Showing papers in "Journal of Industrial and Production Engineering in 2013"
TL;DR: A bi-objective mixed integer linear programming model is developed to assist decisions in (1) location/operating decisions for warehouses, hybrid facilities and manufacturing facilities and (2) production and distribution of products between stages in the supply chain.
Abstract: Concerns over environmental degradation legislative requirements and growing business needs have fueled the growth of closed-loop supply chains (CLSCs). This paper addresses a bi-objective network design problem for multi-period, multi-product CLSC to minimize the total supply chain costs and to maximize the service efficiency of the warehouses and hybrid facilities. We develop a bi-objective mixed integer linear programming model to assist decisions in (1) location/operating decisions for warehouses, hybrid facilities and manufacturing facilities and (2) production and distribution of products between stages in the supply chain. Goal programming models and compromise programming techniques are used to solve the problem. An application of the model is demonstrated using a case study from the literature.
26 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a maximum likelihood estimator and method of moment estimator of the parameters are developed and an asymptotic confidence interval for R is obtained using MLE of parameters.
Abstract: In this paper, we attempt to estimate the stress–strength reliability when X and Y are two independent inverse Rayleigh distributions with different scale parameters. The maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and method of moment estimator of the parameters are developed and an asymptotic confidence interval for R is obtained using MLE of parameters. Exact and bootstrap confidence intervals of R are also obtained. The performance of these intervals is compared. We illustrate the procedure with real data-sets.
21 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors considered the maximum covering facility location and network design problems with uncertainty, and presented comprehensive optimization models, which consists of locating a predefined number of facilities and optimizing the underlying transportation network in such a way that total covered demand points are maximized.
Abstract: This paper considers the maximum covering facility location and network design problems with uncertainty, and presents comprehensive optimization models. The problem consists of locating a predefined number of facilities and optimizing the underlying transportation network in such a way that total covered demand points are maximized. The two-stage stochastic optimization approach is applied to resolve the uncertainty which typically appears in the model’s key parameters such as demands, costs, and traveling times. The uncertain parameters are characterized with a given finite number of discrete scenarios. Accordingly, the objective function minimizes the expected penalty costs, link construction costs, and facilities fixed costs, while the relative regret in each scenario is bounded. Incorporating uncertainty into the mathematical model increases its complexity by far. However, based on the specific structure of the problem, we show that all decisions can be made at one stage and so, we can reduce the num...
21 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a new constructive heuristic with an effective tie-breaking strategy is proposed to improve the scheduling quality of permutation flowshops, and the proposed approach outperforms NEH for all problem sizes on the standard benchmark problem set of Taillard.
Abstract: Minimizing makespan in permutation flowshops is one of the most frequently investigated problems in scheduling theory. The NEH heuristic is commonly regarded as the best current constructive heuristic for solving this NP-hard problem. In this paper, we propose a novel constructive heuristic with an effective tie-breaking strategy to improve the scheduling quality of this problem. Experimental results reveal that the proposed approach outperforms NEH for all problem sizes on the standard benchmark problem set of Taillard. This study thus appears to successfully demonstrate a high-performing constructive heuristic that can serve as a new foundation for future research on this extremely challenging scheduling problem.
18 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an I-IFOWA ϵ operator was proposed to deal with more complex group decision-making problem with intuitionistic fuzzy information, which generalizes some of the intuistic fuzzy Einstein aggregation operators.
Abstract: Einstein product and Einstein sum are good alternatives to the algebraic product and algebraic sum, respectively. Nevertheless, it seems that in the literature there is little investigation on aggregation techniques using the Einstein operations on IFS for aggregating a collection of intuitionistic fuzzy value (IFV). The induced ordered weighted averaging operator is more suitable for aggregating individual preference relations into a collective fuzzy preference relation. In order to deal with more complex group decision-making problem with intuitionistic fuzzy information, the paper develops an I-IFOWA ϵ operator which generalizes some of the intuitionistic fuzzy Einstein aggregation operators, such as the IFWA ϵ operator, IFOWA ϵ operator, IFA ϵ , as well as IF maximum operator and IF minimum operator. Furthermore, the authors apply the I-IFOWA ϵ operator and the IFWA ϵ operator to multiple attribute group decision-making with intuitionistic fuzzy information, and give an illustrative example to show th...
