Supply chain collaboration among Malaysian SME manufacturers

Malaysian 3rd Industrial Master Plan was developed to improve the country global competitiveness by positioning Malaysia as a major manufacturing hub and service provider in the global supply chain. To achieve this, it is suggested that Malaysian manufacturers especially SME should be involved in supply chain collaboration in their business operations. However, it is discovered that there are very few reported research on the supply chain collaboration activities among Malaysian SME manufacturers. The objective of this research is to uncover the supply chain collaboration activities among Malaysian SME manufacturers with their trading partners. This is to be done by determining the level of supply chain collaboration of Malaysian SME manufacturer and investigating the reason Malaysian SME manufacturers supply chain collaborations is at that level. In order to achieve the above objective, a mixed method of quantitative approach using survey method is employed to determine the level of supply chain collaboration and qualitative approach using personal interview method is employed to find out the reason for why Malaysian SME manufacturers’ supply chain collaboration is at that level. This research discovered that the supply chain collaboration of Malaysian SME manufactures with their trading partners is at minimal level. This is due to their current business relationship that they have with their trading partners do not required them to collaborate at higher level. On the other hand, Malaysian SME manufacturer are willing to have a high level of supply chain collaboration if long term business relationship could be established. Therefore, it is concluded that the type of business relationship or cooperation with trading partners can determine level of supply chain collaboration

Space sharing job scheduling policies for parallel computers

The distinguishing characteristic of space sharing parallel job scheduling policies is that applications are allocated non-overlapping processor subsets. The interference among jobs is reduced, the synchronization delays and message latencies can be predictable, and distinct processors may be allocated to cooperating processes so as to avoid the overhead of context switches associated with traditional time-multiplexing;The processor allocation strategy, the job selection criteria, and workload characteristics are fundamental factors that influence system performance under space sharing. Allocation can be static or dynamic. The processor subset allocated to an application is fixed under static space sharing, whereas it can change during execution under dynamic space sharing. Static allocation can produce more predictable run times, permits a wide range of compiler optimizations (e.g., static data distribution and binding), and avoids the processor releases and reallocations associated with dynamic allocation. Its major problem is that it can induce high processor fragmentation;In this dissertation, alternative static and dynamic space sharing policies that differ in the allocation discipline and the job selection criteria are studied. The results show that significantly superior performance can be achieved under static space sharing if applications can be folded (i.e., allocated fewer processors than they requested). Folding typically increases program efficiency and can reduce processor fragmentation. Policies that increase folding with the system load are proposed and compared to schemes that use unconstrained folding, no folding, and fixed maximum folding factors. The adaptive policies produced higher and more stable system utilization, significantly shorter mean response times, and good fairness curves. However, unconstrained folding resulted in considerably more severe processor fragmentation than no folding. Its advantage is that it exploits the efficiency improvement that typically results when an application is allocated fewer processors. Consequently, it can produce shorter mean response times than no folding under medium to heavy loads;Also because of this efficiency improvement, dynamic policies that reduce waiting times by executing a large number of jobs simultaneously are more promising than schemes that limit the number of active jobs. However, limiting the number of active applications can be the superior approach when folding does not improve application efficiency

Sony Pictures and the U.S. Federal Government: A Case Study Analysis of the Sony Pictures Entertainment Hack Crisis Using Normal Accidents Theory

In this case study, I analyze the 2014 North Korean computer database hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), a serious national security crisis of cyberterrorism. I utilize Normal Accidents theory as a lens, to help explain how the accident within one system (SPE) and later crisis lead to the interaction with a second system (U.S. Federal Government), the development of a new crisis, and the need for a crisis response from system two. The evolution of a single organization’s accident into a national security crisis does not occur without specific complex interactions that take place to connect the two systems together. To explain this interconnectedness between systems, I introduce two new constructs: 1) common denominator and 2) common goal, which expand Normal Accidents theory allowing it to account for the coupling between the two independent systems (SPE & United States Government) through non-linear interactions. Overall, this case study provides important insight for future crisis communication planning, response, and development regarding between-organization interaction during a crisis

