A Fuzzy Logic Model to Enhance Quality Management on R&D Units
Abstract
Nowadays, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), are becoming even more competitive, with the public ones, facing at the same time a greater restriction on public funding. Therefore, HEIs, have to be more effective and more efficient as well, on pursuing their own goals, which includes Research and Development (R&D) units as well. Such demands can be achieved, by enhancing R&D’s global performance. Therefore, the use of a framework such as European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), can bring value to an organization with the characteristics of a R&D unit. This work presents a new integrated method based on EFQM model, by using Fuzzy Logic, to enhance the organizations’ overall performance. The applicability of the proposed approach is demonstrated by a case study in a R&D unit, where an initial performance evaluation takes place, by using RADAR’s Logic approach. The proposed method, based on Fuzzy Logic, is then applied, followed by the identification of the strength points as well as the improvement areas, according to the EFQM framework. Then, the improvement actions with high priority are determined, followed by the correspondent action measures.
Keywords: Quality management, Fuzzy logic, EFQM
References
[1] Dadfar, H., Dahlgaard, J. J., Afazeli, S., & Brege, S. (2015). Quality, export, and domestic market performance: The case of pharmaceutical firms in Iran. Total quality management & Business Excellence, 26(9–10), 938–957.
[2] A. Bayo-Moriones, J. Merino-Díaz-de-Cerio, S.A. Escamilla-de-León, R. Mary Selvam, The impact of ISO 9000 and EFQM on the use of flexible work practices, Int. J. Prod. Econ. 130 (2011) 33–42.
[3] J.M. Moreno-Rodriguez, F.J. Cabrerizo, I.J. Pérez, M.A. Martı´nez, A consensus support model based on linguistic information for the initial-self assessment of the EFQM in health care organizations, Expert Systems with Applications, Volume 40, Issue 8, 2013, Pages 2792-2798, ISSN 0957-4174, https://doi. org/10.1016/j.eswa.2012.11.011.
[4] J. Nazemi, A process model for improvement through EFQM, World Appl. Sci. J. 8 (3) (2010) 279–287.
[5] Abreu, A. & Santos, R., A study on the feasibility of implementing a quality management system, based on the European for Quality Management (EFQM) model in a School of Engineering. Millenium, 2(9), (2019) 25-38. DOI: https://doi.org/10.29352/mill0209.02.00232
[6] R. Shafaei, N. Dabiri, An EFQM based model to assess an enterprise readiness for ERP implementation, J. Ind. Syst. Eng. 2 (1) (2008) 51–74.
[7] K. Shahroudi, The application of data envelopment analysis methodology to improve the benchmarking process in the EFQM business model – case study: automotive industry of Iran, Iran. J. Optim. 1 (2009) 243–265.
[8] M. Godoy Simoes, M. Friedhofer, An implementation methodology of a Fuzzy based decision support algorithm, Int. J. Knowl. Based Intell. Eng. Syst. 1 (4) (1997).
[9] N. Salehi, M. Ghajar Sepanlou, B. Jafari Gorzin, An evaluation of soil fertility using soil organic carbon, potassium, phosphorus and salinity factors for rice cultivation by Fuzzy Logic and AHP techniques, Int. J. Agric. Crop Sci. (IJACS) 5 (19) (2013) 2233–2241.
[10] G. Büyükozkan, G. Cifc¸ i, S. Güleryüz, Strategic analysis of healthcare service quality using Fuzzy AHP methodology, Expert Syst. Appl. 38 (2011) 9407–9424.
[11] A. Mohaghar, N. Rajabani, M. Karimi Zarchi, M.R. Fathi, Identifying the best method for using knowledge management in supply chain using Fuzzy Logic, Int. J. Business Manag. Econ. 1 (1) (2014) 33–39.
[12] Calvo-Mora, A., Navarro-García, A., & Peria˜nez-Cristobal, R. (2015). Project to improve knowledge management and key business results through the EFQM excellence model. International Journal of Project Management, 33(8), 1638–1651.
[13] J.Hosseini Azabadi, Determining of Improvement Projects Based on EFQM Excellence Model in Yazd Regional Electric Co. B.S. Dissertation in Industrial Engineering, Yazd University, Iran, 2006.
[14] H. Singh, M.M. Gupta, T. Meitzler, Z.-G. Hou, K.K. Garg, A.M.G. Solo, L.A. Zadeh, Real-life applications of Fuzzy Logic, Adv. Fuzzy Syst. (2013), Special Issue: Real-Life Applications of Fuzzy Logic.
[15] A. Rabbani, M. Molavi, Y. Beigzadeh, Evaluate and rank the performance of total quality management in manufacturing organizations with approach of Fuzzy ANP, Report Opin. 5 (5) (2013) 67–79.
[16] Abreu, A; Martins, José; Calado, João (2018). A fuzzy reasoning approach to assess innovation risk in ecosystems; Open Engineering, Open Engineering, 8 (1), pp. 551–561, ISSN (Online) 2391-5439, doi.org/10.1515/eng-2018-0067.
[17] Abreu, A.; Calado, J. M. F. A fuzzy logic model to evaluate the lean level of an organization. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Applications (IJAIA), Vol.8, No.5, pp.59-75. DOI: 10.5121/ijaia.2017.8505. (2017)
[18] Abreu, A.; Martins, J. D. M.; e Calado, J. M. F. Fuzzy logic model to support innovation risk assessment in ecosystems. Proc. of 3th APCA International Conference on Control and Soft Computing (CONTROLO 2018), Ponta Delgada. Açores, Portugal, 4 a 6 de junho, pp. 104-109 (2018)
[19] Simões Santos, Ricardo & João Pina da Costa Feliciano Abreu, António. (2019). EFQM model implementation in a Portuguese Higher Education Institution. Open Engineering. 9. 99-108. 10.1515/eng- 2019-0012.
[20] Santos, R., & Abreu, A. Implementation of an EFQM model in a Higher Education Institution in Portugal. Revista Produção e Desenvolvimento, 5, doi: https://doi.org/10.32358/rpd.2019.v5.365. (2019)
[21] A. Rabbani, M. Molavi, Y. Beigzadeh, Evaluate and rank the performance of total quality management in manufacturing organizations with approach of Fuzzy ANP, Report Opin. 5 (5) (2013) 67–79.