14 citations
TL;DR: A framework is proposed to achieve automatic defect detection and classification in color filter and micro-lens manufacturing to enhance the decision quality of pattern recognition and integrates Canny edge Detection and classification and regression tree methodology.
Abstract: Yield improvement is an important issue in semiconductor-manufacturing supply chains, including color filter and micro-lens manufacturing. In the color filter and micro-lens processes, it is critical to quickly identify the defect pattern through the defect pictures and then take corrective actions to avoid greater yield loss. Until now, defect pattern recognition heavily relies on domain experts’ knowledge, which easily causes inconsistent classification results from person to person and unsatisfactory performance. In this study, a framework is proposed to achieve automatic defect detection and classification in color filter and micro-lens manufacturing to enhance the decision quality of pattern recognition. In particular, the proposed framework integrates Canny edge detection and classification and regression tree methodology. To validate the viability of the proposed framework in real settings, an empirical study was conducted in collaboration with a leading complementary metal oxide semiconductor imag...
13 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a new mathematical model is suggested for the closed loop layout with exact distances, and many feasible solutions are generated for benchmark problems that are competitive with the solutions provided by metaheuristics.
Abstract: In the layout problem of manufacturing cells, rectangular cells are to be positioned without overlapping. The objective is to minimize the total transportation cost, i.e. the sum of distances of all pairs of cells weighted by their flow values. The types of layouts are categorized according to the shape of the transportation system’s track. In the case of a closed loop layout, the track has a rectangular shape. A common difficulty of all layout problems is the manner in which distances are measured. A frequently used approximation is the Manhattan distance. However, it is significantly shorter than the exact distance in many cases. Both the metaheuristics and exact models suggested by earlier studies use the Manhattan distance. In this paper, a new mathematical model is suggested for the closed loop layout with exact distances. Many feasible solutions are generated for benchmark problems that are competitive with the solutions provided by metaheuristics.
13 citations
TL;DR: This study explored and analyzed customization development procedures in product service systems (PSSs) and decided on the development factors of customization, and important elements and weight factors related to environmental benefits were identified.
Abstract: Customization can match consumers’ individual needs and avoid the unnecessary waste and use of the producers’ materials. In order to lower the impact of products on the ecological environment, this study explored and analyzed customization development procedures in product service systems (PSSs). Decision-making analysis was conducted on the development factors of customization, and important elements and weight factors related to environmental benefits were identified according to the analytical result. The research methods included three stages. First, literature review and analysis were conducted to generalize the criteria of PSSs and customization development. Second, expert interviews, literature review, and the analytic network process were conducted to identify the key elements of the customization development procedures in PSSs. Finally, a customization development procedure was designed for a PSS, and a customization development evaluation tool was planned as the important criterion for product c...
12 citations
TL;DR: A cost model is developed to determine the optimal parameter values of different vacation distributions that minimize the cost, and some numerical examples are presented for illustrative purpose.
Abstract: This paper studies a Geo/G/1 queue in which the server operates multiple vacations and may break down while working. After all messages have been served in the system, the server leaves for a vacation. Upon returning from the vacation, the server activates immediately to serve if there are some messages waiting in the queue. Otherwise, the server takes another vacation. This queueing system has potential application in the inbound email contact center. By using the generating function technique, we derive some important system characteristics, such as system size distributions of server on vacation/busy/broken-down, the expected lengths of server vacation period and complete period, and message's waiting time in the queue. In particular, a cost model is developed to determine the optimal parameter values of different vacation distributions that minimize the cost, and some numerical examples are presented for illustrative purpose.
12 citations
TL;DR: The objective of this study is to apply the simulation optimization method to obtain an optimal solution of daily referring CT patients among hospitals in order to satisfy the patient waiting time constraint and the hospitals’ budget constraints.
Abstract: This research takes three-hospital collaboration as a case study. For the case hospital collaboration, each hospital has different computed tomography (CT) patients and CT scanners. This research formulates a mathematical model and uses system simulation to construct a collaborative CT patient-referring mechanism among the three hospitals. The objective of this study is to apply the simulation optimization method to obtain an optimal solution of daily referring CT patients among hospitals in order to satisfy the patient waiting time constraint and the hospitals’ budget constraints. Further, this study performs sensitivity analyses on key parameters and discusses their managerial implications. The results of this research will provide hospitals with a reference for developing collaborative patient-referring mechanisms.
12 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a multiple-level variable neighborhood search (ML-VNS) approach is developed for the orienteering problem, which maximizes the reward collected from visited sites while satisfying predetermined constraints.
