A methodology for controlling the consequences of demand variability in the design of manufacturing systems

Today's unprecedented demand changes flood the global market. Staying competitive is now a matter of responding quickly and cost-effectively to variability. To address this paradigm, flexibility is a key aspect to tackle. Studies show that integrating flexibility in design of systems increases their performance by 25%, yet application procedures are still not very well established. This dissertation proposes a solution methodology for this problem. Aiming control of demand variability consequences, an integrated approach of optimization, screening, and simulation modelling has been developed. Applied to a case study in the furniture manufacturing industry, the methodology highlighted numerous opportunities of improvement in the manufacturing site. Indeed, by applying a flexible design, the overall performance goals were reached and a plan of action was initiated.The results support the proposed methodology as a viable solution for the problem addressed, nevertheless future success involves more than the pure application of this procedure, as flexibility is also a way of thinking

Managing the complexities of English Language teaching in engineering

In this 21st century, engineering employers seek professional engineers who have excellent scientific knowledge and are able to demonstrate good communication and problem solving skills. With this focus on job demands, engineering education has been restructured, balancing the emphasis between scientific knowledge and soft skills. This shift in focus has not only affected the teaching and learning in engineering education, but also English Language (EL) educators who are involved in teaching non-technical components within an engineering education curriculum. This shift in focus has raised the demand for ESP which include teaching communication skills in English language discourse used in engineering, and teaching problem solving skills in English language teaching. With this demand, challenges are inevitable among EL educators who are generally prepared for teaching English for generic purposes in school settings and who bring with them pedagogical knowledge and beliefs in English language teaching, as well as identities they have developed from their previous to their new workplace. This shift also raises questions about the ways in which English language teaching is positioned, the role of English language courses within an engineering-specific context and the implications of this positioning on the design of the English language courses. The main aim of this study was to investigate how EL educators managed the complexities in teaching English at one technical university in Malaysia. In addressing the research questions, a case study design was developed to highlight the complexities within that context and the ways in \ud which EL educators managed these complexities. The data for this study were collected through qualitative and quantitative methods to unpack the complex process of teaching English for engineering which included teaching problem solving and communication skills. These methods obtained insights into the ways in which EL educators conceptualised English language teaching, positioned themselves and framed their teaching in an engineering context. The quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire involving 12 EL educators. The data from the questionnaire were used to profile the EL educators at the English Language Department of this university. Based on the profiling, four EL educators teaching undergraduate engineering students were selected for the main study. The qualitative data were collected through document study, individual semi�structured interviews, classroom observations, video recording of classroom observations and stimulated recall protocols. This study found that there were disconnections between English language teaching and the engineering discipline at this university. These disconnections were due to the dissemination process of the engineering accreditation requirements whereby these requirements went through ii multiple layers of interpretation, adaptation and translation before they reached the EL educators, causing ambiguities in positioning English language teaching and misalignments in the role of the English language courses within the engineering academic curriculum. As a result, tensions occurred in determining the emphasis of English language teaching. The ambiguities in positioning English language teaching and the misalignments of the English language courses presented the EL educators with challenges in managing their pedagogies and framing their teaching within the context of an engineering university. The study found that the strategies that the EL educators exercised in their agency resulted from the interplay between how they positioned English language teaching and the professional identities they developed in their university context. The demand for ESP required these EL educators to teach beyond their expertise, creating challenges for them to establish their professional identities. Complexities emerged when English language teaching involved integration among English language, communication skills, engineering knowledge, and problem solving skills. This study contributed to the field of English language teaching, specifically to English for Specific Purposes (ESP) by providing knowledge and understanding of the complexities of teaching English for the engineering discipline in higher education. It also contributed to research on professional identities by highlighting the tensions, struggles and negotiations that EL educators faced in positioning themselves within this context to determine their professional identities. The findings of this study deepen our knowledge and understanding of professional identities and agency among EL educators in the Malaysian context, particularly in the discipline-specific context of engineering

Manufacturing System Design Framework Manual

Previous Lean Aerospace Initiative research in factory operations had indicated that the greatest performance gains are realized when the manufacturing system is designed from the top down and from supplier to the customer. Manufacturing system designs were most effective when the entire product value stream was designed or redesigned (not just a shop, division or segment of the factory). This led to a focus on manufacturing system design. The objective in this study was to develop a method or process that would assist manufacturing system designers as they developed (or modified) the manufacturing system for their needs. This effort was developed to be applicable to a single product manufacturing system design or a multiple product manufacturing system design. A systems approach was used with an enterprise perspective. Several important products were produced as the problem was addressed: a list of the manufacturing system design inputs and a definition of manufacturing system types (each included in the appendices)

PRABHA - A New Heuristic Approach For Machine Cell Formation Under Dynamic Production Environments

Over the past three decades, Cellular Manufacturing Systems (CMS) have attracted a lot of attention from manufacturers because of its positive impacts on analysis of batch-type production and also a wide range of potential application areas. Machine cell formation and part family creation are two important tasks of cellular manufacturing systems. Most of the current CMS design methods have been developed for a static production environment. This paper addresses the problem of machine cell formation and part family formation for a dynamic production requirement with the objective of minimizing the material handling cost, penalty for cell load variation and the machine relocation cost. The parameters considered include demand of parts in different period, routing sequences, processing time and machine capacities. In this work a new heuristic approach named PRABHA is proposed for machine cell formation and the part family formation. The computational results of the proposed heuristics approach were obtained and compared with the Genetic Algorithm approach and it was found that the proposed heuristics PRABHA outperforms the Genetic Algorithm

Modelling manufacturing systems flexibility.