Corrosion and Strength Behaviors in Prestressed Tendon under Various Tensile Stress and Impressed Current Conditions

Corrosion occurs more rapidly under high tensile stress and this leads to several problems like degradation of serviceability and structural performance in PSC (prestressed concrete) structures. In this paper, impressed current method, so-called ICM, was applied to tendons under tensile loadings of 0.0, 20.0, 40.0, and 60.0% of ultimate load. With induction of 20 volts for 24 hours to tendon under tensile stress, loading was induced to failure and the ultimate load was evaluated with varying corrosion behaviors. The changing mechanical behaviors in the same corrosive conditions were evaluated under different initial prestressing levels. With increasing initial prestressing load, corrosion occurred more rapidly and corrosion amount also increased linearly. The ultimate load accordingly decreased with increasing initial prestressing and corrosion amount. The relationships between prestressing levels and corrosion behaviors were quantitatively obtained through regression analysis. The measured current during applied voltage and the related corrosion amounts were also dealt with in this work

CHANGE-READY MPC SYSTEMS AND PROGRESSIVE MODELING: VISION, PRINCIPLES, AND APPLICATIONS

The last couple of decades have witnessed a level of fast-paced development of new ideas, products, manufacturing technologies, manufacturing practices, customer expectations, knowledge transition, and civilization movements, as it has never before. In today\u27s manufacturing world, change became an intrinsic characteristic that is addressed everywhere. How to deal with change, how to manage it, how to bind to it, how to steer it, and how to create a value out of it, were the key drivers that brought this research to existence. Change-Ready Manufacturing Planning and Control (CMPC) systems are presented as the first answer. CMPC characteristics, change drivers, and some principles of Component-Based Software Engineering (CBSE) are interwoven to present a blueprint of a new framework and mind-set in the manufacturing planning and control field, CMPC systems. In order to step further and make the internals of CMPC systems/components change-ready, an enabling modeling approach was needed. Progressive Modeling (PM), a forward-looking multi-disciplinary modeling approach, is developed in order to modernize the modeling process of today\u27s complex industrial problems and create pragmatic solutions for them. It is designed to be pragmatic, highly sophisticated, and revolves around many seminal principles that either innovated or imported from many disciplines: Systems Analysis and Design, Software Engineering, Advanced Optimization Algorisms, Business Concepts, Manufacturing Strategies, Operations Management, and others. Problems are systemized, analyzed, componentized; their logic and their solution approaches are redefined to make them progressive (ready to change, adapt, and develop further). Many innovations have been developed in order to enrich the modeling process and make it a well-assorted toolkit able to address today\u27s tougher, larger, and more complex industrial problems. PM brings so many novel gadgets in its toolbox: function templates, advanced notation, cascaded mathematical models, mathematical statements, society of decision structures, couplers--just to name a few. In this research, PM has been applied to three different applications: a couple of variants of Aggregate Production Planning (APP) Problem and the novel Reconfiguration and Operations Planning (ROP) problem. The latest is pioneering in both the Reconfigurable Manufacturing and the Operations Management fields. All the developed models, algorithms, and results reveal that the new analytical and computational power gained by PM development and demonstrate its ability to create a new generation of unmatched large scale and scope system problems and their integrated solutions. PM has the potential to be instrumental toolkit in the development of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems. In terms of other potential applications domain, PM is about to spark a new paradigm in addressing large-scale system problems of many engineering and scientific fields in a highly pragmatic way without losing the scientific rigor

A Comparative Study of the Functions of the University Faculty Senate at the University of Nebraska at Omaha with its Counterpart at Bangalore, University in Bangalore, India

