A Review On Decision-Making Methods in Engineering Design For The Automotive Industry
A Review On Decision-Making Methods in Engineering Design For The Automotive Industry
A Review On Decision-Making Methods in Engineering Design For The Automotive Industry
To cite this article: Cristina Renzi, Francesco Leali & Luca Di Angelo (2017): A review on
decision-making methods in engineering design for the automotive industry, Journal of
Engineering Design, DOI: 10.1080/09544828.2016.1274720
Download by: [University of South Carolina ] Date: 09 January 2017, At: 10:51
JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING DESIGN, 2017
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09544828.2016.1274720
Abbreviations
Name Acronym
Analytic Hierarchy Process AHP
Analytic Network Process ANP
Axiomatic Design AD
Bayesian Belief Network BBN
Conjoint analysis CA
Decision-making Problem-Solving Methods DPS
ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité ELECTRE
Goal Programming GP
Method of Imprecision MoI
1. Introduction
A decision generally implies the selection of a proposal, aiming at recognising the one that
best fits with goals, objectives, desires, and values. Decision-making methods study how to
identify and choose alternatives (Harris 1998).
1.1. Background
Engineering design can be conceived as a complex process made of a series of decisions (i.e.
‘either–or’) and compromises (a trade-off) (Rajan 1996; Allen and Mistree 1997). The existing
related literature proved that decision-making methods could be very useful in engineering
design (Krishnamurty 2006; Chen, Hoyle, and Wassenaar 2013). Conversely, investigations
demonstrate that designers are seldom motivated to use decision-making methods in their
daily routine and prefer tested procedures and experience-based approaches (Earl, John-
son, and Eckert 2005). This aspect is particularly critical in the automotive industry in which
numerous high-quality parts, intended for mass production, must be designed in a short
time. One of the main reasons is that most decision-making methods have to be adapted
to fit specific design problems. Designers have to tackle a huge amount of literature ref-
erences in order to find, by analogy, the technique that best fits their needs. Moreover,
knowledge transfer to the industrial context often requires a deep transformation of com-
panies’ practices and habits (Reich 2010), with high cost in terms of time consumption,
knowledge required, human resources, and technologies involved in their implementation
(Jetter 2006).
1.2. Motivation
Based on the personal experience of the authors with regard to their approach to the
automotive industry, a further problem consists in the reluctance to introduce new tech-
niques and approaches in the industry standards, particularly without a clear overview
of the actual impact of such techniques on the final product success rate. On the other
JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING DESIGN 3
hand, researchers who approach design issues should be aware that teaching design
methods to practitioners is a challenging task as it is not a mere transfer of simple facts
(Jänsch et al. 2003). Conversely, efforts must be addressed to embed methods into design-
ers’ memories. Although different literature reviews focus on decision-making methods
related to industrial case studies within the engineering design field, several decision-
making methods remain largely unexplored in the industry (Franssen 2005). Moreover,
the boundaries between design theory and scientific methods do not appear to be accu-
rately defined yet (Reich 2013). With this purpose, the present review aims at providing a
common background for designers, focused on the selection of decision-making methods
for automotive industry design problems. To do this, the paper, firstly, proposes a clas-
sification of the most commonly used decision-making methods in engineering design;
then it matches the design techniques to typical design problems for every step of a
systematic engineering design process; finally, it maps applications into the automotive
industry.
1.3. Structure
The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 describes the method followed throughout the
review process. It defines the engineering design scenario of the investigation, groups and
classifies the most commonly used decision-making methods into the design process, and
clarifies the initial terms for the search for references in the literature. Section 3 presents
the results obtained, with a special focus on the automotive field of application. Results are
discussed in Section 4. Conclusions drawn in Section 5 close the paper.
such as the ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité (ELECTRE), the Analytic Hierarchy Process
(AHP), the Analytic Network Process (ANP), the Preference Ranking Organisation METHod for
Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE), and the VIKOR method. Goal Programming (GP) and
Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) belong to the MODM
techniques.
