Application of Analytic Hierarchy Process to Select Quality Improvement for Defect Reduction Projects: A Case Study of Air Tank Manufacturer

Abstract

One of the most important phase in quality improvement for defect reduction projects is the project selection phase, almost current researchers commonly use the well-known techniques such as Pareto chart, Pareto priority index, Quality control circle method and Failure mode and effect analysis. However, some of such methods consider only one kind of selection criteria like defective rate of Pareto technique or multiple criteria consideration with the equal important weight. In the case study, the quality improvement project selection must be selected base on not only the defective rate but also severity, possibility, and failure cost aspects. Therefore, this paper proposed the integration of 7 QC tools with Analytic hierarchy process techniques to select the improvement projects for defect reduction. The results of the integration of 7 QC tools with Analytic hierarchy process techniques application, the project selection result can reasonably reflect the different important weight of each selection criteria. Moreover, the defective rate of air tank painting was reduced about 2.63% that cost 9,529 Baht per month.