A toolset for complex decision making in analyze phase of Lean Six Sigma Project: A case validation

The analyze phase of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) project is an important phase where the project heads and organizational directors need to select the critical issues for further improvements. The present work is primarily focused on analyze phase of LSS project to prioritized the Critical to Quality (CTQs) in a particular case industry. The CTQs prioritization is being done based on the five evaluation criteria found from the literature. The weights of the criteria are determined through the Modified Digital Logic (MDL) method. The identified CTQs in assembly section of case industry have been ranked through the Grey Relation Analysis (GRA) under fuzzy environment. The results of the study have been validated using fuzzy VIKOR. It is found that the ‘cost’ criterion is the most significant among other criteria with MDL weight of 0.3. Through fuzzy-GRA, out of ten identified CTQs, non availability of rack system is found to be the most critical issue in assembly section of case industry. The perceptions of industrial manager and production head of case industry are strongly in favor of the obtained results and has implemented the suggested solutions.To sustain in the competitive environment and produce quality product at right time, organizations need to control their CTQs as per their criticality. For this, the decision making becomes quite complex to select the most critical factors due to the fascinating nature of various criteria and sub-criteria. The present study is the first attempt that has implemented the multi-criteria decision-making approach in analyze phase of LSS project

A framework for assessing trust in e-government services under uncertain environment

In this study, a novel framework was proposed to assess the trust in e-government (e-Gov) services under an uncertain environment. The proposed framework was applied in Iranian municipality websites of e-Gov services to evaluate the readiness score of trust in e-Gov services. A unique hybrid research methodology was proposed. In the first phase, a comprehensive set of indices were determined from an extensive literature review and finalized by employing the fuzzy Delphi method. In the second phase, Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy Sets (IVIFS) was utilized to model the problem’s uncertainty with Analytic called IVIFS- Hierarchy Process (AHP) to determine the importance of indices and indicators by assigning the weights. In the third phase, the Fuzzy Evaluation Method (FEM) is followed for assessing the readiness score of indices in case studies. The findings indicated that “Trust in government” is the most significant index affecting citizen’s trust in e-Gov services while “Maintenance and support” has the least impact on user’s intention to use e–Gov services. The study is one of the few to indicate significant indices of trust in e-Gov services in developing countries. The study shows the importance of indicators and indices by assigning a weight. Additionally, the framework can assess the readiness score of various case studies. Research Implications: The study contributes by introducing a unique research methodology that integrates three phases, including Fuzzy Delphi, IVIFS AHP and Fuzzy Evaluation method. Moreover, the Fuzzy sets theory helps to reach a more accurate result by modeling the inherent ambiguity of indicators and indices. Interval-Valued Intuitionistic Fuzzy models the ambiguity of experts’ judgments in an interval. The study helps policy makers to monitor wider aspects of trust in e-Gov services as well as understanding their importance. The study enables policy makers to apply the framework to any potential case studies to evaluate the readiness score of indices and recognizing strengths and weakness of trust dimensions as well as recommending advice for improving the situation

A systematic literature review regarding the influence of lean manufacturing on firms’ financial performance

The lean philosophy has demonstrated its effectiveness to improve firms’ operational performance. However, the impact of lean practices on financial performance is still unclear due to the poor understanding of the link between operational and financial measures and the conflictive results obtained by previous research. The purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic literature review to understand whether lean companies have improved their financial performance. Moreover, this article aims to uncover research gaps in the literature and examine which time spans of research have been considered to analyse both the degree of lean implementation and the measurement of financial outcomes. A systematic literature review has been conducted to identify peer-reviewed articles that analyse the effect of the lean production paradigm on the financial performance measures of manufacturing companies. Then, the identified articles were processed using a combination of descriptive and content analyses methods to draw new conclusions, uncover gaps and find novel paths for research. Various authors indicate that lean initiatives lead to an enhancement of financial performance measures. JIT and TQM lean practice bundles are suggested as the best enablers of financial performance in terms of sales and profit. In contrast, according to some scholars, lean does not necessarily improve companies’ financial results if it is not properly implemented. Despite several studies have focused on analysing the effects of lean on performance, only a small part of the literature has addressed the study of the effects of lean practices on financial performance metrics. The originality of this study lies in the investigation of the connections between lean practices and financial performance measures found in the literature. The outcome is the identification of various possible positive impacts of some lean practices on financial metrics.N/

The effect of supply chain management practices on supply chain and manufacturing firms' performance

© Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to theorise and develop seven dimensions (strategic supplier partnership, level of information sharing, quality of information sharing, customer service management, internal lean practices, postponement and total quality management) into a supply chain management (SCM) practices (SCMPs) construct and studies its causal relationship with the conceptualised constructs of supply chain performance (SCP) and manufacturing firms' performance (MFP). The study also explores the causal relationship between SCP and MFP. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected through a survey questionnaire responded by 249 Jordanian manufacturing firms. The relationships proposed in the developed theoretical framework were represented through three hypotheses: H1 - there is a significant relationship between SCMPs and SCP; H2 - there is a significant relationship between SCMPs and MFP; and H3 - there is a significant relationship between SCP and MFP. Linear regression, ANOVA and Pearson correlation were used to test the hypotheses. The results were further validated using structural equation modelling. Findings - The results indicate that SCMPs have a positive effect on SCP (H1), which in turn also positively affect MFP (H3). Despite this intermediary positive effect of SCMP on MFP through SCP, the study also suggests that SCMPs have a direct and positive effect on MFP (H2). Practical implications - This study provides hard evidence indicating that higher levels of SCMPs can lead to enhanced supply chain and firms' performance. It also provides SC managers of manufacturing firms with a multi-dimensional operational measure of the construct of SCMPs for assessing the comprehensiveness of the SCMPs of their firms. Originality/value - This study is among the very first SCM researches conducted on the Jordanian manufacturing sector, particularly, in relation to the practices that manufacturing firms in this country need to adopt to make their supply chains a solid competitive vehicle for their development. The results have broader implications for all manufacturing companies, particularly in developing economies where the growth of manufacturing and the development of integrated supply chains are key stages in economic development

