The rapid growth of online shopping has intensified the need for cost-effective and efficient delivery systems, posing a significant challenge for businesses worldwide. This study proposes an innovative two-phase methodology that uses a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach for efficient last-mile logistics with service options (ELMLSO) such as home delivery, self-pickup, and differently-priced services. This approach aims to streamline last-mile logistics by integrating these service options, resulting in a more comprehensive and effective delivery network that enhances customer satisfaction and maintains a competitive edge. The first phase employs the Ordinal Preference Analysis - Evaluation based on Distance from Average Solution (OPA-EDAS) method to select optimal pickup and delivery centers. The second phase identifies the optimal route using a bi-objective mixed-integer mathematical model, striving to balance cost minimization and customer satisfaction maximization. The Normalized Normal Constraint Method (NNCM) is utilized to solve this model. The application of these methods results in considerable cost savings and improved customer satisfaction, offering valuable insights for managers within the last-mile logistics industry.

In recent years, fintech has received much attention due to the introduction of new technologies in banking and electronic payment. For financial service providers to compete in the industries, they should apply the business model as a conceptual framework to improve performance. The current research is exploratory and tries to identify the factors influencing fintech design in electronic payment using the Osterwalder business model. This study aims to integrate three methods named DEMATEL, ISM, and ANP from MCDM techniques. To analyze the identified factors affecting the design of fintech in electronic payment, the indicators were examined in terms of influence and effectiveness by the DEMATEL method, then the levels of influence and effectiveness of the factors were investigated using the interpretive structural modeling method. Finally, the network analysis method was used to prioritize the factors. The findings showed that recognizing and identifying electronic payment customers is the most effective among the factors, and determining the type of relationship with customers is the most impressionable factor. In addition, after ranking the factors, the type of relationship with customers was the first rank, and the criteria of the company's cost structure and revenue streams were determined as the second and third, respectively.

The current research addresses the inventory classification problem of community pharmacies, which have a dual role as both a vital component of the pharmaceutical supply chain and a typical retail store. Despite the existing literature indicating that pharmacists may lack knowledge on inventory management, it seems that the MCIC literature is weak in explaining how pharmacists can benefit from MCDA techniques in all aspects. To bridge this gap, the study aims to demonstrate that pharmacists can utilize MCDA techniques to gain deeper insights beyond mere classification in the context of inventory management. Real-world data from a community pharmacy in Turkey was classified using the EDAS method. Sensitivity analysis was performed for MCDA inputs, about which pharmacists may lack information. Scenario findings based on criterion weights and threshold values offer important managerial implications for pharmacists. This study provides a critical contribution to the literature on inventory management in community pharmacies by highlighting the potential of MCDA techniques to support decision-making beyond mere classification. The sensitivity analysis also sheds light on areas where pharmacists may lack knowledge and suggests ways to address these gaps. Overall, the study underscores the need for pharmacists to have a deeper understanding of inventory management and highlights the potential benefits of MCDA techniques in addressing this challenge.

The supermarket sector is one of the most important components of the retail industry. Rapidly growing chain supermarkets stand out in this sector. This study introduces a hybrid method to assess the performance of stores within a supermarket chain. In the study, stores are compared over a five-year period using various criteria. These criteria include financial metrics such as rent cost, employee cost, energy cost, waste cost, supply cost, and sales revenue, as well as store size. Initially, the presence of differences between supermarkets based on these criteria was investigated. According to the criterion-based analysis, it is not easy to make a decision about the overall performance of supermarkets. Therefore, conducting the analysis using multi-criteria decision-making methods provides more meaningful results. In the proposed hybrid method, the criteria are first weighted using the entropy method to determine their importance levels. It was determined that the most important criterion is rent cost. The performance was then calculated using the VIKOR, MOORA, and ARAS methods. As a result of the analysis, the same store showed the best performance in all three methods.