Abstract: A multiple-level variable neighborhood search (ML-VNS) approach is developed for the orienteering problem (OP) which maximizes the reward collected from visited sites while satisfying predetermined constraints. The ML-VNS approach remedies situations in which the information accumulated during the search process of an individual instance is not shared with the search processes in other instances with different constraint levels. New large-sized OPs have been defined. Results of the ML-VNS approach show promise when compared with previous tabu search (TS) algorithm and probabilistic solution discovery algorithm (PSDA).
TL;DR: In this paper, a generic joint economic lot sizing (JELS) model was proposed to determine the optimal production and shipment policy for a two-layer supply chain, where the vendor manufactures the requested products in lots and delivers them in batches to the buyer with partial shipment policy.
Abstract: In a vertically integrated supply chain of healthcare groups such as Chang Gung memorial hospitals in Taiwan, the vendor of special medical items and the hospitals are owned by the same business conglomerate; besides, warehouse capacity is one of the scarcest resources that greatly affect the inventory control policies. Taking the vendor’s limited warehouse capacity into account, this article first proposes a generic joint economic lot sizing (JELS) model in determining the optimal production and shipment policy for a two-layer supply chain. The vendor manufactures the requested products in lots and delivers them in batches to the buyer with partial shipment policy. A threshold value which defines those existing JELS problems as a special case of our proposed model, while the manufacturer’s warehouse capacity exceeds it, is attained. Finally, a numerical example is used to characterize the optimal production and replenishment lot-size decisions for the supply chain.
TL;DR: A hybrid heuristic method, incorporating the vehicle type information into variable neighborhood search (VNS), is proposed and the experimental results indicate that the proposed method is better than other reported methods and VNS without the vehicletype information in terms of average percentage deviation.
Abstract: Numerous heuristic methods have been proposed for the fleet size and mix vehicle routing problem (FSMVRP), since the FSMVRP is an NP-hard problem. However, the vehicle type information is always ignored in the local improvement approaches of these heuristic methods. Hence, the solutions found by these heuristic methods without the vehicle type information are worse than those with the vehicle type information. In this paper, a hybrid heuristic method, incorporating the vehicle type information into variable neighborhood search (VNS), is proposed. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method is better than other reported methods and VNS without the vehicle type information in terms of average percentage deviation.
TL;DR: The steady-state probability distribution of the system size and system performances measures are developed for both queues and an interrelationship is uncovered between the (p, F)- and (q, N)-policy M/M/1/K queues by a series of propositions.
Abstract: This paper considers two randomized control policies. One is (p, F)-policy queue which deals with the issue of randomized controlling arrivals to a queueing system and the server requires a start-up time before allowing customers to enter the system. Another is (q, N)-policy queue which considers the common issue of controlling service in a queueing system randomly, and the server requires a start-up time before providing service. The steady-state probability distribution of the system size and system performances measures are developed for both queues. In addition, we uncover an interrelationship between the (p, F)- and (q, N)-policy M/M/1/K queues by a series of propositions. The advantage created through interrelationship is that the solution of one queue has been derived, which assists us in obtaining that of the other queue easily. Finally, numerical results are presented for illustration purposes.
TL;DR: A two-staged computerized system for diagnosing meniscus tears is proposed and the dimension of the feature vector was reduced from 180 to 64 after the SFFS, which outperformed the SVM classifier without feature selection.
Abstract: Magnetic Resonance images are used to identify tears in the meniscus, a debilitating condition of the knee. In this paper, a two-staged computerized system for diagnosing meniscus tears is proposed. In the first stage, we apply an Active Contour with Level Sets model to calculate the location and shape of the meniscus area. In the second stage, 180 features, consisting of textural information in the spatial and spectral domains, were extracted from each suspected meniscus tear. Sequential floating forward selection (SFFS) was applied to select the relevant features. The feature vectors were then input to a support vector machine (SVM) classifier to detect meniscus tears. The Az value of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to evaluate the classification performance. Experimental results show that the dimension of the feature vector was reduced from 180 to 64 after the SFFS. Meanwhile, the SVM classifier combined with the SFFS feature selection (Az = 0.9123) outperformed the SVM clas...
TL;DR: The normalized standard deviation, the normalizedmean deviation, and the normalized mean difference are proposed as criteria that measure the balance of the workloads among the machines associated to a schedule.
