An Integrated New Product Development Evaluation Model in an Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Environment for PLM Strategy Setting

Abstract

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) provides a paradigmatic model that enables companies to operate more effectively in the face of shorter product lifecycles, global networking, and increasing complexity. However, despite strengthening the PLM initiative, companies still struggle to implement this concept. The limited results of current PLM implementations often stem from a lack of unique indicators or consistent methodologies that help companies prioritize their implementation efforts. This article proposes an approach to set a PLM strategy, focusing on enhancing company innovation potential by introducing a structured methodology capable of (i) capturing latent needs based on the normative-contingent New Product Development (NPD) evaluation model and (ii) quantifying the influence of various PLM functional aspects on NPD capability. The proposed methodology is based on the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method, modified to overcome the limitations of the conventional approach, employing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for prioritizing request attributes and the Evaluation based on Distance from Average Solution (EDAS) method for quality attribute importance ranking. Motivated by the arbitrary and vague nature of the decision-making environment in the PLM implementation projects, which introduces uncertainties that could be effectively managed by fuzzy logic, the study introduces Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Sets (IT2FSs) to minimize ambiguity and inconsistency in expressing and modeling preferences. The main study contribution pertains to generating quantitative and objective guidelines for adequately grounding a PLM strategy from the perspective of enhancing the company’s innovation potential. The findings of this study ultimately contribute to establishing an optimal model of the PLM concept implementation process, tailored to specific company requirements. Finally, an empirical case study demonstrates the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed approach.