The flexl.bility to change product and processes quickly and economically represents a significant competitive advantage to manufacturing organisations. The rapid rise in global sourcing, has resulted in manufacturers having to offer greater levels of customisation, thus a wider product range is essential to an organisation's competitiveness. The rate at which new products are introduced to the market has also increased, with greatly reduced development times being essential to a new product's market success. Hence there is a strong need to have a flexible manufacturing system such that new products may be introduced rapidly. These drivers have made the need for flexibility within manufacturing systems of great importance. However, there are many types of flexibility and to ensure that organisations correctly target these types of flexibility there is a need to measure fleXlbility, because, measuring fleXlDility allows manufacturers to identify systems which will improve their performance. This research, therefore, has focused on the development measures for two types of flexibility ie. mix fleXlDility and product flexibility. These represent the ability to change between the manufacture of current products i. e. mix flexibility and the ability to introduce new products i.e. product fleXlDility. In order to develop effective measures for these types of fleXlbility a conceptual model has been developed, which represents the current and potential future product range of manufacturing systems. The methodology developed for measuring mix and product flexibility has been successfully applied in two companies. These companies represent diverse manufacturing environments. One operates in high volume chemical manufacture and the other in low to medium volume furniture manufacture. Through applying this methodology in these two companies it has been demonstrated that the methodology is generic and can be used in a wide range of companIes

SCALING CELLULAR AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION WITH PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY: A STUDY ON CURING AND DEGRADATION

To meet the requirements for full production in cellular agriculture, a multi-disciplinary approach is required. New questions and understandings between different concepts, such as texture and cooking, need to be identified and how they correlate with cellular behavior and taste. This work focuses on understanding and developing photolithographic systems for scalable cellular agriculture. There were two specific research directions: 1) a traditional photolithography printing system was improved upon for mass manufacturing purposes and 2) mechanical analysis and degradation of key potential photolithographic biomaterials were tested for a food product. A novel digital rotational ultraviolet manufacturing (DRUM) process was developed, and initial photolithographic printing tests were carried out. GelMA hydrogels were tested in uniaxial compression and compared to a range of meat samples at 20°C using constant displacement speed control. The results showed effective mimicry under the defined environment to that of raw scallops, but not of higher order constructs. A soy-based resin was also tested in degradation 37°C for 0 to 28 days in phosphate buffered solution and ethanol solutions. Degradation was successfully mapped via thermomechanical means in dynamic mechanical analysis. Stability of the material was verified upon addition of EBC-1 enzyme. Initial values for the mechanical behavior of pure soya scaffolds at 100% density were too stiff and unable to match desired findings in literature. The achieved results showed promise as a proof of concept for this methodology and emphasizes the importance of standardization of results, ultimately leading to the conclusion that the requirements for these products will likely require complex modular, multi-step, multi-material systems at scale. Advisor: Michael P. Seal

Production planning under dynamic product environment: a multi-objective goal programming approach

Production planning is a complicated task that requires cooperation among multiple functional units in any organization. In order to design an efficient production planning system, a good understanding of the environment in terms of customers, products and manufacturing processes is a must. Although such planning exists in the company, it is often incorrectly structured due to the presence of multiple conflicting objectives. The primary difficulty in modern decision analysis is the treatment of multiple conflicting objectives. A formal decision analysis that is capable of handling multiple conflicting goals through the use of priorities may be a new frontier of management science. The objective of this study is to develop a multi objective goal programming (MOGP) model to a real-life manufacturing situation to show the trade-off between different some times conflicting goals concerning customer, product and manufacturing of production planning environment. For illustration, two independent goal priority structures have been considered. The insights gained from the experimentation with the two goal priority structures will guide and assist the decision maker for achieving the organizational goals for optimum utilization of resources in improving companies competitiveness. The MOGP results of the study are of very useful to various functional areas of the selected case organization for routine planning and scheduling. Some of the specific decision making situations in this context are: (i). the expected quality costs and production costs under identified product scenarios, (ii).under and over utilization of crucial machine at different combinations of production volumes, and (iii). the achievement of sales revenue goal at different production volume combinations. The ease of use and interpretation make the proposed MOGP model a powerful communication tool between top and bottom level managers while converting the strategic level objectives into concrete tactical and operational level plans.

Summary of Research Conducted by the Manufacturing Systems Team 1994-2002

The Manufacturing Systems team was one of the research teams within the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) whose goal was to document, analyze and communicate the design attributes and relationships that lead to significant performance improvements in manufacturing systems in the defense aerospace industry. This report will provide an integrated record of this research using the Production Operations Transition to Lean Roadmap as its organizing framework

A Comparative Analysis of Management Accounting Systems on Lean Implementation

The adoption of lean principles and practices has become widespread in many industries since the early 1990’s. Companies are now beginning to realize that traditional costing and accounting methods may conflict with lean initiatives they are implementing. Consequently, important research questions are being raised. Which cost management and accounting approach required for companies that adopt lean principles and practices? The primary objective of this research is to asses the impact of different management accounting systems on lean manufacturing as measured by performance metrics and to investigate the development of management accounting strategy which will support lean operations and will help to monitor the lean progress. Three management accounting alternatives investigated in this study are traditional management accounting, activity based costing and value stream costing. This study evaluates the overhead principles associated with management accounting alternatives to identify real product cost that will drive many business decisions. The financial measures commonly used are short-term and long-term profitability

Scheduling With Alternatives Machine Using Fuzzy Inference System And Genetic Algorithm.

As the manufacturing activities in today's industries are getting more and more complex, it is required for the manufacturing company to have a good shop floor production scheduling to plan and schedule their production orders. Industri pengeluarcim kini telah berkembang pesat dan aktiviti pengeluarannya semakin kompleks, dengan itu syarikat pengeluar memerlukan jadual lantai pengeluaran (shop floor) yang terbaik untuk merancang permintaan pengeluaran (product)