance of a machining system is presented. In this method, a multi-criteria decision-making technique (analytical hierarchy process) is employed to set baselines for environmental performance evaluation, and a back-propagation neural network is used to express the preferences and knowledge of the decision makers about the evaluating problems. An illustrative example is used to illustrate how the assessment method may be applied and to demonstrate its applicability. © 2012 Taylor & Francis.