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The change of market’s demand could be predictable to a certain degree at stable conditions but it may vary due to disruptive events. This research contributes by establishing the improvement of PFMEA (Process Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) analysis in the domain of assessment and determining severity risk factor, as well as identifying of failure priority. According to the researchers’ and practitioners’ suggestions, severity needs to be considered from the multiple aspects. The risk factor severity is considered from the aspects of product importance, quality, and cost. These aspects have different relative importance, which is determined in an exact way. The relative importance of the aspects, as well as the values of the risk factors, was described by linguistic expressions that are modeled by using the Interval type-2 trapezoidal fuzzy numbers (IT2TrFNs). IT2FBWM was used to determine weight vectors of risk factors. The priority of failures is determined according to the Action priority model which proposed by AIAG & VDA (Automotive Industry Action Group and German Association of the Automotive Industry). The proposed methodology is tested in a Case study where the real-life data originated from a company from the Republic of Serbia that operates as a part of an automotive supply chain.

This paper explains the importance of ELV recycling in the Republic of Serbia as well as the influence of the circular economy on the automotive industry. The advantages and significance of recycling of motor vehicles at the end of the life cycle, as well as the justification for the reuse of resources and the preservation of the environment, have been presented. Also, the paper presents the development of ELV recycling equipment and its importance for the entire state industry and economy.

The article deals with an innovative methodology for risk assessment concerning human, organizational and technical/technological (HOT) factors, based on fuzzy set theory. The aim of this paper is to propose user-friendly prognostic risk assessment tool (PgRA) by obtaining reliable results and supporting further decisions of the safety managers. The HOT factors are introduced with associated sub-factors. The user-friendly interface developed in Matlab environment provides multiple opportunities for further improvement. The settings presented in this article are strictly applied for, but not limited to manufacturing sector. Flexibility of the PgRA tool allows adjustments and customize model regarding the group of the companies. With introduction of fuzzy set theory in the risk assessment process, level of subjectivity is reduced to the minimum. Practical applications: Possibilities of the practical application are modeled to assist in decrease of identified risks during daily work. This is a useful visual management tool, helpful to all safety managers in planning workplace improvements. The safety managers are in position to predict risk level before the real measures are taken. They are able to show the possible realistic results and risk trend behaviour to their supervisor/director, without spending any financial resources.

The main objective of this paper is the analysis of the impact of recycling equipment in the automotive industry in terms of circular economy (CE). Also, paper point out the opportunities and benefits of applications equipment for recycling and principles of CE in the automotive industry in Serbia. Analysis of market needs and examining the existing equipment for recycling team who work on the project TR 35033 made: mobile baling press for baling shellfish and other scrap metal, a device for dispensing oil and automatic shredder for recycling cables. Application of the circular economy in the automotive industry is reflected in the remanufacturing a wide variety of components and parts (engines, water pumps, alternators etc.). The main benefits of applications equipment for recycling and CE in the automotive industry include: maximizing the utilization of resources and increasing the reuse of materials from products that have completed their "life cycle", maximizing the life of the product, reduce environmental pollution, reducing costs etc.

In the sense of contemporary industrial challenges, it may be said that many issues in the field of recycling may be analysed. In this paper, the model for choosing locations for construction of recycling centres equipped with new technology is proposed. The considered problem may be stated as a two-objective optimization problem, if the optimization criteria are presented as total distance and the overall suitability index sum. The relative importance and values of possible locations' attributes are described by pre-defined linguistic expressions, and modelled by interval triangular type-2 fuzzy numbers. Type-2 fuzzy numbers provide a possibility to incorporate the uncertainty of membership functions into the fuzzy set theory. The procedure for determination of the overall suitability index is proposed. Selection of the most appropriate locations is achieved by a two-objective genetic algorithm, since it is very suitable for the routing issues. The proposed model application is illustrated with the real-life data that come from a few regions in Serbia.

