IQLM: application for rail systems

Cost-effectiveness is an evaluation involving both performance and cost. The best performing rail system may not be the most cost effective one. Therefore, when analyzing the acquisition of a rail system, both performance and cost must be considered. The integrated quality and logistics management (IQLM) methodology presented in this paper demonstrates how to evaluate cost-effectiveness for a system that involves both measurable and assessed characteristics for better decision making. In addition, the method demonstrates that decision making under uncertainty requires thorough sensitivity analysis to generate robust results.