Application of Analytic Hierarchy Process for Optimal Design Decisions in Product Development

Design constitutes a major phase in product development and calls for complex decisions to be taken for realising an optimal product. A poor design could lead to high redesign costs and a delay in product realization, which could in turn hamper the successful commercialization of the product. A prime concern in design is to translate the functional requirements of the product into design requirements, and then generate feasible solutions that meet the design requirements. Generally, design is an open-ended problem with more than one solution, each with its own pros and cons. Hence the main goal of the design stage, in a vast majority of the cases, is to select the most suitable option from a number of possible options. This thereby constitutes a multi-criteria decision making problem and calls for consideration of appropriate evaluation and decision-making tools. This paper presents the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a potential tool for decision making in the context of design decisions in product development. The application of AHP is illustrated through the implementation of this technique in selecting an optimal configuration of transmission system for a winch.