25th Anniversary Article: The Evolution of Electronic Skin (E‐Skin): A Brief History,Design Considerations,and Recent Progress

Human skin is a remarkable organ. It consists of an integrated, stretchable network of sensors that relay information about tactile and thermal stimuli to the brain, allowing us to maneuver within our environment safely and effectively. Interest in large‐area networks of electronic devices inspired by human skin is motivated by the promise of creating autonomous intelligent robots and biomimetic prosthetics, among other applications. The development of electronic networks comprised of flexible, stretchable, and robust devices that are compatible with large‐area implementation and integrated with multiple functionalities is a testament to the progress in developing an electronic skin (e‐skin) akin to human skin. E‐skins are already capable of providing augmented performance over their organic counterpart, both in superior spatial resolution and thermal sensitivity. They could be further improved through the incorporation of additional functionalities (e.g., chemical and biological sensing) and desired properties (e.g., biodegradability and self‐powering). Continued rapid progress in this area is promising for the development of a fully integrated e‐skin in the near future.     

Oxidation behaviour and phase stability at and above 700°C in brazed areas of metal-supported automotive converters with honeycomb structures made of ultra-thin FeCrAlRE materials for diesel applications

Abstract

Metal-supported automotive catalytic converters for diesel applications are made of flat and corrugated thin foils, brazed together at their contacting points. Brazing is done with nickel based alloys. The foil alloy is of type Fe–20Cr–(4–7)Al with the addition of reactive elements RE. In the lower temperature range for diesel applications (500°C to 900°C), attention should be paid to high temperature properties of brazed areas. Unusually large polygonal phases can occur in the original brazed area beside the fine globular phases. Both are of type NiAl. Polygonal phases are less corrosion resistant, resulting in shorter product lifetime. The occurrence of such phases, their stability and oxidation resistance were analysed under isothermal test conditions in ambient air using brazed samples with honeycomb structure.

Diffusion of Ni into ultra-thin foil materials and Fe as well as Al into the Ni-based brazing material (erosion) leads to different compositions in brazed areas. NiAl phases (polygonal or globular) are already present after brazing. They do not change their shape over time. No oxidation of these phases was detected.

Further investigation is focused on the effects of metallurgical and production parameters as well as cyclic load and test atmospheres on the occurrence and oxidation behaviour of the undesired large polygonal phases.     

Empirical evaluation of the delivery risk of extended supply chains

The rise in global sourcing has led to extended supply chains. Extended supply chains generally have more mode changes, border crossings, rail classification yards, port congestion and so forth, that all lead to more delivery disruption risk. To test this assertion, we perform an empirical assessment of the inbound supply chain disruption risk at a major manufacturer that imports components from over three dozen different countries. Although delivery disruption risk can be mitigated with effort, we observe that delivery disruption risk increases with distance. Based on industrial data, we quantify the increase in delivery disruption with international versus domestic suppliers and intercontinental versus continental suppliers.     

Application of fuzzy analytic network process for agile concept selection in a manufacturing organisation

Twenty-first century manufacturing organisations are capable of satisfying the varied requirements of modern customers called agile manufacturing (AM). AM enables an organisation to produce a variety of products within a short period of time in a cost-effective manner. Few researchers have brought out models for enabling organisations to improve their agility level. Total agile design system (TADS) is a model that is analogous to the technology integrated agile product development cycle. Concept selection is an important phase of TADS which is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. Selection of the best concept from agile perspective gains vital importance. Analytical network process (ANP) is a holistic approach that considers interactions and dependencies of various attributes and alternatives in a hierarchical framework used in MCDM problems. The concepts of fuzzy logic have been integrated with ANP in order to overcome the vagueness and uncertainty associated with opinions of the decision makers. Fuzzy ANP has been used to enable the selection of best concept. The case study has been carried out in an Indian traditional manufacturing organisation. The results of the validation indicate that fuzzy ANP is an effective approach for selecting best concept thereby improving agility of product development process.     

Study of supply-chain management in the automotive industry: a bibliometric analysis

The economic and social importance of the?automotive industry explains the need for researching improved ways of?organising and?managing the diverse processes involved in the production of?motor vehicles. Furthermore, the management of supply chains and inter-organisational?relations has acquired strategic significance in recent years and has become a?key area of research. At the interface?between these two fields, this paper adopts a bibliometric viewpoint to analyse the scholarly literature that has addressed?the study of?supply chains within the specific sphere of the automotive?industry. To do so, it has examined the 404 papers on this topic indexed?through to 2011 in the Business Source Complete database. This has allowed?identifying trends and opportunities related to the what, how and where of research into this matter.