Multi-criteria decision-making and life cycle assessment model for optimal product selection: case study of knee support

Selection of the optimal product, where several products’ aspects are expressed through criteria, is a multi-criteria decision-making problem. Besides technical, exploitational, functional, structural, market and aesthetic criteria, nowadays, environmental criteria are inevitable aspects of a modern product. Environmental product properties can be successfully evaluated with a life cycle assessment. This paper proposes a multi-criteria decision-making model for optimal product assessment that uses environmental criteria obtained from a life cycle assessment. The proposed model presents a comprehensive approach that aims to overcome complex decision-making problems for optimal product selection, where special attention is given to the product’s environmental impact. Verification of the proposed multi-criteria decision-making and life cycle assessment model was performed on the case study of optimal knee support selection. By changing the criteria weights in multi-criteria decision-making, a sensitivity analysis was performed. The model output results show the product alternatives ranking that supports decision-making in optimal product selection.