Abstract: This paper considers the problem of scheduling nonpreemptive jobs on identical parallel processors to minimize workload balancing criteria. While workload balancing is an important practical criterion given the need of production systems to efficiently use all of their resources, there is no established measure of performance in the scheduling literature that characterizes total workload balance. In this paper, the normalized standard deviation, the normalized mean deviation, and the normalized mean difference are proposed as criteria that measure the balance of the workloads among the machines associated to a schedule. A local search algorithm, which performs multiple exchanges of jobs among machines, is presented. The results of a wide computational experimentation demonstrate that the proposed algorithm performs well for all the proposed measures.
TL;DR: In this paper, a pictorial rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale that focuses on the facial expression of effort was developed for evaluating physical tasks, and concurrent and construct evidence supported the use of the facial pictorial RPE scale by males and females to estimate RPE during the incremental cycle ergometer test.
Abstract: A new pictorial rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale that focuses on the facial expression of effort was developed for evaluating physical tasks. This study aimed to examine the concurrent validity and construct validity of the facial pictorial RPE scale. Twenty-two males and eighteen females were recruited. Concurrent validity was established by correlating the scale with respiratory rate (RR) and heart rate (HR) responses to a load-incremented cycle ergometer protocol. Construct validity was established by correlating RPE derived from the facial pictorial RPE scale with RPE derived from the Borg scale. Both concurrent and construct evidence supported the use of the facial pictorial RPE scale by males and females to estimate RPE during the incremental cycle ergometer test. This validation implies that adult participants could establish the link between the symbolic representation of pictorial faces and the sensory cues provided by HR and RR.
TL;DR: In this paper, a negotiation mechanism for allowing design resources in a distributed environment with nontransparent information is proposed, where price-based negotiation is adopted for the competitive relationship and Borda count is used in the cooperative relationship.
Abstract: Economic globalization has resulted in distributed product development. Companies must effectively integrate and allocate interdisciplinary designers who are geographically dispersed. The matrix-based organization structure is an effective model for multi-project human resource allocation because it satisfies the prescribed total cost constraint and fulfills the requirements of individual disciplines. This study proposes a novel negotiation mechanism for allowing design resources in a distributed environment with nontransparent information. The mechanism was used to consider competitive and cooperative relationships among the entities involved in resource allocation. Price-based negotiation was adopted for the competitive relationship and the Borda count was used in the cooperative relationship. In addition, multi-agent technology was applied to implement the proposed mechanism as an automatic and effective operation. Real cases of distributed product development were used to demonstrate how the negotiati...
TL;DR: The results show that the TMFKM is more suitable for product design than competing methods in enabling designers to precisely quantify user needs, analyze product feasibility, and increase user satisfaction.
Abstract: This paper proposes a novel model encompassing the Kano model (KM), fuzzy theory, and Taguchi method (TM) to precisely define customer requirements and increase customer satisfaction. Therefore, the proposed model has the following capabilities: (1) defining the true requirements of customers, (2) quantifying customer satisfaction, (3) organizing possible solutions or proposals for products, and (4) analyzing product feasibility. In addition, we validated the proposed model with a case study of media player appearances, attempting to compare the design outcome of our proposed model, TM + fuzzy Kano model (TMFKM), with other models. A test session was attended by 32 students aged 16–18 who rated their experience with these media players. The results, analyzed by the ANOVA and Scheffe tests, show that the TMFKM is more suitable for product design than competing methods in enabling designers to precisely quantify user needs, analyze product feasibility, and increase user satisfaction.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the bullwhip effect in the supply chain of the retail industry and evaluate the causal relationships between the factors, based on the analysis of key factors, and the importance of the factors influencing the bull whip effect.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to explore the bullwhip effect in the supply chain of the retail industry. Based on the analysis of key factors, the importance of the factors influencing the bullwhip effect in the supply chain, as well as the causal relationships between the factors, was evaluated. Through the questionnaire survey of the fuzzy Delphi method, the experts’ opinions about the influential key factors that produce the bullwhip effect in the supply chain were acquired using quantitative analysis and the screening procedures. The interpretive structural modeling and decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory were adopted to analyze the effects of the factors and the causal hierarchical relationship, thus providing supply chain managers with a more effective analysis of finding the reasons that contribute to the generation of the bullwhip effect.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate a single-vendor single-retailer production-inventory model for products with imperfect quality, where a 100% inspection process is conducted to screen out the defectives contained in the received lot.
