Fuzzy analytic hierarchical process implementation for enhancing manufacturing responsiveness

The emergence of Industrial Revolution 4.0 has demanded manufacturing firms across the world to adapt changes and be more responsive. In Malaysia, the current trend shows a lot of efforts that have been made by manufacturing firms to be more responsive. Responsiveness is a key practice for manufacturing forms’ survival in the current competitive market. This research attempts to come up with a responsive- ness practices hierarchical guide through current manufacturing challenges and competitiveness for manufacturing firms, especially in Malaysia. Based on literature reviews, data reduction, and factor anal- ysis, the significant practices of manufacturing responsiveness have been extracted and classified accord- ingly. Then, the fuzzy analytic hierarchical process (FAHP) is used as a multi-criteria decision-making method to sort the practices according to the priority. Respondents were selected based on experience and trustworthiness in providing reliable responses from the Malaysian industry. After making certain revisions to the classification names, there are three classifications of manufacturing responsiveness practices (RMP—manufacturing responsiveness practices) which are information, market, and opera- tional responsiveness. To complete the research, these practices are arranged according to their priority level using FAHP. The data collected are related to the importance level of each practice. The final result suggested the top priority to be information responsiveness practices with a weightage of 0.5053, which emphasize on reliable information in communication, effective communication medium, and providing adequate organizational support. The hierarchy continued with market and operational responsiveness practices weightage by 0.4819 and 0.0128, respectively. The result is very useful for decision-makers to choose the highly impacted practices to remain competitive in the market.