This paper mainly addresses constraints of the PFMEA for the automotive industry. In order to overcome these constraints, but to keep traditional framework of the PFMEA for automotive industry, new FSQC-PFMEA model is presented. The safety and cost aspect are integrated into traditional severity index. Therefore, for this purpose, three new indices are invented – safe-ty severity index ; quality severity index and cost severity index. For both safety severity index and cost severity index, new tables with crisp values belong to the interval (1-10) were invented. While for quality severity index was kept traditional severity table for the automotive industry. The relative importance of these three indices is stated by the fuzzy pair-wise comparison matrix. The weights vector are calculated by applying the extent analyses. At last, new proposed model - FSQC-PFMEA is tested by real- life data which come from one automotive company supplier and compared with traditional way in the case study. Chosen company use IATF 16949 standard for automotive industry and reference manual presented by Automotive Industry Agency Group (AIAG). Therefore, use of the PFMEA is obligated in this company.

The Performance improvement that leads to an increase in business efficiency, both for the enterprises integrated in the supply chain and the entire supply chain, represents one of the basic strategic management problems. A solution to this problem, among other things, can be obtained by measuring and improving the performance of the supply chain, which simultaneously represents the basic purpose of this research study. The relative importance of performances and the values of their key performance indices are assessed by decision-makers. Their assessments are described by linguistic variables, which are modelled by interval fuzzy numbers type-2. The relative importance of performance is obtained by defining the fuzzy matrix of the relative importance of each pair of performances. The weight values of performances are calculated by means of the eigenvector method. Performance values are calculated by using the fuzzy middle-value operator. The rank of the enterprises, with respect to all of the considered performances as well as their weights, is determined by applying conventional TOPSIS. The ranking of the enterprises integrated in the supply chain can be marked as the main result of the research. On the basis of the obtained rank, appropriate measures can be taken to improve the performance of those enterprises that are rated the worst by respecting all the observed performances. The proposed model has been tested on the real life data from the automotive supply chain operating in Central Serbia.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the vulnerability of projects implemented in enterprises. The paper focuses on the issue of vulnerability assessment in the planning stages of a project, before its realization. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the realization of the project has been analyzed through the phases of delivery, and the fuzzy approach has been deployed for mathematical modeling of uncertainties. An appropriate expert and management team has assessed the variables of the project’s vulnerability by using linguistic expressions, as this way of assessment is close to the human way of thinking. The model of project’s vulnerability assessment has been verified on real life data by means of an illustrative example. Findings A very significant part of business operations in enterprises all over the world is realized through the practice of project management. In daily business practice, project activities may be exposed to different risk sources. These risks may be studied from different perspectives, but without reevaluation, risk sources increase the vulnerability of projects as well as of the whole enterprise. Originality/value The results of the analysis of the obtained data gives good direction to future research in the scope of vulnerability management in the enterprises oriented to long-term sustainability.

Traditionally, in the automotive industry, the risk posed by failures in manufacturing is based on the conventional process failure mode and effect analysis. The market changes, as well as limited financial resources dedicated to business improvement, induce the need for employment of advanced management tools. The rating of failures is derived from the research using the suggested fuzzy classification method based on the Pareto analysis. It is assumed that the classification criterion should be determined as the product of the overall product choice and the risk priority numbers given by applying the traditional process failure mode and effect analysis. All the uncertainties that exist in the problem under consideration are represented by linguistic expressions that are modeled on the interval type-2 triangular fuzzy numbers. The overall product choice is based on a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process with interval type-2 triangular fuzzy numbers. The execution of management initiatives based on the priority of failures can result in the improvement of the manufacturing process and overall business efficiency. The proposed model is tested using real-life data from a single vehicle manufacturer operating in the Western Balkans and representing a part of a global automotive supply chain.