The PSM focus on the solution of decision problems that deal with ill-posed problems
and uncertain contexts (Rosenhead 1989; Rosenhead and Mingers 2001). Belton and Stew-
art (2002) define the problem structuring process as one of ‘making sense of an issue’ and
identifying the problem structuring as an integrated part of the process of MCDM. The only
method used in the industrial design applications gathered under the PSM group is the Soft
systems methodology (SSM).
The DPS methods have been defined in this paper as a group of decision-making methods
addressing engineering design problems, related to the early design stages. They are the
Quality Function Deployment (QFD), the Axiomatic Design (AD) method (Suh 1998), the TRIZ
method (Altshuller 1999), and Pugh’s Controlled Convergence (PuCC) (Pugh 1981). Even if the
structure and behaviour of these techniques differ from one another, a common focus on
problem-solving gives us the opportunity to gather them in the same set. A further clas-
sification can group the above-mentioned methods into three classes, according to the
function performed by each method. As a general guideline:
• QFD and AD aim at transforming customer requirements (CRs) into product specifica-
tions;
• TRIZ is used either as a problem-solving method or for generating design alternatives;
• PuCC is used for the generation and selection of design alternatives.
Table 1 presents the keywords derived by the analysis of the proposed classification and
a short description of each method.
Other methods, such as the MoI, the CA, the BBN, and the Fuzzy Sets theory, which do not
belong to the set of MCDM, are sometimes used in combination with, or in place of, them in
order to solve specific problems. In particular, MoI has been used to represent uncertainty in
decision-making in place of MAUT. As specified in Otto and Antonsson 1993, in the eventu-
ality of zero preference attributes (e.g. stress limits or maximum allowed cost), MoI performs
a trade-off on the attribute levels, avoiding a zero performance. Thus, in this specific case,
it is more appropriate than the utility theory. CA is used for the quantification of customer
needs and the estimation of market response (Kohli et al. 2006). Nevertheless, some exten-
sions of the CA methodology have been provided in the literature, to include costs and
technical constraints related to the material selection and the manufacturing process. The
BBN is based on a stochastic approach, in which each design variable has a probability dis-
tribution function (PDF), so that any deviation from the peak provides a reduction in the
design success (Matthews 2006). The BBN is used in the early design phases, to better cap-
ture the imprecision and stochastic nature of the early design problems. A further method,
which is often combined with the MCDM methods, is the Fuzzy Sets theory. Fuzzy logic
mimics the human mind behaviour by employing approximate modes of reasoning (Renzi
et al. 2014). Moreover, fuzzy logic allows for imprecise concept dependencies, by includ-
ing imprecision on membership. Therefore, fuzzy logic allows to include imprecision in the
input data and thresholds in the design model.
6 C. RENZI ET AL.
Table 2. Design activities related to the phases of the design process according to Pahl and Beitz (1996).
Design phases Design activities Design problems Design keywords
Planning Clarify the task and build Collection and management Uncertain data in
out the specification and of data and information in planning
requirements uncertain contexts
Specification of product Product requirements
technical requirements
Translation of customers’ needs Customers’ needs
into specifications for the (translation)
product
Conceptual Abstract the task to identify the Description of the decision- Decision-maker
essential problem maker preferences preferences
Establish the functional Generation of design Design alternatives
structures alternatives generation
Search for solution principles
Combine the solution
principles with concept
variants
Evaluate concept variants using Selection of design alternatives Design alternatives
technical and economic selection
criteria
Embodiment Develop a definitive layout and Definition of the complete Product performance
check that the requirements architecture of product
are met assembly
Evaluation of product
performance
Preparation of product design
documentation
Detail Select alternatives according Selection of material Material selection
to the physical realisation of
the product
Selection of industrial process Industrial process or
and equipment equipment selection
Final optimisation of
components and assembly
Release of the design
documentation
Typical design activities are then identified for every phase, and the most important
design problems are extracted by every activity (Table 2). In Table 2, also a first significant
set of keywords, derived by the analysis of the design problems, is reported. In particular,
for the planning phase, keywords are essentially related to the ways in which uncertainty is
managed within the early design problems. In the conceptual design phase, the keywords
are related to the preference description for the selection of design alternatives. The key-
words related to the embodiment design phase claim the search for a compromise solution
and the evaluation of the performance of the whole product design. Finally, in the detail
design, keywords are related to the selection of the most suitable material or the industrial
equipment or the best manufacturing process.
design problem has been correlated to decision-making methods. In particular, in the Sco-
pus database, the keywords ‘automotive’, ‘car’, and ‘vehicle’ have been used, together with
each of the keywords related to the decision-making methods as defined in Table 1. The
papers found were grouped on the basis of the design keywords and, wherever needed,
the design problem, as defined in Section 2.2. If some papers fall into more than one design
problem keyword, the earliest design stage showed in the Pahl and Beitz (1996) is selected.
