JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL
Year:2015 | Volume:11 | Issue:1|Papers Count:12

This paper deals with the Markov modeling and reliability analysis of urea synthesis system of a fertilizer plant. This system was modeled using Markov birth-death process with the assumption that the failure and repair rates of each subsystem follow exponential distribution. The first-order Chapman-Kolmogorov differential equations are developed with the use of mnemonic rule and these equations are solved with Runga-Kutta fourth-order method. The long-run availability, reliability and mean time between failures are computed for various choices of failure and repair rates of subsystems of the system. The findings of the paper are discussed with the plant personnel to adopt and practice suitable maintenance policies/strategies to enhance the perforance of the urea synthesis system of the fertilizer plant.

In this paper, we present modified fuzzy goal programming (FGP) approach and generalized MATLAB program for solving multi-level linear fractional programming problems (ML-LFPPs) based on with some major modifications in earlier FGP algorithms. In proposed modified FGP approach, solution preferences by the decision makers at each level are not considered and fuzzy goal for the decision vectors is defined using individual best solutions. The proposed modified algorithm as well as MATLAB program simplifies the earlier algorithm on ML-LFPP by eliminating solution preferences by the decision makers at each level, thereby avoiding difficulties associate with multilevel programming problems and decision deadlock situation. The proposed modified technique is simple, efficient and requires less computational efforts in comparison of earlier FGP techniques. Also, the proposed coding of generalized MATLAB program based on this modified approach for solving ML-LFPPs is the unique programming tool toward dealing with such complex mathematical problems with MATLAB. This software based program is useful and user can directly obtain compromise optimal solution of MLLFPPs with it. The aim of this paper is to present modified FGP technique and generalized MATLAB program to obtain compromise optimal solution of ML-LFP problems in simple and efficient manner. A comparative analysis is also carried out with numerical example in order to show efficiency of proposed modified approach and to demonstrate functionality of MATLAB program.

Considering the competition in today’s business environment, tactical planning of a supply chain becomes more complex than before. In many multi-product inventory systems, substitution flexibility can improve profits. This paper aims to prepare a comprehensive substitution inventory model, where an inventory system with two substitute products with ignorable lead time has been considered, and effects of simultaneous ordering have been examined. In this paper, demands of customers for both of the products have been regarded as stochastic parameters, and queuing theory has been used to construct a mathematical model. The model has been coded by C++, and it has been analyzed due to a real example, where the results indicate efficiency of proposed model.

Finding the reliability expression of different substation configurations can help design a distribution system with the best overall reliability. This paper presents a computerized and implemented algorithm, based on Disjoint Sum of Product (DSOP) algorithm. The algorithm was synthesized and applied for the first time to the determination of reliability expression of a substation to determine reliability indices and costs of different substation arrangements. It deals with the implementation and synthesis of a new designed algorithm for DSOP implemented using C/C++, incorporating parallel problem solving capability and overcoming the disadvantage of Monte Carlo simulation which is the lengthy computational time to achieve satisfactory statistical convergence of reliability index values. The major highlight of this research being that the time consuming procedures of the DSOP solution generated for different substation arrangements using the proposed method is found to be significantly lower in comparison with the time consuming procedures of Monte Carlo-simulation solution or any other method used for the reliability evaluation of substations in the existing literature such as meta-heuristic and soft computing algorithms. This implementation gives the possibility of RBD simulation for different substation configurations in C/C++ using their path-set Boolean expressions mapped to probabilistic domain and result in simplest Sum of Disjoint Product which is on a one-to-one correspondence with reliability expression. This software tool is capable of handling and modeling a large, repairable system. Additionally, through its intuitive interface it can be easily used for industrial and commercial power systems. With simple Boolean expression for a configuration’s RBD inputted, users can define a power system utilizing a RBD and, through a fast and efficient built-in simulation engine, the required reliability expressions and indices can be obtained. Two case studies will be analyzed in this paper. The effects of different substation configurations on the reliability are analyzed and compared. Then, the reliability of a radial distribution system will be evaluated using DSOP solution. The failure results will be combined with a load flow scenario, and indices such as SAIDI, SAIFI will be determined.

With the formation of the competitive electricity markets in the world, optimization of bidding strategies has become one of the main discussions in studies related to market designing. Market design is challenged by multiple objectives that need to be satisfied. The solution of those multi-objective problems is searched often over the combined strategy space, and thus requires the simultaneous optimization of multiple parameters. The problem is formulated analytically using the Nash equilibrium concept for games composed of large numbers of players having discrete and large strategy spaces. The solution methodology is based on a characterization of Nash equilibrium in terms of minima of a function and relies on a metaheuristic optimization approach to find these minima. This paper presents some metaheuristic algorithms to simulate how generators bid in the spot electricity market viewpoint of their profit maximization according to the other generators’ strategies, such as genetic algorithm (GA), simulated annealing (SA) and hybrid simulated annealing genetic algorithm (HSAGA) and compares their results. As both GA and SA are generic search methods, HSAGA is also a generic search method. The model based on the actual data is implemented in a peak hour of Tehran’s wholesale spot market in 2012. The results of the simulations show that GA outperforms SA and HSAGA on computing time, number of function evaluation and computing stability, as well as the results of calculated Nash equilibriums by GA are less various and different from each other than the other algorithms.

