International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Productional Research
Volume:22 Issue: 4, Dec 2011

This paper demonstrates a preliminary investigation of geometry, function and its relation to DFX principles, namely DFM (Design for Manufacturing). This is the starting point for research on the development of an expert system that assesses design goals along DFX principles in a feature-based CAD environment. There is a need for a deeper level of understanding of the relationship between geometry and its effects on function, in order to correct and improve the product concept before large amounts of resources are invested in the product’s development. This paper is a preliminary investigation into geometry and function involving DFM as part of an early stage of research into geometric effects on function and DFX through the use of CAD/CAE/CAM.In this paper, a concept is chosen to develop a parametric solid model that will be used to investigate a set of defined function attributes using model variants, which are evaluated in terms of the defined function attributes and DFM. The investigation found that for the functions defined, geometric parameters had less of an effect than expected. This is mainly due to the fact that the defined function attributes under investigation were associated with material properties. This paper demonstrates a preliminary investigation at the early stage of research to develop a more detailed relationship structure between geometry and functional attributes and their relationship with DFX. The end goal is to develop an integrated methodology involving geometry, function and DFX principles through the use of CAD/CAE/CAM.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is used to identify the characteristics of an object wirelessly using radio waves. The purpose of this technology in this study is mainly focused on healthcare for inventory management and theft control replacing the manual logs. The storage and tracking of high-cost inventory items is developed. Automatic reordering and billing interfaces are designed for the inventory falling below the par levels. iRISupply and iRIScope are the two RFID systems developed to reduce the inventory costs, expired item costs and to improve the inventory management with easy reporting system.

Community college computer instructors provide a valuable service by preparing students for challenging careers. At the same time, they face many challenges to stay current in their field and to maintain industry certifications. Therefore, community college administrators need to determine what perceptions are held by computer instructors, address any negative perceptions, and determine if instructors are satisfied with their job. To address this need, a study of North Carolina community college computer instructors’ job satisfaction was conducted using the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) Short Form. The MSQ Short Form is a 20 question survey developed by researchers at the University of Minnesota to study job satisfaction among workers. Although, the majority of the 182 respondents reported they were satisfied with their job and hold positive perceptions of their supervisors, only slightly over half of the respondents reported being either satisfied or very satisfied with the way policies are implemented within their organization, indicating for the first time that a significant percentage of computer instructors in North Carolina perceive a problem exists within this area. The results of this study should encourage academic institutions to find better ways to implement policies in ways that don’t negatively affect job satisfaction and worker productivity.

One of the main principles of the passive defense is the principle of site selection. In this paper, we propose a multiple objective nonlinear programming model that considers the principle of the site selection in terms of two qualitative and quantitative aspects. The purpose of the proposed model is selection of the place of facilities of a system in which not only it observes the dispersion principle but also reduces the system transportation costs. Moreover, the proposed model tries to select the sites that can fulfill other elements of site selection as well as dispersion in a way that it increases the trustworthiness of the selected network.

In this paper a single server queuing production system is considered which is subject to gradual deterioration. The system is discussed under two different deteriorating conditions. A planning horizon is considered and server which is a D/M/1 queuing system is gradually deteriorates through time periods. A maintenance policy is taken into account whereby the server is restored to its initial condition before some distinct periods. This system is modeled to obtain optimal values of arrival rates and also optimal maintenance policy which minimizes production, holding and maintenance costs and tries to satisfy demands through time periods. The model is also considered to control customers’ sojourn times. For each deteriorating condition a model is developed. Models are solved by GA based algorithms and results for a sample are represented.

In recent years, Supplier evaluation and selection, an important element in supply chain management, has been gaining attention in both academic literature and industrial practice. The Mixed integer multi-Objective non-Linear programming model (MIMONLP) presented in this paper aimed to evaluate and select the appropriate set of suppliers considering quantitative and qualitative criteria and in addition to selecting the first layer's suppliers which relate directly to the organization, analyses the characteristics of second-layers suppliers, and design a network to determine the flow rate of products and materials between buyers and best suppliers in both layers. Another important feature of this model is considering holding costs of different products over the planning horizon and quantity discounts for the first layer's suppliers at the same time. Finally, the model is solved by using goal programming approach and numerical examples are presented to test the performance of proposed model.

In this study, an outsourcer evaluation and management system is developed for a manufacturing company by use of Fuzzy goal programming (FGP). A first phase of the methodology evaluation criteria for outsources and the objectives of the company are determined. Considering the fuzziness in the decision data, linguistic variables that can be expressed in generalized fuzzy number are used. The propose approach is utilized from fuzzy sets, Analytic Network Process (ANP), fuzzy TOPSIS and Preference Ranking Organization method for enrichment evaluations (PROMETHEE) approaches. Evaluation criteria for this problem are weighted by Fuzzy ANP approach then in the Fuzzy TOPSIS and Fuzzy PROMETHEE approaches. At the second phase the FGP model developed selects the most appropriate outsourcers suitable to be strategic partners with the company and simultaneously allocates the quantities to be ordered to them. At the end, gives the computational results.

There has been a recent development and explosion of interest among academicians across a wide range of disciplines in the use of virtual Class room. Utilization of the virtual class room as a laboratory experimentation for teaching and learning has increased significantly in recent years as development tools for web based applications have become easier to use and computers have become more capable and less expensive. But, does the virtual class-room improve students learning? Herein we describe the results of two experiments conducted on sections of a Manufacturing and Operation Management course [MIME - 3240] at one of the Colleges of Technology in the Sultanate of Oman during fall semester. Two experiments were designed to determine if student learning of Manufacturing and Operation Management course was significantly affected by two treatments: 1) Virtual class room environment for the students of section S2 and 2) Real Class-room environment for students of section S1. The actual final scores of students of section S1 and S2 were compared in order to determine the effectiveness of virtual class room on student learning for the Manufacturing and Operation Management course. In this study Web-based virtual Class room (WVC) is developed to communicate, to share and to disseminate knowledge from the teacher to student. Further, in this study web based tools are also used to create, store, and manage contents of class room instructions and course material.