This avoids any duplication in the classification scheme.
Table 3 reports the results of this phase in terms of design keywords, design problem or
case study, and the decision-making methods used. In particular, in Table 3 only the prob-
lems related to the automotive design for which at least two papers are found have been
reported. Therefore, the contributions related to the automotive engineering design, con-
cerning the keywords ‘decision-maker preferences’, ‘design alternative generations’, and
‘product performance’, have not been considered.
Table 3. Continued.
Reference Design problem Methods
Patidar (2010) Automotive HVAC system QFD + TRIZ
Subic et al. (2008) Car seat assembly QFD
Yang, Ong, and Nee (2013) Automobile remanufacturing QFD
industry
Automotive design Behzadian, Samizadeh, and Automotive part AHP-PROMETHEE
problem related to Nazemi (2010)
customer needs
Björnfot and Bakken (2013) Car interior design QFD
Hoyle and Chen (2007) Automotive manifold absolute QFD + PUGH
pressure sensor
Hoyle and Chen (2009) Automotive manifold absolute QFD + PUGH
pressure sensor
Li and Wu (2011) Variety of customer needs in QFD + CA
market automotive industry
Nahm (2013a) Car door design problem QFD
Nahm (2013b) Car door design problem QFD
Nahm, Ishikawa, and Inoue Car door design problem QFD
(2013)
Nepal, Yadav, and Johnson Case example from the automotive Fuzzy-AHP
(2014) industry (CS)
Sharif Ullah et al. (2016) Determination of a car’s external Fuzzy-QFD + TRIZ
shape
Yang, Ong, and Nee (2013) Integration of automotive Fuzzy-QFD
remanufacturing design in the
initial design stage
Automotive design Borjesson, Fancher, and Selection of standard original QFD + MAUT
problem related to Sellgren (2014) equipment manufacturer
design alternative engines
selection
Cagno and Trucco (2007) Design of an engine oil filter QFD
Koganti et al. (2007) Case study involving car front-end AHP
component design.
Shi and Mocko (2013) Car seat design AD
Vinodh, Kamala, and Automotive component design QFD + TRIZ + AHP
Jayakrishna (2014) selection
Xu, Moon, and Baek (2012) Selection of a transmission case in AHP
a Korean automotive industry
Yang, Ong, and Nee (2016) Three different alternator designs Fuzzy-TOPSIS
Automotive design Ahmed Ali et al. (2015) Composite material selection for AHP
problem related to automotive components
material selection
Al-Oqla et al. (2016) Natural fibres reinforced polymer AHP
composite materials for a
sustainable automotive industry
Chandrasekar, Raja, and Composite material selection for Fuzzy-AHP
Marimuthu (2014) an automobile torsion bar
Davoodi et al. (2011) Material selection for a car bumper TOPSIS
beam
Hambali et al. (2009) Polymeric composite automotive AHP
bumper beam
Hambali et al. (2010) Polymeric composite automotive AHP
bumper beam
Ilangkumaran et al. (2013) Material selection for an Fuzzy-
automobile damper AHP + PROMETHEE
Kazemi, Homayouni, and Automobile interior design (Iranian Fuzzy-Delphi AHP
Jahangiri (2015) firm for car dashboard design)
Maity and Chakraborty Bearing material selection PROMETHEE
(2013)
(continued).
10 C. RENZI ET AL.
Table 3. Continued.