The “3R” (reduce, reuse and recycle) principle has been significantly employed in processing ELVs (end-of-life vehicles), particularly ELV parts and methods to promote sustainable development. Motivated by legislation such as Directive (2000/53/EC), recently, ELV problems have seriously been treated in developing countries as well. This paper analyses the impact of newly developed equipment for ELV recycling on the sustainable development of the Republic of Serbia through environmental protection, resource exploitation and socio-economic factors. Research is carried out on the national and regional level. The proposed research and analysis show the significant contribution of newly developed equipment on the sustainable development of the Republic of Serbia and the region.

The aim of this research is to propose a new fuzzy model to evaluate recycling technologies taking in account numerous criteria, as well as their relative importance. The relative importance of criteria and their values are modelled using the fuzzy set theory. Determining the criteria weights is presented as a fuzzy group decision-making problem. The rank of possible recycling technologies is obtained by applying modified fuzzy technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (FTOPSIS). A case study with real-life data which come from reverse supply chain existing in the Republic of Serbia is presented to illustrate the proposed method. In order to verify the proposed FTOPSIS, different approaches for defining fuzzy positive ideal solution (FPIS) and fuzzy negative ideal solution (FNIS) are used. The presented solution enables the ranking of recycling technologies and provides base for successful improvement of reverse supply chain management.

The aim of this research is to propose a hybrid decision-making model for evaluation and selection of quality methods whose application leads to improved reliability of manufacturing in the process industry. Evaluation of failures and determination of their priorities are based on failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA), which is a widely used framework in practice combining with triangular intuitionistic fuzzy numbers (TIFNs). The all-existing uncertainties in the relative importance of the risk factors (RFs), their values, applicability of the quality methods, as well as implementation costs are described by pre-defined linguistic terms which are modeled by the TIFNs. The selection of quality methods is stated as the rubber knapsack problem which is decomposed into subproblems with a certain number of solution elements. The solution of this problem is found by using genetic algorithm (GA). The model is verified through the case study with the real-life data originating from a significant number of organizations from one region. It is shown that the proposed model is highly suitable as a decision-making tool for improving the manufacturing process reliability in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of process industry.

The evaluation and enhancement of business processes in any organization in an uncertain environment presents one of the main requirements of ISO 9000:2008 and has a key effect on competitive advantage and long-term sustainability. The aim of this paper can be defined as the identification and discussion of some of the most important business processes of seaports and the performances of business processes and their key performance indicators (KPIs). The complexity and importance of the treated problem call for analytic methods rather than intuitive decisions. The existing decision variables of the considered problem are described by linguistic expressions which are modelled by triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs). In this paper, the modified fuzzy extended analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) is proposed. The assessment of the relative importance of each pair of performances and their key performance indicators are stated as a fuzzy group decision-making problem. By using the modified fuzzy extended analytic hierarchy process, the fuzzy rank of business processes of a seaport is obtained. The model is tested through an illustrative example with real-life data, where the obtained data suggest measures which should enhance business strategy and improve key performance indicators. The future improvement is based on benchmark and knowledge sharing.

The aim of this study was to propose a fuzzy decision-making model to evaluate customer satisfaction level which has a critical effect on the bank’s competitive advantage and its business. Value of...

In this article, a novel approach for assessment and ranking of maintenance process indicators as well as maintenance cost indicators and maintenance equipment indicators using the fuzzy sets approach and genetic algorithms is presented. Weight values of these indicators are defined using the experience of decision makers from analyzed small and medium enterprises (total number of 197 persons) and calculated using the fuzzy sets approach. In the second step, a model for ranking and optimization of maintenance performance indicators and small and medium enterprises by using genetic algorithm is presented. The presented approach enables multi-objective optimization of selected key performance indicators in the scope of optimization of maintenance performances. The value of optimization was tested on a group of small and medium enterprises which proved that improvement of maintenance performance could be more significant (or performed at the shorter period of time) if the specific key performance indicators were targeted for improvement. The presented solution could provide identification of strengths and weaknesses (comparing key performance indicators), learning from a leading organization (in prioritization of key performance indicator improvement) and improvement of maintenance performance.

