A TOPSIS-based approach for sustainable layout design: activity relation chart evaluation

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to propose an approach for assessing sustainability aspect of facility layouts. Activity relationship chart (ARC) is a widely used assistive tool for facility layout design which assesses closeness requirement among all pairs. In a typical ARC, there are six closeness ratings which may be assigned to each pair of departments. Ratings are evaluated by considering a single factor or an overall rating is provided. On the other hand, there may be more than one criterion which has to be evaluated separately and then a fair decision should be taken by considering the relative weight of factors. With this purpose in mind, ARC alternatives are evaluated on the basis of three factors which are environmental aspect, safety concerns and manufacturing efficiency factors by using TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) method. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, more than one ARC alternatives are evaluated by considering environmental, safety and manufacturing efficiency factors. Alternatives are then ranked via TOPSIS. An empirical case study is also presented to validate how effective the proposed model performs. Findings The TOPSIS method can be successfully used to choose the most sustainable ARC alternative appropriately by the help of experts. The proposed approach can be beneficial to researchers and practitioners for better understanding the ARC evaluation problem from the perspective of sustainability. Practical implications The obtained results confirm that the proposed model can assist practitioners in refining their decision processes, particularly in cases where there are many ARC alternatives to be considered. Originality/value This is the first time that this method is used in such a context. This study contributes to literature by presenting practical applications of TOPSIS in the ARC assessment field. It should be highlighted that there is no comparable research on the evaluation of ARCs using TOPSIS. Thus, this study fills the gap by providing an analytical approach in this area.