Industrial Sectors Eligibility for Rehabilitation Programs: An Integrated AHP – TODIM Approach

The study reports the findings of a project carried out to rank the industrial sectors in terms of their eligibility for rehabilitation programs using multi-criteria decision making methods. First, criteria, sub-criteria, and alternatives (industrial sectors) were identified using literature review and experts' interviews. The alternatives identified include construction, chemical, wood, plastic, food and textile industries. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the Tomada de Decisão Interativa e Multi-critério (TODIM) method were used to produce the ranking. The AHP was used to produce a ranking and as an input to the TODIM method. Results showed that food and construction are the most important sectors that should be rehabilitated followed by metal and wood sectors whereas chemical sector came last in the ranking. The two methods resulted in two rankings with slight differences. The findings were shown to industrial experts who agreed that results were consistent, realistic and logical. They agreed on the importance of the findings and recommended that the methodology be used in future rehabilitation programs.