The evaluation and ranking of resilience factors (RFs) in an uncertain environment has important implications for the management of any enterprise. Determining an improvement strategy of business process resilience is based on the obtained rank of RFs, and it presents a key success factor for an enterprise in dealing with crisis. The complexity and importance of the treated problem calls for analytic methods rather than intuitive decisions. The relative importance of business processes and the relative importance of RFs under each business process are stated by fuzzy pair-wise comparison matrices. The elements of these matrices are triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs). The fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) is used for determination of relative weights of existing variables. The rank of RFs is obtained by using the extent fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS). The real life application on the selection of the management team shows the practical implications in the process industry.

The technological level of equipment used by recyclers in the process of end-of-life vehicle (ELV) recycling depends mainly on the following four factors: legislation, desired economy of the process, socioeconomic characteristics of the surroundings, and the number of ELVs. ELV depollution technologies are strictly defined by the national and regional legislation, but technological processes of recycling depend mostly on the requested type of output. Due to that, we differ shredders with various capacities and dismantling centers that separate used parts to be placed on the market while the rest of material is prepared for melting process. This paper proposes the analysis of economical parameters that are important for the adoption of technologies that are applicable in Serbia and the Region from the economical and ecological aspects for the process of ELV depollution.

The market validation of any devices presents one of the most waste important tasks. There are many factors have a critical effect on market validation. These factors are defined by reverse logistic management team. In this paper, a new model for market validation of device for recycling is proposed which includes both quantitative and qualitative factors. In this paper, fuzzy pair-wise comparison matrix of the relative importance of factors is performed by reverse logistic team which use linguistic expressions. The factor weights are given by fuzzy AHP. The values of factor can be crisps and described by pre-defined linguistic expressions. All linguistic terms are modeled by triangular fuzzy numbers. The proposed model is verified through an illustrative example. The obtained results represent an input for future research which should include a good benchmark base for tested different devices which use in reverse logistic chains and their continuous improvement.

Evaluating bank performance on a yearly basis and making comparison among banks in certain time intervals provide an insight into general financial state of banks and their relative position with respect to the environment (creditors, investors, and stakeholders). The aim of this study is to propose a new fuzzy multicriteria model to evaluate banks respecting relative importance of financial performances and their values. The relative importance of each pair of financial performance groups is assessed linguistic expressions which are modeled by triangular fuzzy numbers. Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchical Process (FAHP) is applied to determine relative weights of the financial performances. In order to rank the treated banks, new model based on Fuzzy Technique for Order Performance by Similarity to Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS) is deployed. The proposed model is illustrated by an example giving real life data from 12 banks having 80% share of the Serbian market. In order to verify the proposed FTOPSIS different measures of separation are used. The presented solution enables the ranking of banks, gives an insight of bank’s state to stakeholders, and provides base for successful improvement in a field of strategy quality in bank business.

The performance evaluation of business processes in uncertain environments has important consequences for investors, stakeholders and has critical importance for the improvement of business processes, which is one of the requirements of ISO 9001. In this paper, a new fuzzy model is proposed for evaluation and improvement of process quality. The fuzzy ratings of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are stated as fuzzy pair-wise comparison matrices (by analogy to the AHP framework). By using the developed procedure, the fuzzy weights of KPIs are given. The KPI values are based on the assessment of decision makers. The developed solution, based on the genetic algorithm approach, is presented and tested on data from 53 Serbian manufacturing SMEs. The presented solution enables quality assessment of a purchasing process, the fuzzy ranking of KPIs, the selection of critical KPIs by using an exact approach, optimization and the provision of the basis for successful improvement of purchasing

The main idea of the paper is to analyse the organisational resilience potential of enterprises that may be modelled as a non-cloud enterprise or modelled from the perspective of being a cloud-based enterprise in a supply chain. In this manner, the model of an organisation is presented as a network of business processes. Organisational resilience factors RFs are assessed on the level of each business process and the overall level of organisational resilience potential is obtained for each organisation. The level of organisational resilience potential in these organisations is assessed when the enterprise is modelled, in the first place, as a non-cloud enterprise and also modelled from the perspective of being a cloud-based enterprise in a supply chain. In this way, the level of organisational resilience potential may be compared and analysed, which is a significant benchmark starting point for this research and practice domain.