Performance factors for successful business incubators in Indonesian public universities

Measuring the performance of business processes is already a main concern for both faculty and enterprise players, since organizations are motivated to reach the productivity stage. Employing a performance achievement framework for the relationship between business incubator success factors will guarantee connection with commercial schemes, which support a high level of performance indicators in successful business incubator models. This research employs a quantitative approach, with the data analyzed using the IBM SPSS version 23 and Smart PLS version 3 statistical software packages. Employing a sample of 95 incubator managers from 19 universities which geographically located in Indonesia, it is shown that the image of business incubator factors has a positive effect on incubator performance. The study investigates the relationship between incubator performance and business incubator success factors in Indonesia. It was found that IT, as part of the business incubators’ facets/abilities, partially supports their performance; that the entry criteria directly support the performance of the incubators; that mentoring networks also support the performance, with good infrastructure systems as a moderating factor; that funding supports the performance of business incubators, also with good infrastructure systems as a moderating factor; and that university regulations and government support and protection enhance the performance of business incubators, with credits and rewards as a moderating factor. In addition, a variety of indicators from the local context affiliate positively to promote a community that highlighted the incubators’ strategies.N/

Plasmonic/Magnetic Multifunctional nanoplatform for Cancer Theranostics

Cancer is the second leading disease which causes major mortality and morbidity worldwide1 . In cancer therapy, it is crucial to increase the drug specificity and drug efficacy to minimise or completely eradicate significant side-effects on patients2 . Cancer nanotherapeutics overcome many serious drawbacks of chemotherapy such as non-specific targeting, lower efficacy, insolubility of drug moieties in water and oral bioavailability3 . Accordingly, Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticles (SPIONs) are exploited as an important nanomaterial for cancer detection as well as therapeutics4 . Such magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) gained its momentum because of their single-domain ordering along with their large surface to volume ratio (providing large surface area for attachment of biological entities). Hence, this property makes them a suitable candidate as a contrast agent, drug-carrying cargo and hyperthermal agent5

Acute Effects of Squat Position and Whole-body Vibration Frequencies on Muscular Function and Jump Performance

PURPOSE: To determine the acute effects of different whole-body vibration (WBV) frequencies and squat depths on lower extremity isometric and isokinetic muscle function and vertical jump performance. METHODS: Thirteen healthy male (age = 23.8 ± 5.3 years) and fifteen healthy female subjects (age = 22.45 ± 3.04 years) performed six randomized sessions of vibration protocols (VPs) in different squat positions with 90° (low-squat) and 140° (high-squat) knee flexion angle at 30 Hz (30Hz90°; 30Hz140°), 40 Hz (40Hz90°; 40Hz140°) & 50 Hz (50Hz90°; 50Hz140°). Each subject performed 5 sets x 1-min of static squats with 30-sec rest between each set. Then they rested for 5-min and repeated 5 more sets. Once completed, vertical jump performance was measured. Furthermore, subjects were tested for maximum 5-sec right knee extensor isometric contractions at 60° of knee flexion, and isokinetic concentric knee extension and flexion at 180°/sec, utilizing standard Biodex protocol. All VPs were performed on the same commercial side to side alternating vibration platform and foot placement for all squats was recorded to ensure consistency. RESULTS: Two-way repeated measures ANOVA indicated a significant condition main effect in average jump height (pCONCLUSION: The findings are suggestive of greater muscular strength and explosive power production following a high-squat WBV warm-up compared to low-squat WBV warm-up. This can be attributed to augmented muscle fatigue and/or increased muscle length due to the plasticity of skeletal muscle while performing low-squat WBV warm-up, resulting in impaired ability to produce muscular force

Machine Learning Applications for Sustainable Manufacturing: A Bibliometric-based Review for Future Research

The role of data analytics is significantly important in manufacturing industries as it holds the key to address sustainability challenges and handle the large amount of data generated from different types of manufacturing operations. The present study, therefore, aims to conduct a systematic and bibliometric-based review in the applications of machine learning (ML) techniques for sustainable manufacturing (SM). In the present study, we use a bibliometric review approach that is focused on the statistical analysis of published scientific documents with an unbiased objective of the current status and future research potential of ML applications in sustainable manufacturing. The present study highlights how manufacturing industries can benefit from ML techniques when applied to address SM issues. Based on the findings, a ML-SM framework is proposed. The framework will be helpful to researchers, policymakers and practitioners to provide guidelines on the successful management of SM practices. A comprehensive and bibliometric review of opportunities for ML techniques in SM with a framework is still limited in the available literature. This study addresses the bibliometric analysis of ML applications in SM, which further adds to the originalityN/