PurposeKey performance indicators (KPIs) of maintenance systems serve as benchmarks to workers and organizations to compare their goals for decision-making purposes. Unfortunately, the effects of one KPI on the other are least known, restraining decisions on prioritization of KPIs. This article examines and prioritizes the KPIs of the maintenance system in a food processing industry using the novel Taguchi (T) scheme-decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method, Taguchi–Pareto (TP) scheme–DEMATEL method and the DEMATEL method.Design/methodology/approachThe causal association of maintenance process parameters (frequency of failure, downtime, MTTR, MTBF, availability and MTTF) was studied. Besides, the optimized maintenance parameters were infused into the DEMATEL method that translates the optimized values into cause and effect responses and keeping in view the result of analysis. Data collection was done from a food processing plant in Nigeria.FindingsThe results indicated that downtime and availability have the most causal effects on other criteria when DEMATEL and T-DEMATEL methods were respectively applied to the problem. Furthermore, the frequency of failure is mostly affected by other criteria in the key performance indication selection using the two methods. The combined Taguchi scheme and DEMATEL method is appropriate to optimize and establish the causal relationships of factors.Originality/valueHardly any studies have reported the joint optimization and causal relationship of maintenance system parameters. However, the current study achieves this goal using the T-DEMATEL, TP-DEMATEL and DEMATEL methods for the first time. The applied methods effectively ease decisions on prioritization of KPIs for enhancement.

Nowadays, maintenance performance in organizations has become compelling due to competitiveness in the global market and the inclusion of more legislation issues (such as safety and health regulations) in assessments. In this article, the purpose is to formulate in maintenance problem for a food processing unit as a multicriteria problem and solve it using the evaluation based on distance from the average solution (EDAS) method. To attain this purpose, the authors defined a set of weighted criteria and a set of alternatives, and the solution is the alternative that scores the best in those criteria. Consequently, analysis was done based on the EDAS method and the calculated results from the literature data. Consequently, the parameters considered include the frequency of failure, MTBF, MTTF and MTTR while availability is the response. The EDAS method was used to select the best alternative (MTTR, 0.8802) and this score of 0.8802 is for an alternative. The chief novelty of this article is the unique introduction of an innovative EDAS method, which requires only two measures of the desirability of alternative (positive and negative distances from the average solution) but excluded the evaluation of the idea and nadir solutions for the key performance indicators of maintenance. Consequently, this study initiates a maintenance plan for the food industry referring to the key performance indicators as a cause for poor availability of equipment in the Nigerian food industry.

The selection of an appropriate parameter in a water absorption process experiment is an important route to reducing fabrication wastes and ensuring the optimum deployment of scarce process resources to the appropriate parameter. However, the literature is inadequate in providing an appropriate direction on selecting parameters for the hull of the ships' application due to the conflicting requirements of the interested parties. A novel method called the Data Environment Analysis (DEA) to overcome this problem. Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment of Evaluations (PROMETHEE) method is deployed to establish the appropriate parameter in a water absorption process on epoxy composite. The net outranking results show that criterion B (final weight) is placed in the first position. The criterion A (initial weight), D (thickness), and C (length) are placed in the second, third, and fourth positions, respectively, while E (time) is not necessary to the achievement of the system's goals. The key novelty is the unique application of the fused DEA-PROMETHEE method to a composite using the Taguchi signal-to-noise ratio response table for the hull of a ship. The method enhances the performance of multiple inputs (parameters) and multiple outputs (responses). The results of the DEA method-PROMETHEE method established the potential of epoxy composite to be used on the ship for the hull component. This could reduce the waste generated in the system, and guided allocation of resources are made to the appropriate parameters and, consequently, enhance the shipping company's profit. Furthermore, the results could improve the shipping vessel performance and develop a sustainable practice, which will lengthen the lifespan of the shipping industry.

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Polymer composites are expanding in scope and applications to water-based structures such as the ship's hull in ship vessels due to their resistance to water and satisfactory mechanical properties. Unforunately, few studies have tackled their water absorption properties. In this paper, a novel method, DEMATEL, is used to analyse the conflicting water absorption process parameters of cocoa pod husk composite using the cause and effect associations of the parameters. The parameters considered are particulate loading, initial weight, particulate weight, the weight of the matrix, and weight after 150 days and rate of water absorption. A comparison scale explains the extent of influence of a criterion on the other. The direct relationship matrix is normalized and the total relation matrix generated to procedure a causal diagram. The most fascinating findings of the study are the differences between the sum of row and columns, which places particulate weights as the most appealing, 1.0798, while the rate of water absorption as the least appealing criterion. Besides, the sum of the row and column that yields the most attractive results is the particulate weight (5.4982) while the least attractive result is the rate of water absorption (3.5436). The novelty of this work lies in the application of DEMATEL structure to examine contextual associations between the essential pointers of water absorption process parameters, for cocoa pod husk composites in the water environment. To our knowledge, it is the first type of work in this area on the selected agro-filler-based composite.