Application of multi-criteria decision-making method to choose rice harvester in Vietnam

Abstract

Vietnam’s rice production accounts for a large proportion of rice production in region and the world. The income from rice production accounts for a large proportion of the Country’s total GDP (Gross Domestic Product). Therefore, the investment in machines for rice processing is being interested in this Country. Many types of rice processing machine need to be equipped such as rice harvesters, peelers, separators, etc. In which, the rice harvester is identified as the first type of machine that needs to be equipped for a rice processing line. However, with a large number of rice harvesters available on the market with many different parameters (specifications, selling price) will make it difficult for customers to choose the best rice harvester. In this paper, the selection of rice harvester is carried out using MCDM (Multi-Criteria Decision-Making) method. Five types of rice harvester were offered for ranking, including two drain-type rice harvesters and three bagged-type rice harvesters. Eighteen criteria were used to evaluate each machine type. Those eighteen criteria including: type of machine, length/ width/ height/ and weight of machine, length of the sprocket and width of the sprocket, maximum moving speed of the machine when working in slow-moving mode/ average-moving mode/ and fast-moving mode, ground clearance, cutting jaw width, cutting width, lowest cutting height, the maximum cutting height, the width of rake reel, the container capacity, and cost. To determine the weights for the criteria, three different methods have been applied. FUCA (Faire Un Choix Adéquat) was selected as a multi-criteria decision-making method to rank alternatives. The results identified one best drain-type rice harvester and one best bagged-type rice harvester