Risk prioritization in manufacturing processes: a hybrid approach to group decision-making under hesitation

Purpose This article aims to propose a model to support the assessment and prioritization of risk in manufacturing processes. Design/methodology/approach The model integrates the failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) criteria with the evaluation procedures of a new hesitant fuzzy linguistic-technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (HFL-TOPSIS) variation. A case study evaluating failure risk in a wiring harness assembly process demonstrated the model's applicability. A sensitivity analysis was performed to verify the effect of the variation in the weights assigned to the decision-makers (DMs). Findings The failure mode (FM) ranking was FM4 > FM9 > FM17 > FM2>FM8>FM12 > FM16 > FM19 > FM11 > FM3>FM18 > FM15 > FM13 > FM10 > FM14 > FM7 > FM1 > FM5 > FM6. These outcomes suggest that “stripping length less than specified” was the top priority among the 19 FMs evaluated. Sensitivity tests demonstrated the effect of the DMs’ weights on the ranking of FMs. A comparison with FMEA and HFL-TOPSIS demonstrates the model's greater capacity to discriminate levels of risk priority, as it identifies a total of 19 risk levels compared with 9 levels in the other approaches. Practical implications The adoption of the proposed model can drive substantial improvements in risk management practices across industries, provided that the organization has a decision-making team experienced with FMEA. Therefore, this approach promotes the continuous improvement of operations and ensures that mitigation actions effectively address critical FMs. Originality/value This is the first study to propose a risk evaluation model that accounts for DMs' hesitation in defining criteria weights through linguistic expressions. Additionally, it addresses uncertainty when assessing weights for the DMs’ opinions and considers multiple factors that affect these weights in decision-making for risk prioritization.