Hierarchizing the Criteria of Construction Equipment Procurement Decision Using the AHP Method

Successful investment in construction equipment (CE) is a complex process as it involves the selection and prioritization of many criteria. Fleet managers, contractors, and technical companies search for maximum equipment profitability during the economic life of a machine. Decisions on when to replace a piece of equipment are characterized by many uncertain factors that are difficult to quantify. A literature review and a scientometric analysis are conducted, revealing a gap in the global research, concerning the hierarchy of the criteria in decision making, when coming to procure a CE. The purpose of this article is to address that void in the extant literature by proposing a holistic equipment procurement decision model. A scientometric analysis of the last 25 years is performed to investigate the use of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in the thematic area. A modified decision model based on the AHP is developed to prioritize factors that determine decisions on equipment procurements. Unstructured interviews with academia, experts, original equipment manufacturers, and practitioners in the field are conducted in conjunction with an extensive literature review to determine the critical "soft" and "cost" factors incorporated in the model. It seems that this is the first integrated attempt to prioritize the "key" factors that determine decisions of equipment procurement.