Optimal Product Selection Based on Product's Quality and Environmental Properties

Optimal product selection is a multi-criteria decision making problem since product’s quality properties can be considered from different perspectives. Among various product’s quality properties, technical, exploitational, functional, structural, aesthetic, market, and environmental can be identified as most important. Considering that the environmental properties are well recognized quality feature of a modern product, an emphasis on product’s environmental properties are nowadays mandatory. This paper uses multi-criteria decision making model in order to select the optimal product considering the product’s quality and environmental properties. The model for optimal product selection uses performance and environmental perspectives for assignment of criteria weights in order to obtain comprehensive evaluation in multi-criteria decision making. The proposed model was verified on the selection of optimal industrial centrifugal fan. Power, maximum airflow, level of noise and weight are defined as criteria for multi-criteria decision making and evaluation of industrial centrifugal fan alternatives. Six models of industrial centrifugal fans were compared and evaluated. Ranking obtained from multi-criteria decision making identified the optimal product from product’s quality and environmental aspect.