Distribution centers selection is a vital task of any company to reduce costs, improve efficiency of transport flows, which yields customer satisfaction. To select the suitable distribution centers, many quantitative and qualitative criteria must be considered in the selection process. Therefore, distribution centers selection can be seen as a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem under vague environment. Single-valued complex neutrosophic sets (SVCNSs), which is generalized of fuzzy sets, complex fuzzy sets and intuitionistic fuzzy sets; can better represent the vague information than the other sets. This paper aims to propose a new the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach based on SVCNSs to select the locations of distribution center. In the proposed TOPSIS approach, the importance weights of criteria, the ratings of alternatives, and their aggregated values are assessed and evaluated using SVCNSs. Then, this paper defines the operational rules of SVCNSs and calculates the aggregated weighted ratings of alternatives. Furthermore, the score, accuracy and certainty function are developed to rank the alternatives. Last, an application to the distribution center location selection is presented to show the advantages of the proposed approach.

This paper presents a new approach for design concept selection by using an integrated Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and an Interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy modified TOP-SIS (IVIF-modified TOPSIS) model. The integrated model which uses the improved score func-tion and a weighted normalized Euclidean distance method for the calculation of the separation measures of alternatives from the positive and negative intuitionistic ideal solutions provides a new approach for the computation of intuitionistic fuzzy ideal solutions. The results of the two approaches are integrated using a reflection defuzzification integration formula. To ensure the feasibility and the rationality of the integrated model, the method is successfully applied for eval-uating and selecting some design related problems including a real-life case study for the selec-tion of the best concept design for a new printed-circuit-board (PCB) and for a hypothetical ex-ample. The model which provides a novel alternative, has been compared with similar computa-tional methods in the literature.

Flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs) offer opportunities for the manufacturers to improve their technology, competitiveness and profitability through a highly efficient and focused approach to manufacturing effectiveness. Justification, evaluation and selection of FMSs have now been receiving significant attention in the manufacturing environment. Evaluating alternative FMSs in the presence of multiple conflicting criteria and performance measures is often a difficult task for the decision maker. Preference ranking tools are special types of multi-criteria decision-making methods in which the decision maker’s preferences on criteria are aggregated together to arrive at the final evaluation and selection of the alternatives. This paper deals with the application of six most potential preference ranking methods for selecting the best FMS for a given manufacturing organization. It is observed that although the performances of these six methods are almost similar, ORESTE (Organization, Rangement Et Synthese De Donnes Relationnelles) method slightly outperforms the others. These methods use some preference function or utility value or Besson ranking of criteria and alternatives, to indicate how much an alternative is preferred to the others. Most of these methods need quantification of criteria weights or different preference parameters, but ORESTE method, being an ordinal outranking approach, only requires ordinal data and attribute rankings according to their importance. Therefore, it is particularly applicable to those situations where the decision maker is unable to provide crisp evaluation data and attribute weights.

The designers often face the problem of choosing the best fitted material for a specific application from a huge array of available alternatives while simultaneously fulfilling all the given design requirements. For dealing with the material selection problems, a systematic and efficient approach is thus necessary. Selection of an optimal material from among various alternatives based on different conflicting subjective as well as objective attributes can be defined as a typical multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. The material selection problems for diverse engineering applications have already been solved by the past researchers employing different MCDM approaches. In this paper, the feasibility of Q-analysis technique as an MCDM tool is explored for arriving at the most appropriate decision regarding materials selection. Its applicability is demonstrated with the help of four illustrative examples and its capability to provide almost accurate material selection decisions is also validated.

Portfolio selection is a business process which has helped organisations identify an area of com-petitive advantage and it is a major concern to industrial players in the banking sectors. In order to enhance bank portfolio selection, cost, profitability, time and location are important parameters that decision-makers often consider. This study implements a fuzzy-TOPSIS (Technique for Or-der Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) framework to evaluate three potential portfolios (automated teller machine gallery, quick service point and branch) for a bank using the infor-mation from three decision-makers. An illustrative example of real bank information is used to demonstrate the proposed framework applicability. The complex proportional assessment of al-ternatives (COPRAS) method is also used as an evaluation technique and the results are com-pared, which yields that the results from the ranking order of fuzzy-TOPSIS and COPRAS were different. However, there is a consistency between the aggregation of intuition-based, fuzzy-TOPSIS and COPRAS ranks and fuzzy-TOPSIS ranking results. The presented framework is an easy-to-apply tool that improves portfolio selection decision in the banking system.