A two-phase algorithm for product part change utilizing AHP and PSO

Abstract

This study presents a two-phase algorithm approach to deal with the issue of product part change, and the issue of supplier selection derived from the former. In the first step, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used on expert interview records to select the module in a product that needs to be changed with top priority. In the second step, after changing the module, the supplier selection process, including building a mathematical programming model, was initiated to select the best suppliers using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. We tried to use this method to maximize the value of product updating so as to extend the product life cycle, under the conditions of limited resource, and keeping the scope of change to a minimum. Finally, we selected a switchboard manufacturer as a case study to test the proposed algorithm. Crown Copyright (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.