Maintenance has been acknowledged by industrial management as a significant influencing factor of plant performance. Effective plant maintenance can be realized by developing a proper maintenance strategy. However, selecting an appropriate maintenance strategy is difficult because maintenance is a non-repetitive task such as production activity. Maintenance also does not leave a consistent traceable record that can be referred to during the decision-making process. The involvement of tangible and intangible factors in the assessment process further increases the complexity of the decision-making process. The technique of preference order by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) is one of the most well-known decision making methods and has been widely used by organizations to conduct effective decisions regarding maintenance issues. TOPSIS has also evolved by integrating different approaches such as the fuzzy concept. Although numerous TOPSIS applications for maintenance decision making have been published, the effectiveness of crisp TOPSIS and fuzzy TOPSIS needs to be investigated further. This paper attempts to present a comparison between conventional crisp TOPSIS and fuzzy TOPSIS from a group maintenance decision-making perspective by an empirical illustration. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to demonstrate further the resilience of crisp TOPSIS and fuzzy TOPSIS.

Over the last four decades of research, numerous cell formation algorithms have been developed and tested, still this research remains of interest to this day. Appropriate manufacturing cells formation is the first step in designing a cellular manufacturing system. In cellular manufacturing, consideration to manufacturing flexibility and productionrelated data is vital for cell formation. The consideration to this realistic data makes cell formation problemvery complex and tedious. It leads to the invention and implementation of highly advanced and complex cell formation methods. In this paper an effort has been made to develop a simple and easy to understand/implement manufacturing cell formation heuristic procedure with considerations to the number of production and manufacturing flexibility-related parameters. The heuristic minimizes inter-cellular movement cost/time. Further, the proposed heuristic is modified for the application of principal component analysis and Taguchi’s method. Numerical example is explained to illustrate the approach. A refinement in the results is observed with adoption of principal component analysis and Taguchi’s method.

In this study, the analytical probability models for an automated serial production system, bufferless that consists of n-machines in series with common transfer mechanism and control system was developed. Both time to failure and time to repair a failure are assumed to follow exponential distribution. Applying those models, the effect of system parameters on system performance in actual croissant production line was studied. The production line consists of six workstations with different numbers of reparable machines in series. Mathematical models of the croissant production line have been developed using Markov process. The strength of this study is in the classification of the whole system in states, representing failures of different machines. Failure and repair data from the actual production environment have been used to estimate reliability and maintainability for each machine, workstation, and the entire line is based on analytical models. The analysis provides a useful insight into the system’s behaviour, helps to find design inherent faults and suggests optimal modifications to upgrade the system and improve its performance.

Cooperative advertising is an agreement between a manufacturer and a retailer to share advertising cost at the local level. Previous studies have not investigated cooperative advertising for complementary products and their main focus was only on one good. In this paper, we study a two-echelon supply chain consisting of one manufacturer and one retailer with two complementary goods. The demand of each good is influenced not only by its price but also by the price of the other product. We use two game theory approaches to model this problem; Stackelberg manufacturer and Stackelberg retailer.

Indian industries need overall operational excellence for sustainable profitability and growth in the present age of global competitiveness. Among different quality and productivity improvement techniques, Six Sigma has emerged as one of the most effective breakthrough improvement strategies. Though Indian industries are exploring this improvement methodology to their advantage and reaping the benefits, not much has been presented and published regarding experience of Six Sigma in the food-processing industries. This paper is an effort to exemplify the application of Six Sigma quality improvement drive to one of the large-scale food-processing sectors in India. The paper discusses the phase wiz implementation of define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC) on one of the chronic problems, variations in the weight of milk powder pouch. The paper wraps up with the improvements achieved and projected bottom-line gain to the unit by application of Six Sigma methodology.

The main objective of this work is to determine the reading performance of operators’ under different viewing angles of a desktop computer. The effects of text/ background color, viewing distance and character size on the speed of reading were investigated. The text and/or the background color combination were varied, with constant luminance contrast. Performance was recorded in terms of words per minutes. Standard workplace design recommendations to position center of visual display terminal 15o and 40o, below horizontal eye level, were taken up for a visually intensive readability task. An orthogonal array, signal-to-noise ratio and the analysis of variance were carried out to investigate the above mentioned operating parameters to determine optimum readability performance. The results suggested that performance was better at 15o viewing angle as compared to 40o.

The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of information technology (IT) on the productivity and efficiency of manufacturing industries in Iran. So, the data will be collected from 23 Iranian manufacturing industries during ‘‘2002-2006’’ and the methods such as DEA and panel data used to study the subject. Results obtained by the above two methods represent that IT has a positive and statistically significant effect on the productivity of manufacturing industries. It will be more in high IT-intensive industries than the other industries. But, there is no significant difference between the growth of labor productivity in IT-producing and IT-using industries.