Education, especially college education, continues to ride on the crest of popularity because of the prestige attached to it. The aura a degree has, coupled with its potential as an instrument for enabling an aspirant to reach the higher echelons in any profession, has given an impetus to increased enrollment of students in colleges all over the world. This unprecedented increase in enrollment of students in colleges, more so in developing countries, particularly India, has brought in its wake a plethora of problems. In addition to political, social and economic problems, the country has witnessed students\u27 violence leading to large scale destruction of college as well as public property

Reshaping concrete: Inclusive design for low-carbon structures

Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) struggle to meet the demand for affordable housing in their growing cities. There are several reasons for this, but a major constraint is the high cost of construction materials. In LEDCs, material costs can constitute 60 to 80 percent of the total cost of residential construction. Nonetheless, their construction mimics the materially inefficient practices of the More Economically Developed Countries (MEDCs), which were developed to reduce labor over material costs. As a result, prismatic beams and flat slabs are often used despite their structural inefficiency. The mounting use of steel-reinforced concrete structures in LEDC cities also raises concern for the environmental costs of construction; construction accounts for 20-30 percent of LEDC carbon emissions. This research addresses these challenges with a flexible and accessible methodology for the design and analysis of materially efficient concrete elements that may reduce the economic and environmental costs of urban construction. Designed for the constraints of LEDCs, structural elements are optimized to reduce the embodied carbon associated with the concrete and reinforcing steel while resisting the required loads of a standard building structure. The optimization method includes a novel approach to 3D-shape parameterization, as well as a decoupled analytical engineering analysis method that accounts for the key failure modes and constraints of reinforced concrete design. This method is then built into an open-source toolkit, combined with machine learning for real-time analysis and visualization, and tested using lab- and full-scale prototypes. The goal of this research is to present several generalizable methods that are applicable and accessible to LEDC building designers. These methods can enable the design of concrete elements for multiple performance criteria such as structural behavior, acoustic transmission, and thermal mass. They can also enable an accessible design practice through machine learning, real-time iterative workflows, and visualization tools that include the end-user in the architectural design process. This paper provides a high-level overview of ongoing research that explores how materially efficient design methods might enable sustainable development through low-cost, low-carbon concrete structural systems for affordable housing in LEDCs

Identification and Quantification of Phthalates in Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Water Bottles Produced In the UAE

This thesis highlights the criticality of phthalate esters (PEs), widely used in plastic molding and possessing carcinogenetic and toxicological effects. The thesis aims to assess the presence and abundance of these compounds in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottled water produced in the UAE. The thesis tests for 6 types of PEs (dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), diisobutyl phthalate (DiBP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), butylbenzyl phthalate (BBP) and Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in widely used bottled water brands produced in the UAE. 126 bottled water samples were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction using petroleum ether, followed by analysis of the target compounds using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, with a limit of detection that ranges between 0.07 and 0.55 μg/L. The study examined the impact of several parameters on leaching of PEs to bottled water contents including bottle brand, elevated temperature, sunlight exposure, storage time and bottle reuse. It also underlined the harmfulness of the PEs concentration on human health, with details about the commonly enforced regulations on these compounds in bottled water, both worldwide and in the UAE. The only found PE was DiBP with an average concentration ranging between 0.6 and 2.6 μg/L. Moreover, none of the tested parameters showed a clear effect on leaching of PEs to water. Risk analysis was done based on the maximum detected DiBP (3.5 μg/L) and the limits of quantification for all other PEs. No substantial risk was observed. It is concluded that UAE bottled water is safe for drinking from PE leaching perspective. However, it is recommended that extra care should be given to PET bottle recycling; which was used for bottling products other than water as bottle source is suspected to be the reason behind any found PEs in PET bottled water all over the world, considering the fact that PEs are not used in the synthesis of PET plastic. It is also suggested to test water bottles during different steps of the bottling process, to identify the actual sources of PEs, which may not be the PET bottles. Finally, it is vital to do a comprehensive risk analysis to estimate the risk of cumulative exposure to PEs through different channels