Abstract: The economic production quantity (EPQ) and the economic order quantity (EOQ) models have been widely used in inventory management for vendors and retailers, respectively. However, an optimal solution for the EPQ or the EOQ model is only based on either vendors’ or buyers’ viewpoint. That is, such an optimal solution is usually beneficial to one of the vendors and buyers, but detrimental to the others. Hence, to establish a long-term cooperative relationship between the vendor and buyer, an integrated inventory model is needed. The purpose of this paper is to investigate a single-vendor single-retailer production-inventory model for products with imperfect quality. It is assumed that a 100% inspection process is conducted to screen out the defectives contained in the received lot and the defectives screened out during the 100% inspection process will be returned to the vendor immediately. By maximizing the expected annual integrated total profit, the optimal number of shipments in a cycle and the optimal s...
TL;DR: A simulation optimization approach is proposed, using particle swarm optimization algorithm combined with optimal computing budget allocation technique as solution for a dynamic parallel machine scheduling problem in a hybrid flow shop for semiconductor back-end assembly.
Abstract: This study examines a dynamic parallel machine scheduling problem in a hybrid flow shop for semiconductor back-end assembly. The subject is a multi-line, multi-stage facility with multi-type parallel machine groups, and orders are scheduled with different start times. As a typical make-to-order and contract manufacturing business model, the main objective is to achieve the minimum manufacturing lead time, and the main decisions are to find an optimal assignment of production line and machine type by stage for each order. Nevertheless, production behavior and a number of conditions increase complexity. Such conditions include order split and merge of jobs for parallel processing with stochastic processing time and compliance with quality and traceability requirements. We proposed a simulation optimization approach, using particle swarm optimization algorithm combined with optimal computing budget allocation technique as solution. The proposed approach provides a novel application for a complex production s...
TL;DR: This study shows that if the lifetime of a component satisfies an exponential distribution, then in order to maximize overall system reliability the optimal replacement time for this component is its half-lifetime.
Abstract: A system is generally constructed using a set of individual components based on their own reliabilities and inter-precedence constraints, with such systems generally referred to as a stochastic one. Improving reliability is one of the key tasks of managers, and since this is generally based on the reliability of individual system components, it is necessary to establish the priority of various improvement actions based on these. This study proposes two techniques to achieve this: one is a process of cost-reliability analysis, that can help decision-makers in the selection of the appropriate policies to raise system reliability, and the other is a way to identify the importance of various system components in order to ascertain the order in which they should be improved. In addition, this study shows that if the lifetime of a component satisfies an exponential distribution, then in order to maximize overall system reliability the optimal replacement time for this component is its half-lifetime. By consider...
TL;DR: In this paper, a branch-and-bound algorithm is proposed to solve the problem of scheduling preemptive open shops to minimize the total completion time, which is known to be NP-hard.
Abstract: This article examines the problem of scheduling preemptive open shops to minimize the total completion time. The problem is known to be NP-hard. An efficient constructive heuristic is developed for solving large sized problems. A new lower bound scheme based on the solution of another special type of preemptive open shop problem is presented. Both of the proposed upper and lower bounds are incorporated into a branch-and-bound algorithm to solve medium sized problems. Computational results are reported. The branch-and-bound algorithm can handle problems of up to 14 jobs and 14 machines in size within a reasonable amount of time. The solution obtained by the heuristic has an average deviation of less than 0.14% from the optimal value, while the initial lower bound has an average deviation of less than 2.12% from the optimal value. Moreover, the heuristic finds approved optimal solutions for over 70% of the problem instances completely solved.
TL;DR: In this paper, a modified inventory system for deteriorating items with a stochastic ramp type demand is investigated, with a focus on a turning point that follows negative exponential distribution, and the optimal solution of the model is derived.
Abstract: Inventory models for deteriorating items with a stochastic ramp type demand are investigated in this paper, with a focus, particularly on a turning point that follows negative exponential distribution. The generalization of previous results was contributed by Deng et al.. Research for inventory models from deterministic ramp type demand to stochastic ramp type demand constitutes our initiatory framework. We will investigate inventory models beginning with stock. Correspondingly, two different cost objective functions developed by Deng et al. are analyzed, simplified, and successfully replaced by one single succinct expression with solid mathematical inference. Finally, the modified inventory system is provided and the optimal solution of our model is derived. Numerical examples of previous papers are provided to support our findings.
