Assessing cloud manufacturing applications using an optimally rectified FAHP approach.

Cloud Manufacturing (CMfg) is a new manufacturing paradigm that promises to reduce costs, improve data analysis, increase efficiency and flexibility, and provide manufacturers with closer partnerships. However, most past CMfg research has focused on either the information technology infrastructure or the planning and scheduling of a hypothetical CMfg system. In addition, the cost effectiveness of a CMfg application has rarely been assessed. As a result, a manufacturer is not sure whether to adopt a CMfg application or not. To address this issue, an optimally rectified fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (OR-FAHP) approach is proposed in this study to assess a CMfg application. The OR-FAHP approach solves the inconsistency problem of the conventional FAHP method, a well-known technology assessment technique, to make the analysis results more trustable. The OR-FAHP approach has been applied to assess and compare 10 CMfg applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]