Crucial part of the reduction and prevention of workplace injuries and maintaining occupational safety and health system takes risk assessment model, which appears as one of the most important. Frequent advances in all fields cause changes in risk assessment models in relation to the traditional approach. This article is focused on providing reliable assessment tool that will enable suitable and easy usage of methodology for risk evaluation in the workplaces in manufacturing small and medium enterprises. For that purpose, three groups of factors are introduced and their hierarchical structures are defined. Pre-defined linguistic expressions are used to describe relative importance of factors, sub-factors and values of sub-factors. Fuzzy set theory is used for modeling of existing uncertainties. The levels of identified risks are given by exact way, using fuzzy logic. The proposed model is tested with real-life data from manufacturing small and medium enterprises.

There are many factors that can make an organization and its business unsafe and endanger its sustainable development. Exposure of an organization to existing risks may vary and it can be studied from different perspectives, but undoubtedly increased vulnerability of an organization can lead to disaster. This paper investigates the general vulnerability of an organization and proposes a model for its assessment. The process approach has been employed to define the model of an organization, as well as the fuzzy approach for mathematical modeling of uncertainties. An assessed value of organization vulnerability is obtained by using linguistic expressions which are close to human thinking. The mathematical model of organization vulnerability is solved through fuzzy sets with input data defined by a management team. The model for vulnerability assessment is verified through an illustrative example. The obtained results represent an input for future research which should include a good benchmark base for the tested organizations and their continuous improvement.

The aim of this study is to propose a fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making approach (MCDM) to evaluate suppliers of one kind of medical device with respect to numerous criteria, simultaneously taking into account the type of each criteria and its relative importance. Two fuzzy MCDM methods are proposed for solving the treated problem. In the first step, the fuzzy pair-wise comparison matrix of the relative importance of criteria is constructed. The weight vector is calculated by using the developed procedure, and in the second step, the fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS) is applied in order to rank possible suppliers of the considered kind of medical device. The rank is obtained using the process of fuzzy number comparison. A case study with real-life data is presented to verify the proposed method.

Continuous business process improvement is a well-known strategy referred to as the “Japanese approach” to industrial production. Nowadays, it presents one of the basic requirements set by the ISO 9004:2000 standard. A new fuzzy model based on the Ishikawa diagram is proposed, whereby the rank of business losses of the main process at the manufacturing company level is determined, respecting the values of identified causes that lead to the formation of business losses, as well as their relative importance. In this article, it is assumed that the relative importance and values of causes are determined by descriptive linguistic expressions. The linguistic expressions are obtained by the fuzzy rating of a management team. The proposed algorithm determines the business losses with the highest possibility of occurrence and calculates the degrees of beliefs that some business losses are more likely to happen than the others. Real-life industrial data on small and medium companies operating in central Serbia and numerical examples are given to illustrate the method.

In order to establish adequate tools for the modern business environment, and with a need for new mechanisms with the goal of overcoming crisis and emerging disorder, the concept of organizational resilience has emerged. A high level of organizational resilience represents one of an organization's target values during a normal period of operation. In a period of crisis, the presence of resilience is even more needed; this is emphasized in the process industry because in these conditions when one process fails it may cause significant problems in other processes. The contribution of this paper is shown through a fuzzy mathematical model for assessment of organizational resilience potential in SMEs of the process industry. The model is verified through an illustrative example where obtained data suggest measures which should enhance business strategy and improve organizational resilience factors. This study forms the basis for a survey that may include a significant number of organizations from one region and future improvement based on benchmark and knowledge sharing.

