Evaluation of the Barriers to Maintenance 4.0 for the Textile Industry via Pythagorean Fuzzy SWARA

Abstract

Maintenance 4.0 studies have become a focus for managers and employees when developing effective and efficient maintenance policies. In this study, the barriers to Maintenance 4.0 applications in the textile industry are investigated, and these barriers are weighted using the Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) method based on Pythagorean fuzzy numbers. Solutions to address these barriers are presented. As a result of this study, Organizational and Managerial emerged as the most important main criterion. Operational was identified as the second most significant main criterion, followed by Technical Competence. Data-Related and Cybersecurity ranked fourth in terms of importance. On the other hand, Human Resources and Training and Financial were found to be the least important main criteria. These two criteria received lower importance scores compared to the others, with Financial being the criterion with the lowest overall significance. Sensitivity analyses were performed for six different scenarios by changing the importance weights of the decision-makers. The ranking of the criteria only slightly changed with the weights; this means that the results obtained in Case 1 are robust and reliable. Even in Case 6, where the expert weight ratios were completely reversed, the results did not change significantly. This highlights an important point regarding the reliability of the assessment.