Smart and automation technologies for ensuring the long-term operation of a factory amid the COVID-19 pandemic: an evolving fuzzy assessment approach

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely impacted factories all over the world, which have been closed to avoid the spread of COVID-19. As a result, ensuring the long-term operation of a factory amid the COVID-19 pandemic becomes a critical but challenging task. To fulfill this task, the applications of smart and automation technologies have been regarded as an effective means. However, such applications are time-consuming and budget-intensive with varying effects and are not necessarily acceptable to workers. In order to make full use of limited resources and time, it is necessary to establish a systematic procedure for comparing various applications of smart and automation technologies. For this reason, an evolving fuzzy assessment approach is proposed. A case study has been conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the evolving fuzzy assessment approach in ensuring the long-term operation of a factory amid the COVID-19 pandemic.