Reference Design problem Methods
Mansor et al. (2013) Kenaf fibre polymer composite AHP + TRIZ
automotive parking brake lever
Mansor et al. (2014a) Kenaf fibre polymer composite AHP + TRIZ
automotive parking brake lever
Mansor et al. (2014b) Hybrid biocomposites thermoset TOPSIS
matrix for automotive bumper
beam application using the
TOPSIS method
Mayyas et al. (2011) Material selection of body in white AHP + QFD
Mayyas and Omar (2012) Eco-material selection assisted AHP + QFD
with decision-making tools
Mustafa et al. (2014) Materials selection for eco-aware PUGH
lightweight friction material
Peng and Xiao (2013) Journal bearing material selection ANP + PROMETHEE
Sapuan et al. (2011) Composites material selection AHP + TRIZ
using AHP for automotive brake
lever design
Waigaonkar, Babu, and Resin selection in rotational TOPSIS
Prabhakaran (2008) moulding (a rotationally
moulded automotive fuel tank)
Yang et al. (2015) An engine block and an intake Fuzzy-TOPSIS
manifold material selection for
remanufacturing
Automotive design Fernandes et al. (2008) Selecting the most suitable QFD + PUGH
problem related to technology to join metal pieces
process selection in a car manufacturer company.
Hambali et al. (2009) Composite manufacturing process Fuzzy-AHP
selection for a car bumper beam
Hou, Wen, and Han (2008) Welding system for producing the AD
handle of a motorcycle
Monitto, Pappalardo, and Automated Manufacturing System Fuzzy-AHP
Tolio (2002) selection for an automotive gear
lever
Park and Lee (2007) Digital laser welding system for TOPSIS
automobile side panels
Perçin and Min (2013) Machine selection in a Turkish steel Fuzzy-QFD + GP
automobile part manufacturer
Rahim and Maidin (2014) Assessing the factors which AHP
mostly influence additive
manufacturing.
Srinivasan et al. (2014) Ooptimal machining process for AHP
engraving operation on a gear
face in an automobile industry
Townsend and Urbanic AHP is applied to select between AHP
(2012) fused deposition modelling
and CNC machining for
manufacturing a V6 engine
section sand casting pattern
Note: CNC, computer numerical control.
11
12 C. RENZI ET AL.
In order to overcome these limitations, three modified versions of QFD are proposed in the
same number of papers.
MoI + fuzzy-QFD. Chen and Ngai (2008) proposed a novel fuzzy QFD in which fuzzy set
theory is used to quantify the design uncertainty that is associated with engineering charac-
teristics (ECs). Instead of the commonly used weighted sum approach to the optimisation
of QFD parameters, a more generalised synthesis strategy – MoI – is used to synthesise
multiple ECs to derive overall CS.
FUZZY-QFD. In order to solve the key problem of how to determine the importance of
different technical characteristics to best fulfil CRs in the early stage of product design,
Guo, Hu, and Zhao (2010) proposed a modified version of QFD. The α-cuts fuzzy weighted
method was used to calculate the importance of technical characteristics. These are ordered
by the values obtained by the averaging level cuts de-fuzzification method.
JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING DESIGN 13
QFD + AHP. Wei, Juan-Li, and Xiao-Tun (2010) proposed a modified version of the QFD
model to incorporate product concept alternatives. The AHP method is used to determine
the relative weights of CRs in the House of Quality. The innovative aspect of the presented
methodology is in the evaluation of new product alternatives by using rough numbers.
QFD + ANP. In Pang, Liu, and Liu (2012), an integrated approach for translating CRs into
technical requirements is proposed with an application of engineering machinery engines
selection. In this approach, ANP is used to assign priorities to CRs by means of weights, while
the House of Quality in QFD is used for selecting alternatives.
QFD + TRIZ + Pugh. In Patidaar 2010, a Six Sigma methodology is applied to the design
of an automotive Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning system. In this context, QFD
and TRIZ are used, as well as the Pugh matrix, for considering product requirements, and
generating and selecting suitable design solutions.
AHP + TRIZ. A conceptual design selection by means of an AHP method has been pro-
posed by Mansor et al. (2013) for the selection of the most suitable reinforced polymer
composite material for an automotive brake lever. The search is refined in a successive
study by Mansor et al. (2014a), in which TRIZ, morphological charts, and AHP are applied.