TL;DR: In this paper, the de Boor algorithm is used to define the number of degrees of freedom (DOF) for a cubic B-spline surface with a freely selected first boundary curve, and five DOFs for a second boundary curve when both curves are defined by four control points.
Abstract: This study investigates the geometric design of B-spline surfaces constructed by two boundary curves. The developability constraints are geometrically derived from the de Boor algorithm and expressed as a set of equations that must be fulfilled by the B-spline control points. These equations specify the number of degrees of freedom (DOFs) for the surface design. For a cubic B-spline surface with a freely selected first boundary curve, five more DOFs are available for a second boundary curve when both curves are defined by four control points. There remain (7–2m) DOFs for designing a cubic surface that consists of m consecutive patches. The results are consistent with previous findings for equivalent composite Bezier surfaces. A test example demonstrates design methods that fully use all of the DOFs without generating over-constrained systems in the solution process. This work provides a preliminary foundation for applications of developable B-spline surfaces in product design and manufacture.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors used five LED ceiling lamps, each exhibiting a different geometric shape, to create diverse lighting surroundings in a simulated living room at low color temperature and under low illumination.
Abstract: This research designed a suitable lighting environment to provide comfortable lighting surroundings to different age groups. Kruithof indicated that the human sense of sight can be directly affected by lighting equipment, meaning that human psychological sensations and perceptions can also be affected by varied lighting conditions. This study used five LED ceiling lamps, each exhibiting a different geometric shape, to create diverse lighting surroundings in a simulated living room at low color temperature and under low illumination. To obtain physiological data from participants of different age groups, we measured the galvanic skin response, heart rate, and skin temperature of the little finger of each participant. To obtain psychological data, we used subjective questionnaires to measure the feeling of the participants. Based on the results of this study, we found that the lighting environment projected by a linear geometrical shape is more suitable for elderly people than for younger groups. This findi...
TL;DR: The numerical results show that, among the model parameters, the price of product for accepted lot, the processing cost per unit, and the lower specification limit significantly affect the expected total profit per unit.
Abstract: In the present paper, a new economic design with variable single sampling inspection plan for determining the optimal process mean is presented. The quality characteristic with the one-sided lower specification limit is assumed to be normally distributed with unknown mean and known standard deviation. The 100% rectifying inspection plan is adopted when the product lot is rejected. The optimum process mean and the parameters of sampling inspection plan are simultaneously determined by maximizing the expected total profit per unit and meeting the requirement of the specified consumer’s risk. Two numerical examples and sensitivity analyzes of parameters are provided for illustration. The numerical results show that, among the model parameters, the price of product for accepted lot, the processing cost per unit, and the lower specification limit significantly affect the expected total profit per unit.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the productivity of the 1000 largest companies in Taiwan and found that the total value of the outputs produced by these companies is greater than that of the inputs consumed.
Abstract: This paper investigates the productivity of the 1000 largest companies in Taiwan – 500 manufacturing and 500 service. For the 523 companies with available data, their average productivity is 1.0845, indicating that the total value of the outputs produced by these companies is greater than that of the inputs consumed. However, there are still approximately a quarter of the companies whose productivity is smaller than 1. The service industry is slightly higher than the manufacturing industry. This paper also investigates the relationship between productivity and profitability. Overall, the results show that profitability increases with productivity. A regression analysis indicates that, due to the effect of income tax, the slope of the regression line for companies with positive profitability is less than that for those with negative profitability. Based on the relationship between profitability and productivity, a company is able to predict its net profit from productivity.
TL;DR: The results showed that the proposed FNPV model could compensate for the shortcomings of the oversimplified traditional net present value (NPV) model and provide the project financial managers with more flexible decision-making criteria of financial valuation in the practical application.
Abstract: This study aimed at introducing a fuzzy net present value (FNPV) approach to evaluate the build–operate–transfer (BOT) sport facilities in Taiwan that allowed the net cash inflows and the required rates of returns in different time periods to be treated as fuzzy numbers in which these two fuzzy parameters could better reflect the uncertainty in the BOT project, especially for the case of BOT evaluation with quite long concession periods. In this fuzzy model, the attitude of sport facility financial manager toward risk was also described by various λ levels. The results showed that the proposed FNPV model could compensate for the shortcomings of the oversimplified traditional net present value (NPV) model and provide the project financial managers with more flexible decision-making criteria of financial valuation in the practical application.