Evaluation of sustainability using fuzzy association rules mining

Several technologies have been emerging for aiding the management of sustainability. Yet most of them are in development stages. The complex manufacturing systems necessitate the validation of flexible solutions using advanced managerial tools and techniques. This article reports the utilization of fuzzy association rule mining (FARM) approach which enables the decision makers to make flexible decisions for evaluating sustainability in the presence of attributes such as Cost, Market share performance, Profitability, Quality, Toxicity, Legislative factors, Social cohesion, Trade opportunities, and flexibility. The approach has been used for sustainability evaluation in an Indian rotary switches manufacturing organization. The experiences of the conduct of this research indicate that sustainability evaluation can be performed without constraints by the decision makers.