In this context, TRIZ is used for generating design alternatives to provide an effective
systematic approach for identifying novel conceptual products and opportunities. As in
Sapuan et al. (2011), in Ahmed Ali et al. (2015), AHP is applied for the selection of the
proper composite fibre for an automotive brake lever. TRIZ is applied to generate design
alternatives.
TOPSIS. Mansor et al. (2014b) used the TOPSIS method for selecting optimal materials for
an automotive bumper beam.
AHP + QFD. Mayyas et al. (2011) compared two methods for the selection of materials
for the body in white, namely AHP and QFD. Comparative results show the superiority of
QFD in including the customer needs in the analysis. Besides, unlike AHP, in QFD no scal-
ing is defined, to judge criteria and alternatives. Hence, the scaling can be subjective. This
drawback can be overcome by adopting a (1–10) scale like the one adopted in the AHP
method.
PUGH method is applied in Mustafa et al. (2014) for the selection of the most suitable
eco-aware friction material for car components as brake pads.
ANP + PROMETHEE. In Peng and Xiao (2013), the material selection for journal bearings
is performed by means of combined ANP and PROMETHEE methods. ANP is used to elim-
inate interdependencies among the attributes, and to determine the attribute weights.
The outranking methods such as PROMETHEE, which is used here to rank alternatives, and
ELECTRE avoid compensation effects that are typical of value measurement methods. In
this paper, the PROMETHEE method is chosen in place of ELECTRE due to its minor com-
putational requirement and because it offers more preference functions to select. In this
paper, a significant comparison between MADM methods and the Ashby charts (Ashby
and Cebon 1993) for material selection is proposed. MADM approaches are said to be more
advantageous because there is no need to know any physical relations of material prop-
erties for their application, and the ranking of alternatives can be performed regardless
of the number of attributes associated with them. Moreover, MADM approaches require
minor computational time. Besides, verbal judgements can be considered by means of
fuzzy techniques.
FUZZY-TOPSIS. In Yang et al. (forthcoming), Fuzzy-TOPSIS is adopted to evaluate the
performance of the candidate materials for the design of an engine block and an intake
manifold, according to re-manufacturability criteria.
FUZZY-AHP. In Monitto, Pappalardo, and Tolio (2002), the most suitable automated
manufacturing system selection for an automotive gear lever is performed by means of
FUZZY-AHP. In this context, the fuzzy set theory is used both for managing uncertainty
and to handle productivity/flexibility issues. In Hambali et al. (2009), FUZZY-AHP is used
for selecting the most suitable composite manufacturing process for manufacturing auto-
motive bumper beams. The application of AHP is carried out by means of the Expert Choice
software.
AD. Axiomatic design seems to be adopted in complex design contexts, as in Hou, Wen,
and Han (2008), in which an integrated assembly and welding system for producing the
handle of a motorcycle has been proposed. The application of AD leads to an increase in the
system quality and efficiency, together with a significant reduction in design complexity.
TOPSIS. In Park and Lee (2007), TOPSIS is used to evaluate the optimal assembly laser
welding system for an automobile side panel. In this context, TOPSIS is revealed to be useful
as a process equipment selection technique in which product requirements and capabilities
have been compared to find the most suitable welding technique in each sub-assembly.
QFD, fuzzy linear regression, and zero-one GP. In Perçin and Min (2013), a combined QFD,
fuzzy linear regression, and Zero-one GP is used for machine selection purposes, in a Turk-
ish steel automobile parts manufacturer. While QFD addresses the problems related to the
inclusion of customer needs and technical requirements, fuzzy linear regression is used to
handle imprecise or unclear causal relationships. Finally, the selection technique adopted
is a Zero-one GP.
AHP. In Srinivasan et al. (2014), AHP is used to select a suitable machining process to
perform an engraving operation on a gear face. Alternative processes are Laser Beam
Machining (LBM), Ultrasonic Machining (USM), Electric Discharge Machining (EDM), Elec-
trochemical Machining (ECM), and Electron Beam Machining (EBM). Five criteria are used,
namely: material removal rate (MRR), surface finish, depth damage, tolerance, and toxic-
ity. In Rahim and Maidin (2014), an AHP-based framework for assessing the factors which
mostly influence additive manufacturing is proposed.
