Efficiency Analysis of Heat Treatment Furnaces with TOPSIS

Efficiency analyses are carried out to support a lot of different kinds of decisions. Often, the application of efficiency analysis techniques in the industrial context and outside of the controlling departments is problematic due to resource restrictions. Because a lot of efficiency analysis techniques are mathematically demanding and thus require a lot of working hours and the use of specific software. What distinguishes the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) from other techniques is that it is mathematically less elaborated and can be applied with a spreadsheet computer program. In the paper at hand, TOPSIS is illustrated by the example of an efficiency analysis of heat treatment furnaces.