An improved decision support system for ABC inventory classification

Abstract

In this study, an Improved Decision Support System (IDSS) is developed to help the decision makers in their inventory classification decisions. For the first time in this paper, the novel IDSS for ABC classification is developed. Certain new algorithms regarding the manufacturing company's features are applied in a framework of IDSS. The IDSS is developed as modular structure and provided the integrated modules of "Data-Base" and "ABC Analysis". In the developed IDSS, the appropriate ABC classification models are considered among Annual Dollar Usage (ADU), Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Scoring (SCR), Fuzzy C-means Algorithm (FCM), and Analytic Network Process (ANP). Some issues and applicability of the IDSS are illustrated with real case problems in the paper. The proposed IDSS software is considerably decreased the time for the inventory classification. In the meantime it could be easily used in various sectors. Therefore, the proposed IDSS significantly contributed to obtaining more accurate and quickly modifiable ABC classification in real cases. Furthermore, the user friendly software can be updated readily according to recent developments in the market.