• AHP and vector matrix algebra, to help select the most suitable ECs;
• FMEA, to include quality control;
• Design constraints, for analysing the feasibility of a design solution; and
• Translation of needs into product requirements, starting from the very early stage of the
Voice of the Customer.
Other methods are used to generate (AD) or select (ANP and TOPSIS) design alternatives.
GP is used to include cost and quality optimisation.
Customer needs design problems are tackled mainly by means of QFD, often combined
with other methods, such as:
Conceptual design alternatives are selected mainly by means of AHP and QFD. Other
methods are combined to cover specific aspects. For example, TRIZ or AD is used to gener-
ate design alternatives or to overcome design conflicts, QFD for evaluating purposes, and
AHP or TOPSIS for selecting them.
Most of the contributions to the solution of the material selection problem in automotive
design are dedicated to the selection of the most suitable material for a specific application.
Hence, as expected, selection methods are mainly used for this purpose. In particular, AHP is
widely adopted as a selection method, alone or combined with TRIZ, for generating alterna-
tives. A combination of AHP and QFD has been found, aimed at overcoming the drawback
of a subjective scale in QFD. Another combination is related to FUZZY-AHP (or sometimes
ANP) and PROMETHEE. The former is applied to find criteria weights, while PROMETHEE II is
used as a ranking method for selecting material. In the case of interdependencies among
the attributes, and to determine the attribute weights, ANP is used in the place of AHP.
TOPSIS (or FUZZY-TOPSIS) is used as a material selection method, as well.
As for manufacturing process selection, again, AHP is mostly used, alone or combined
with fuzzy sets. Examples of applications of TOPSIS and GP as selection methods are pro-
vided. Before the selection phases, QFD is used to address problems related to the inclusion
of customer needs and technical requirements.
20 C. RENZI ET AL.
5. Conclusions
The present review aims at providing a common background for designers focused on the
selection of decision support methods for automotive industry design problems. Although
the correlation between design problems and decision-making methods has already been
discussed in the literature, a solid demonstration of it is not trivial to find. With this purpose,
the paper firstly proposed a classification of the most commonly used decision-making
methods in engineering, extending former reviews. Even if most of the mentioned methods
are well known to decision-making scholars, such classification recalls the DPS methods in
addition to the well-known MCDM and PSM methods. DPS methods are characterised by
addressing engineering design problems related to the very early design stages.
Then, the review matches the design techniques to the typical design phases of a sys-
tematic engineering design process and maps their application to the automotive industry.
In analysing the papers, some difficulties arose in the effort to report precise guidelines
for the designer, in the use of decision-making methods in the automotive design field. This
is especially due to the following:
(1) Often the conclusions of the authors are not objectified by a comparison with other
methods. Hence it is difficult to define clear guidelines for the method. Sometimes it is
possible to define the drawbacks and the advantages of the specific method adopted
in relation to another, similar, method.
(2) The proposed methodologies are applied with illustrative examples in which complex
design cases are streamlined in a simpler model to be analysed (e.g. diesel engine (Wei,
Juan-Li, and Xiao-Tun 2010)). From the authors’ viewpoint, complex design problems
need to be tackled in a more structured way, by means of more than one decision-
making method. This is revealed also by several authors who use more than one
method (in cascade or concurrently), in order to properly find a suitable solution for
their problem (Table 3).
However, the analysis performed on the database provides several data related to the
applications of decision-making methods to specific automotive design problems. Some
advantages should be pointed out.
(1) Detailing the results of the classification into specific automotive problems provided
clear suggestions for researchers/practitioners who need to ‘quickly’ select a decision-
making method for a specific automotive design problem.
(2) The possibility to choose more than one method for a specific design problem area
seems to be a weakness of the proposed classification. If for the same problem (e.g.
managing product requirements) more than one method has the same occurrence of
use, the user can understand why one is used instead of another, as explained in Section
3. To this aim, as a further guide for researchers, in Tables 5 and 6 the role of the two
most widely used methods in the automotive design, namely AHP and QFD, has been
reported, highlighting their role in hybrid forms.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
ORCID
Cristina Renzi http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1629-0036
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