Fuzzy-logic-based support tools for initial screening of manufacturing reshoring decisions

Abstract

PurposeThis paper investigates the suitability of fuzzy-logic-based support tools for initial screening of manufacturing reshoring decisions.Design/methodology/approachTwo fuzzy-logic-based support tools are developed together with experts from a Swedish manufacturing firm. The first uses a complete rule base and the second a reduced rule base. Sixteen inference settings are used in both of the support tools.FindingsThe findings show that fuzzy-logic-based support tools are suitable for initial screening of manufacturing reshoring decisions. The developed support tools are capable of suggesting whether a reshoring decision should be further evaluated or not, based on six primary competitiveness criteria. In contrast to existing literature this research shows that it does not matter whether a complete or reduced rule base is used when it comes to accuracy. The developed support tools perform similarly with no statistically significant differences. However, since the interpretability is much higher when a reduced rule base is used and it require fewer resources to develop, the second tool is more preferable for initial screening purposes.Research limitations/implicationsThe developed support tools are implemented at a primary-criteria level and to make them more applicable, they should also include the sub-criteria level. The support tools should also be expanded to not only consider competitiveness criteria, but also other criteria related to availability of resources and strategic orientation of the firm. This requires further research with regard to multi-stage architecture and automatic generation of fuzzy rules in the manufacturing reshoring domain.Practical implicationsThe support tools help managers to invest their scarce time on the most promising reshoring projects and to make timely and resilient decisions by taking a holistic perspective on competitiveness. Practitioners are advised to choose the type of support tool based on the available data.Originality/valueThere is a general lack of decision support tools in the manufacturing reshoring domain. This paper addresses the gap by developing fuzzy-logic-based support tools for initial screening of manufacturing reshoring decisions.

Digital Innovation for the Sustainability of Reshoring Strategies: A Literature Review

“…However, most of them considered changes in costs, quality, and risks related to the offshore countries, together with the need to react to offshore failure to be among the strongest motivations for enacting reshoring strategies [58,70,80,81]. It follows that the motivations of reshoring can be divided into two main categories: (1) a response to internal or external changes [79,82,83] or (2) a correction of prior decisions or actions [81,82]. In this sense, Mugurusi and Boer [84] maintained that reshoring is "more than just a geographical shift of operations.…”

Multi-Stage Fuzzy-Logic Model for Evaluation of Reshoring Decisions

“…Finally, the defuzzification block converts the fuzzy value to an output that is understandable to the user. Fuzzy-logic decision support has been explored for reshoring decisions [9][10][11]. To replicate the reasoning of the reshoring experts, three novel concepts were outlined.…”

“…The variable weights facilitate the automatic creation of the fuzzy rules [9], simplifying the design process. Therefore, the fuzzy-logic decision support for reshoring can be designed in two ways: (1) complete rules or (2) reduced set of high-level rules [9,11].…”

“…Fuzzy logic-based tools, that have been applied to a wide range of operations management problems, have been developed for reshoring decisions [9][10][11], however, these include only one group of criteria, limiting their use to only the initial stages of the reshoring decision-making process. It has been proposed that fuzzy logic-based tools should consider criteria beyond the competitive priorities of a company using a multistage architecture for reshoring decisions [11].…”

“…Fuzzy logic-based tools, that have been applied to a wide range of operations management problems, have been developed for reshoring decisions [9][10][11], however, these include only one group of criteria, limiting their use to only the initial stages of the reshoring decision-making process. It has been proposed that fuzzy logic-based tools should consider criteria beyond the competitive priorities of a company using a multistage architecture for reshoring decisions [11]. Furthermore, different key persons within the company are the managers who are involved during the reshoring decision-making process, focus on different groups of criteria based on the needs of different organizational functions [12].…”