Selecting and prioritizing continuous improvement projects using fuzzy multi- criteria decision making methods

In order to maintain their existence in the globalizing world and increasingly competitive conditions, businesses need to improve their quality, cost, speed, etc. It has to constantly improve on issues and maintain its position in the market by strengthening it. For this purpose, businesses carry out improvement projects by making use of continuous improvement tools (Lean 6 Sigma, Kaizen, etc.) as they have been for years. However, the resources necessary for the realization of these projects are available. For this reason, it is necessary to select and prioritize projects with high impact levels by considering these resources. In this study, it is aimed to establish a method for the selection and prioritization of continuous improvement projects carried out in a defense industry company. For this purpose, an evaluator committee was formed, and selection and prioritization criteria were determined by taking into account the previous project statements, literature research and company targets for continuous improvement projects. The study was carried out with Analytical Hierarchy Process-AHP, Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process-FAHP, Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution -TOPSIS and Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution- FTOPSIS, which are multi-criteria decision making methods, and total scores were calculated for 10 projects taken from different departments in the project evaluation forms prepared. The ranking was made by comparing the projects within themselves according to the scores formed. 4 different methods were compared and combined with the Copeland Method, which is a common ranking methodology, and the final ranking was revealed. Afterwards, the correlation of each method with the integrated ranking was examined. It is aimed to contribute to the literature as the study deals with the evaluation of continuous improvement projects in enterprises with an analytical and logical approach.