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Quality function deployment is a well-known customer-oriented design procedure for translating the voice of customers into a final production. This is a way that higher customer satisfaction is achieved while the other goals of company may also be met. This method, at the first stage, attempts to determine the best fulfillment levels of design requirements which are emanated by customer needs. In real-world applications, product design processes are performed in an uncertain and imprecise environment, more than one objective should be considered to identify the target levels of design requirements, and the values of design requirements are often discrete. Regarding these issues, a fuzzy mixed-integer linear goal programming model with a flexible goal hierarchy is proposed to achieve the optimized compromise solution from a given number of design requirement alternatives .To determine relative importance of customer needs, as an important input data, we apply the well-known fuzzy AHP method. Inspired by a numerical problem, the efficiency of our proposed approach is demonstrated by several experiments. Notably, the approach can easily and efficiently be matched with QFD problems.

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In general, any system may be at risk in a case of losing the critical facilities by natural disasters or terrorist attacks. This paper focuses on identifying the critical facilities and planning to reduce the effect of this event. A three-level model is suggested in the form of a defender-attacker-defender. It is assumed that the facilities are hierarchical and capable of nesting. Also, the attacker budget for the interdiction and defender budget for fortification is limited. At the first level, a defender locates facilities in order to enhance the system capability with the lowest possible cost and full covering customer demand before any interdiction. The worst-case scenario losses are modeled in the second-level. At the third level, a defender is responsible for satisfying the demand of all customers while minimizing the total transportation and outsourcing costs. We use two different approaches to solve this model. In the first approach, the third level of the presented model is coded in Gams software, its second level is solved by an explicit enumeration method, and the first level is solved by tabu search (TS). In the second approach the first level is solved by the bat algorithm (BA). Finally, the conclusion is provided.

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Health care facility systems are hierarchical as they consist of facilities at different levels such as clinics, health centers, and hospitals. Therefore, finding a proper location for the health care system can be categorized as a hierarchical location problem. Besides, partitioning a given region in a geographical area into different zones is very crucial to make sure the health services are available at their highest possible level for everyone in that region.  In this study, an optimization model for the integrated problem of hierarchical location and partitioning under uncertainty in the Iranian healthcare system is proposed. The objective function of this model maximizes the total social utility of districts while workload balance and distance limitation between the zones are considered as the main constraints. Since this study involves NP-hard problems, three metaheuristic algorithms, including Genetic, Salp Swarm Algorithm (SSA), and Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO) were developed. The numerical results suggest that the Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO) algorithm indicates a more appropriate level of performance in almost all responses compared to the other algorithms. Therefore, the case study was solved by the Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO). Based on the results, 10 distrcis with their zones are identified to maximize the overall utility. A sensitivity analysis also performed to show the behavior of the model. It can be stated that the findings of this study can be utilized as a useful management tool in other organizations.

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As the chain stores grow, crop cooperatives are in danger of being destroyed In this study, strategies for increasing the efficiency of crop cooperatives in one of the northern provinces of Iran are studied. A knapsack problem mathematical model was presented, and then The fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) method calculated the desirability (weights) of the identified criteria. Field survey, structured interview,status analysis questionnaire,intra-system strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) were evaluated. After analyzing the results of the assessments in the 10 General Productivity Indicator Criteria, 3 Specific Indicator Criteria and 7 Criteria Indicates that there is a deep weakness in the co-operative system and reveals the need for a fundamental change.Therefore, according to the results obtained in this study Criterion (Member Investment -Training-5S-Productivity and Problem Solving-Customer Orientation) made the most investment. The most important point in this issue is limited financial resources .For this reason, considering the utility of the criteria with the expert opinion and the current status of each cooperative in each criterion are two crucial factors. Finally, the strategic goals of the research, using the SWOT matrix analysis, are based on the results of the interviews all cooperatives form of success packages and executive policies.