Application of the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) for Innovative Technological Projects Evaluation and Prioritization in an FMCG Company

Abstract

The FMCG industry is known for its dynamic and competitive nature. To thrive in this business sector, companies must possess the ability to swiftly adapt to the market demand changes, continuously enhance operational efficiency and drive innovation. Those abilities are crucial for maintaining competitiveness and ensuring long term viability of the company. Over the past few decades, technology along with its advancement has emerged as a factor that disrupts the ecosystem of various industries by reshaping the way businesses operate and interact with the customers. In Indonesia, many organizations including FMCG companies have continuously embraced and adopted emerging and innovative technologies within their business operations. Although it offers various benefits for the companies, the execution process has usually encountered various challenges which causing the implementation projects to experiencing delays, especially during the decision-making process. This was also the case in one of the largest FMCG companies in Indonesia due to varying interpretations of project importance, as well as the absence of clear prioritization criteria and an unorganized decision-making process. In order to address the issues, the organization plans to develop a decision-making framework that harmonizes diverse stakeholder perspectives related to project importance based on a number of key criteria while also analyze the benefit and impact provided by the implemented technologies through the application of the Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) framework. There are three technology innovation projects to be analyzed and assessed in this research: AGV Implementation, and Digital Warehouse Management System, and Universal QR for Traceability. In order to evaluate the projects, eighteen criterion which are divided into eighteen sub criteria that has been established through Secondary Data Collection and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) process. The data were processed by leveraging the systematic decision-making structure provided by the AHP framework. The research yields two primary outcomes: a structured decision-making framework and a project prioritization scheme intended for application at the organization. The findings of the research highlight the critical role of structured decision-making in navigating the complexities of evaluating and prioritizing innovative technological projects, while also proposing a scalable model that can be repeatedly utilized by the company in the project evaluation and prioritization contexts.