Decision Making for Process and Product Sustainability in an Uncertain World

Synopsis

Rational, transparent decision-making is vital for effective innovation management in the manufacturing process industries. Those prioritising projects and/or technological options on sustainability grounds early in the R&D cycle however face a twin challenge: holistic decisions must incorporate complex success criteria but there is invariably a substantial degree of uncertainty about the evaluation. We present both a practical framework for early-stage sustainability assessment amongst a set of alternatives and an improved method of multiple-criteria decision analysis, CURE (Computed Uncertainty Range Evaluations), illustrating through case study how they may be readily implemented to support a facilitated decision-making process in the pharmaceutical industry.