An Analytic Hierarchy Process–Based Model for Assessing Research Projects in Additive Manufacturing

ABSTRACT

This study investigates an Analytic Hierarchy Process–based decision framework for assessing research projects in additive manufacturing. An extensive examination of all funding programs available in Romania between 2017 and 2026 that permitted funding in industrial engineering research projects was carried out in order to remove subjectivity and improve the analysis's robustness. Criterion scores from each grid were normalized and mathematically weighted to ensure comparability and to construct AHP pairwise comparisons. In the demonstrative application, the authors built the scoring matrix for five hypothetical AM projects and computed total weighted scores based on the AHP weights, obtaining an explicit and less subjective ranking of the projects. The findings of this study enabled the identification of several existing limitations in achieving a more objective project evaluation, considering the current design of guidelines, evaluation grids, and the evaluation procedures themselves.