Integrated fuzzy MCDM for consumer-driven ceramic manufacturing sustainability within the UN SDGs framework

Achieving sustainable development in the ceramic industry necessitates aligning production practices with evolving consumer expectations and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study evaluates sustainability practices from a customer perspective, aiming to foster more sustainable manufacturing within the China's product manufacturing sector. We introduce a novel hybrid fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework by integrating the Fuzzy Full Consistency Method (FUCOM-F) and Fuzzy Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to COmpromise Solution (FMARCOS). This approach, leveraging expert evaluations with linguistic fuzzy numbers, rigorously determines the importance of various sustainability criteria (aligned with SDGs) and ranks potential sustainable alternatives for the ceramic industry. Our findings demonstrate the framework's robustness in assessing consumer priorities for sustainability, highlighting "Environment" and "Humanity" as the most critical dimensions from the consumer viewpoint. Furthermore, "The Branding of Cultural and Creative Industries" and "Sustainable Materials Use and Environmental Impact Reduction" emerged as the top-ranked solutions. This research offers significant managerial implications for ceramic product manufacturer, managers, and policymakers by providing a structured approach to prioritise sustainability initiatives that resonate with consumer values. Ultimately, it guides the industry towards sustainable pro- duction pathways, bridging the gap between awareness and facilitating a transition to more sustainable manufacturing models and public policies, with relevance for the ceramic product manufacturing sector and beyond.