Axiomatic modelling of agile production system design

The manufacturing organisations are witnessing a transformation in the manufacturing paradigm due to increasing competition. Agile manufacturing (AM) is a contemporary manufacturing paradigm which enables the organisations to survive in this competitive scenario. Design engineering is a vital technological enabler of AM. The research on axiomatic design in the field of AM is found to be feeble. In this context, this paper reports an axiomatic model of agile production system design using process variables. A hierarchical structure has been developed to model the design process of an agile production system composed of functional requirements, design parameters and process variables. In the theory of axiomatic design, process variables are created by mapping the design parameters in the process domain. This article serves as an efficient guideline for the design process to clarify the tools, methods and resources of designing agile production system of Indian electronic switches manufacturing organisation.     

A Combinatorial Optimized Knapsack Linear Space for Information Retrieval

Key information extraction can reduce the dimensional effects while evaluating the correct preferences of users during semantic data analysis. Currently, the classifiers are used to maximize the performance of web-page recommendation in terms of precision and satisfaction. The recent method disambiguates contextual sentiment using conceptual prediction with robustness, however the conceptual prediction method is not able to yield the optimal solution. Context-dependent terms are primarily evaluated by constructing linear space of context features, presuming that if the terms come together in certain consumer-related reviews, they are semantically reliant. Moreover, the more frequently they coexist, the greater the semantic dependency is. However, the influence of the terms that coexist with each other can be part of the frequency of the terms of their semantic dependence, as they are non-integrative and their individual meaning cannot be derived. In this work, we consider the strength of a term and the influence of a term as a combinatorial optimization, called Combinatorial Optimized Linear Space Knapsack for Information Retrieval (COLSK-IR). The COLSK-IR is considered as a knapsack problem with the total weight being the “term influence” or “influence of term” and the total value being the “term frequency” or “frequency of term” for semantic data analysis. The method, by which the term influence and the term frequency are considered to identify the optimal solutions, is called combinatorial optimizations. Thus, we choose the knapsack for performing an integer programming problem and perform multiple experiments using the linear space through combinatorial optimization to identify the possible optimum solutions. It is evident from our experimental results that the COLSK-IR provides better results than previous methods to detect strongly dependent snippets with minimum ambiguity that are related to inter-sentential context during semantic data analysis.     

Structural Equation Modelling of lean manufacturing practices

The purpose of this research study is to analyse lean manufacturing practices in different industries and to identify the critical factors for its success implementation. Despite the fact that lean manufacturing has been frequently promoted as a means of improving business competitiveness, little empirical evidence exists in the literature validating its positive link with organisational performance. Lean manufacturing practices not only help in reducing the number of defects but also reduces the cost of production. For this purpose, empirical data is collected to measure the lean manufacturing practices prevailing in different industries located in Tamil Nadu, India. A Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique is used to build the measurement and structural models. Later, statistical estimates are used to validate the model that has been built. The data analysis helps to determine whether to accept or reject the hypothesis that has been stated based on the structural model. The result shows how lean manufacturing practices are correlated and help in improving the organisational performance among the industries being surveyed.     

Agility index measurement using multi-grade fuzzy approach integrated in a 20 criteria agile model

This paper reports a research carried out to assess the agility level of an organisation using a multi-grade fuzzy approach. Agility refers to the capability of an organisation to respond quickly in accordance with the dynamic demands of the customers. During this research, an agility index measurement model containing 20 criteria incorporated with the multi-grade fuzzy approach was designed. Subsequently, the data gathered from a manufacturing company was substituted in this model and the proposals for enhancing the agility level of this company were derived. The usage of the model contributed in this paper will indicate the actions required to enhance an organisation's agility level. This process will accelerate the absorption of agility characteristics in modern organisations.     

Application of fuzzy logic-based environmental conscious QFD to rotary switch: a case study

General public and government agencies seriously view the environmental issues. Environmental issues have become an imperative concern for most companies in relation to modern product development. These activities stimulate the environmentally friendlier production technologies with a focus on minimization of environmental impact. Special procedures have to be formulated during the product development process to comply with recent green directives. In order to improve the focus on eco-designed products with regard to customer needs and cost considerations, this study presents the application of fuzzy eco-quality function deployment (QFD) to aid product design team in considering environmental concerns. This fuzzy multi-objective model considers the overall customer satisfaction and encourages enterprises to produce environmentally friendlier products. The case study describing the evolution of eco-friendly model of rotary switch has been presented. An optimal balance between environmental acceptability and overall customer satisfaction has been obtained as an outcome of the conduct of the study.     

Effect of Mn substitution on structural and magnetic properties of ferromagnetic shape memory alloys

The structure and the magnetic transitions have been investigated as a function of Mn in stoichiometric Ni₂MnGa heusler alloys. Particular attention is paid to examine the linear increase of martensite transformation temperature on substituting Mn for Ga. It is observed that the martensite temperature increases and Curie temperature decreases with the effect of Mn content. Room-temperature magnetic measurements show the composition-dependent characteristics with decreasing magnetic saturation values and increasing coercivity values due to decrease in the magnetic exchange interaction strength with increasing Mn in place of Ga. The scanning electron microscopy image confirms that the Mn-rich alloys have the martensitic plates.     

Evaluation of sustainability using fuzzy association rules mining

Several technologies have been emerging for aiding the management of sustainability. Yet most of them are in development stages. The complex manufacturing systems necessitate the validation of flexible solutions using advanced managerial tools and techniques. This article reports the utilization of fuzzy association rule mining (FARM) approach which enables the decision makers to make flexible decisions for evaluating sustainability in the presence of attributes such as Cost, Market share performance, Profitability, Quality, Toxicity, Legislative factors, Social cohesion, Trade opportunities, and flexibility. The approach has been used for sustainability evaluation in an Indian rotary switches manufacturing organization. The experiences of the conduct of this research indicate that sustainability evaluation can be performed without constraints by the decision makers.     

Twenty criteria based agility assessment using fuzzy logic approach

This paper reports a research carried out to assess the agility level of an organisation using fuzzy logic approach. Agility refers to the quick response of an organisation against the customers’ dynamic unpredictable demands. During this research, an agility index measurement model containing 20 criteria incorporated with fuzzy logic approach was designed. Subsequently, the data gathered from a manufacturing organisation were substituted in this model and the agility index has been determined. Using this model, the method of determining the obstacles for achieving agility in the organisation was examined. It was found that the organisation is required to concentrate on the activities leading to overcome obstacles so as to achieve agility. This method of agility evaluation will help the organisation to accelerate the process of achieving agility.     

Application of fuzzy VIKOR for concept selection in an agile environment

Due to the increasing competition, modern manufacturing organisations are adopting agile manufacturing (AM) paradigm. AM enables the speedy production of customised, high-quality products in varying lot sizes. Concept selection in the context of AM is a typical multi-criterion decision making problem as it involves several agility criteria. The case organisation needs to select the best concept among five alternative designs. VIKOR (VlseKriterijumskaOptimizacija I KompromisnoResenje in Serbian, meaning multi-criteria optimization and compromise solution) has been used to select the best concept design. Based on the inputs gathered from decision makers, concept design (A3) has been found the best concept design from the perspective of agility. The result derived from Fuzzy VIKOR has been compared with fuzzy TOPSIS (technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution) methodology. The selected concept design has been subjected to implementation in the case organisation.