There is no defined methodological approach that would rank the quality goals of a process in uncertain environments, which is one of the basic problems in process management. In this paper, the considered problem is stated as a multi-criteria decision problem. The criteria present performances which are defined by the knowledge and experience of the decision makers. The fuzzy rating weights of each pair of the considered criteria and uncertain criteria values for the defined quality goals are described by linguistic expressions which are modeled by triangular fuzzy numbers. The weights vector of criteria is calculated by the fuzzy Analytic Hierarchical Process AHP. The extension of the fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution TOPSIS is applied to rank quality goals. The proposed model is illustrated by an example.

This article presents new model of enterprises resource planning implementation planning process in manufacturing enterprises based on assessment of risk sources. This assessment was performed by applying analytic hierarchy process. Analytic hierarchy process method allows variation of relative importance of specific risk sources dependent on the section from which the risk source originates (organizational environment, technical issues, people issues, adoption process management, and external support). Survey was conducted on 85 manufacturing enterprises involved with an enterprises resource planning solution. Ranking of risk sources assessments returns most frequent risks of enterprises resource planning implementation success in manufacturing enterprises, and representative factors were isolated through factor analysis by risk source origin. Finally, results indicate that there are hidden causes of failed implementation, for example, risk source “top management training and education,” from risk origin “adoption process management.”

The evaluation and enhancement of business processes in any organization in an uncertain environment presents one of the main requirements of ISO 9000:2008, and has a key effect on competitive advantage and long-term sustainability. The aim of this paper can be defined as the identification and discussion of some of the most important business processes of seaports, and the performances of business processes and their key performance indicators (KPIs). The complexity and importance of the treated problem calls for analytic methods rather than intuitive decisions. The existing decision variables of the considered problem are described by linguistic expressions which are modelled by triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs). In this paper, the modified fuzzy extended analytic hierarchy process (MFAHP) is proposed. The assessment of the relative importance of each pair of performances and their KPIs are stated as a fuzzy group decision making problem. By using MFAHP, the fuzzy rank of business processes of a seaport is obtained. The model is verified through an illustrative example with real life data, where the obtained data suggest measures which should enhance business strategy and improve KPIs. The future improvement is based on benchmark and knowledge sharing.

Inherent safety is a proactive approach for loss or elimination of hazard values and risk management. Expansion of safety relating to process and production in a supply chain in an uncertain environment has a critical effect on the competitive advantage of each food industrial organization. In this article, the fuzzy rating weights of each pair of the considered hazards and uncertain hazard values are described by linguistic expressions modelled by triangular fuzzy numbers. The fuzzy extent approach for the synthetic extent values of the pairwise comparison for handling fuzzy analytic hierarchical process is used to calculate the weight vector. The proposed fuzzy model is arranged in a hierarchical structure, so that the output of one interference system is used as an input for the second interference step. In the first of interference steps, the total hazard value for each identified process is calculated using the fuzzy algebra rules. In the second interference step, the inherent safety index for each process is determined on the basis of total hazard value, using the IF–THEN fuzzy logic rules. It is shown that the proposed fuzzy model is highly suitable as a decision making tool for making decisions about the inherent safety index of food industrial processes.

Risk and safety management are very important issues in healthcare systems. Those are complex systems with many entities, hazards and uncertainties. In such an environment, it is very hard to introduce a system for evaluating and simulating significant hazards. In this paper, we analyzed different types of hazards in healthcare systems and we introduced a new fuzzy model for evaluating and ranking hazards. Finally, we presented a developed software solution, based on the suggested fuzzy model for evaluating and monitoring risk. risk assessment uncertainty fuzzy model software simulation occupational health and safety